James Duane | |
|---|---|
 portrait byJohn Trumbull | |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of New York | |
| In office September 26, 1789 – March 17, 1794 | |
| Appointed by | George Washington |
| Preceded by | Seat established by 1 Stat. 73 |
| Succeeded by | John Laurance |
| 44thMayor of New York City | |
| In office 1784–1789 | |
| Preceded by | David Mathews |
| Succeeded by | Richard Varick |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1733-02-06)February 6, 1733 |
| Died | February 1, 1797(1797-02-01) (aged 63) Schenectady,New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Christ Episcopal Church Duanesburg,New York 42°46′08″N74°09′19″W / 42.76896°N 74.15517°W /42.76896; -74.15517 |
| Political party | Federalist |
| Parent |
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| Relatives | George W. Featherstonhaugh Jr. James Chatham Duane |
James Duane (February 6, 1733 – February 1, 1797) was an AmericanFounding Father, attorney, jurist, andAmerican Revolutionary leader fromNew York. He served as a delegate to theFirst Continental Congress, theSecond Continental Congress and theCongress of the Confederation, a New York state senator, the 44thMayor of New York City, the 1st post-colonial Mayor of New York City and aUnited States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of New York. Duane was a signatory of theContinental Association and theArticles of Confederation.
Duane was born on February 6, 1733, in New York City, in theProvince of New York, toAnthony Duane and his second wife, Althea Ketaltas. Anthony Duane was aProtestant Irishman fromCounty Galway who first came to New York as an officer of theRoyal Navy in 1698. Duane's surname is from the Irish O'Dubhain. In 1702, Anthony Duane left the navy to marry Eva Benson, daughter of Dirck Benson, a local merchant. They had two sons, Abraham and Cornelius. Duane prospered and bought land for investment, rental, and future development. After his wife's death, Anthony married Althea Ketaltas (Hettletas), the daughter of a wealthy Dutch merchant.[1] By the time of James' birth, his father had become a wealthy colonial settler.[2]
Duane's mother died in 1736, and his father married a third time in 1741 to Margaret Riken (Rycken).[1] When Anthony died in 1747, James became the ward ofRobert Livingston, the 3rd Lord ofLivingston Manor,[3] where he completed his early education.
Duane completed preparatory studies andread law in 1754, withJames Alexander.[4] He had an impressive command of the law and was admitted to the bar on August 3, 1754.[5] He maintained a private practice in New York City from 1754 to 1762, when he became a clerk of the Chancery Court of New York.[6]
Duane was acting attorney general of the Province of New York in 1767[7] and a boundary commissioner in 1768 (and again in 1784), before returning to private practice in New York City in 1774 and 1775. He was a delegate to the New York Convention which ratified theUnited States Constitution in 1788.[8] Duane was a member of theFederalist Party.[7]
Duane representedTrinity Church in the very protracted legal action brought by heirs ofAnneke Jans, who claimed that they, and not the church, were the lawful owners of much of lowerManhattan, a tract which had been given to the church by the British crown.[9]
By the early 1770s, his practice earned him 1,400 pounds annually.[2] At the height of his success, Duane had a house in Manhattan, one in the country, and an estate nearSchenectady, New York, of 36,000 acres (15,000 ha) and 253 tenants.[2] He was a vestryman of Trinity Church, was appointed one of the church's nine trustees during a post-war crisis about the church'sTory leanings,[10] and was also a trustee ofKings College, the precursor to Columbia University.[7]
In 1761, Duane acquired from Gerardus Stuyvesant a farm known asKrom Mesje ("little crooked knife") in reference to a small brook that flowed into theEast River. He named it"Gramercy Seat". In addition to the farm, Duane also had a house on King Street (later changed to Pine Street).[11] In 1765, he was granted apatent for land inSchenectady County, which became the township ofDuanesburg.
With his boyhood friendJames De Lancey, Duane was one of the Socialborough Proprietors, holding an area obtained by grant in 1771 and located on both sides of Otter Creek in the present towns ofPittsford andRutland, Vermont.[12]
Duane was politically conservative.[2] Until his marriage to Mary Livingston, he had been a member ofJames De Lancey's political faction,[7] which opposed to the Crown's policies but did not endorse the use of mob violence to protest British measures. His efforts to support resistance in New York led to his being chosen with others to represent the Province of New York at the Congressional meetings in Philadelphia. He remained active in both capacities.
