John Lane was born on May 17, 1837, in Evansville, Indiana, to Joseph Lane and Mary Hart. His father was a brigadier general in the Mexican American War who became a prominent Democratic politician in Oregon.

 

Lane received an appointment in the United State Military Academy in 1857. He shared his father’s pro-slavery politics, and he sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War. He resigned from West Point in February 1861, and he received a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in Company L of the 1^st Georgia Infantry that spring. In December 1861, he became a captain in the 11^th Georgia Artillery Battalion. The battalion fought in the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, and the siege of Petersburg. He was promoted to major on March 2, 1863, and to lieutenant colonel on February 18, 1865.

 

Lane moved to Oregon after the war, and he married Hattie Sherrard around 1879. They had at least four children: Joseph, born around 1880; Winn, born around 1882; Harry, born around 1888; and Lorena, born around 1898. He served as assessor of Coos County, and he later became county sheriff. He served as an Indian agent in the 1890s. He retired in June 1897 and settled in Lewiston, Idaho, where he practiced law. He moved to Kamiah, Idaho, in the early 1900s. He died on December 24, 1914, in Lapwai, Idaho.

SOURCES