Lane's grandfather, a staunch Catholic, had forfeited his lands and moved to New York, taking his son William with him.

[2][3][4][5] John and his brothers, Lot and James, were members of Queen Liliʻuokalani's personal guard at ʻIolani Palace.

They were avowed royalists, and John Lane "was at her side when they usurped control and dethroned her in 1893, and was among those who took part in the counter-revolution in 1895 with the hope of restoring her throne and native Hawaiian rule," wrote Kathleen Dickensen Mellen in a 1954 Honolulu Advertiser article.

Lane was a devoted follower of the monarchy and joined the Hawaii Republican Party to be aligned with Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole.

Appointed high sheriff of the territory and warden of Oʻahu Prison in 1922, he resigned in 1932 during charges of lax administration and because of ramifications of the Massie Trial.