Duane was a delegate to the First Continental Congress held in Philadelphia during the autumn of 1774 in reaction to the British Navy's blockade of Boston Harbor and the passage of theIntolerable Acts by Parliament in response to the December 1773Boston Tea Party. He was one of the many who were most disposed to reconciliation with Britain and supported theGalloway Plan of Union, which was rejected by the majority of the delegates. Upon his return to New York, he was named to theCommittee of Sixty, a committee of inspection formed in the City and County of New York (Manhattan, New York City) in 1775, to enforce the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods enacted by the First Continental Congress.[13]
He was a delegate to theProvincial Convention held in New York City on April 20, 1775, where delegates were elected to the Second Continental Congress. It included the delegates to the First Congress as well as five new members. The scope of the Provincial Convention did not extend beyond electing delegates, who dispersed on April 22, the day before news of theBattles of Lexington and Concord arrived. The Second Continental Congress convened its first session on May 10. Duane served as a delegate from 1775 to 1781.Alexander Hamilton, an aide to GeneralGeorge Washington, wrote Duane to ask him to get Congress to expedite supplies.[14]
The Committee of Sixty was replaced by a more representativeCommittee of One Hundred on May 1, 1775. The Committee still considered itself loyal to the British Crown but was opposed to the laws of the Parliament of Great Britain, which it considered unconstitutional because the colonies had no representation in it. The Committee of One Hundred was officially replaced by the New York Provincial Congress which first convened on May 23, 1775. Despite initial reservations regarding independence, he later supported theDeclaration of Independence. Because of his service with the Provincial Congress, Duane was not in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration.[11]
When the Britishoccupied New York in late summer 1776, he withdrew his wife and family to the relative safety of her father's home at Livingston Manor. He was a member of the New York Constitutional Convention which assembled at White Plains, New York, on Sunday evening, July 10, 1776, for the purpose of drafting a constitution to replace the colonial charter.
In July 1778 he signed the Articles of Confederation in Philadelphia.[5] Duane was a member of the Congress of the Confederation from 1781 to 1783. He remained active as a political leader throughout the war and returned home to Gramercy Seat in 1783. He commented that his home looked "as if they had been inhabited by wild beasts".[15]
He wasMayor of New York City from 1784 to 1789,[6] appointed by the Council of Appointment.[16] As mayor, one of Duane's first acts was to donate to the poor the money usually spent on entertainment for his inauguration, about 20 guineas.[16] During his time in office, he strove to help the city revive itself after the damage done by the war and the British occupation, but he was unable to maintain the city's status as the capital of the United States.[7] As head of the Mayor's Court, he heard the landmark case ofRutgers v. Waddington, handing down aSolomonic decision that pleased neither party. After he was called before the State Assembly to explain his thinking, he was censured by that body.[17]
He was a member of theNew York State Senate from 1782 to 1785, and from 1788 to 1790. In 1785, Duane was one of 32 prominent New Yorkers who met to create theNew York Manumission Society, which was intended to put pressure on the state of New York to abolish slavery, as every state in the north had done except New York and New Jersey.[18]
He was chosen a member of theAnnapolis Convention in 1786 but did not attend.
Duane was nominated by President George Washington on September 25, 1789, to the United States District Court for the District of New York, to a new seat authorized by 1 Stat. 73.[6] He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on September 25, 1789, and received his commission on September 26, 1789.[6] He resigned on March 17, 1794, because of ill health.[6]
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On October 21, 1759, Duane married Mary Livingston (1738–1821),[19] the eldest living daughter of his former guardianRobert.[20] Their children were:[21]
Duane's grandchildren includedGeorge W. Featherstonhaugh Jr. (1814–1900),[27]Robert Livingston Pell (1811–1880), James Duane Pell (1813–1881), George W. Pell (1820–1896), and Richard Montgomery Pell (1822–1882).[23] His great-grandchildren included Alfred Duane Pell (1864–1937) andJames Chatham Duane (1824–1897).[24]
Duane died on February 1, 1797, inDuanesburg,Schenectady County, New York.[Note 1][8][6] He was interred under Christ Church in Duanesburg.[8]
Duane Street in Manhattan was named in his honor.[9] Duane Park, at the corner of Duane and Hudson streets is named for him.[28] TheFire Department of New York operated afireboat namedJames Duane from 1908 to 1959.[29] The town of Duanesburg, New York, in the western part ofSchenectady County, is named for James Duane, who held most of it as an original land grant.[30][31]
The Northern District of New York Federal Court Bar Association presents the annual Judge James Duane Award upon "...a distinguished member of the bar who has carried on Judge Duane’s legacy of excellence in the practice of law, unwavering integrity, and a tireless commitment to the legal profession."[32]James Joseph Duane, an American law professor at theRegent University School of Law, is a living descendant of James Duane who has received online attention for his video lecture "Don't Talk To Police".
Ed Jewett portrayed Duane in the 2008John Adams miniseries directed byTom Hooper. He appeared in episode 2 "Independence."
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | 44th Mayor of New York City 1784–1789 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by Seat established by 1 Stat. 73 | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of New York 1789–1794 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
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