John Geane was born in Chatham County, North Carolina in about 1776. The son of a Revolutionary War veteran, Geane resided in Chatham and Orange counties as a young adult before moving to Graves County, Kentucky, where he went by John Jean. His brother William applied for a pension based on their father's service in the Revolutionary War in 1847. In that application, William indicated that John has had no contact with the rest of his family since moving west some time before prior to that point. Geane appears to have died in Graves County, Kentucky on July 20, 1860.