Federal Judicial Center Operational Status:

Due to a lapse in appropriations, the Federal Judicial Center (Center) has ceased all non-excepted activities until funding is restored.

The Center will post any changes in operational status on this web page. Please check back for updates.

Duane, James

Born February 6, 1733, in New York, NY
Died February 1, 1797, in Schenectady, NY

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of New York
Nominated by George Washington on September 25, 1789, to a new seat authorized by 1 Stat. 73. Confirmed by the Senate on September 25, 1789, and received commission on September 26, 1789. Service terminated on March 17, 1794, due to resignation.

Education:
Read law, 1754

Professional Career:

Private practice, New York City, 1754-1762, -1774, 1775
Clerk, Chancery Court of New York City, 1762
Attorney general, Colony of New York, 1767
Indian commissioner, Colony of New York, 1774
Delegate, Continental Congress, 1776-1783
Member, Provincial Congress, New York, 1776-1777
Mayor, New York City, 1784-1789
State senator, New York, 1782-1785, 1788-1790

Bibliography

Alexander, Edward P. A Revolutionary Conservative, James Duane of New York. New York: Columbia University Press, 1938. Reprint, New York: AMS Press, 1966.

Jones, Samuel W. Memoir of the Hon. James Duane, Judge of the District Court of the U. States for New York. [Schenectady:] Keyser, 1852.

Manuscript Collections

Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
James Duane papers, 1752-1786.
1 microfilm reel (200 items); finding aid.

New-York Historical Society
New York, N.Y.
Duane family papers, 1665-1916.
Series I: Correspondence, 1680-1853; Series II: Legal and business papers, 1666-1899; Series III: Family papers, 1673-1916; Series IV: Bound volumes 1754-1843 (includes James Duane Journals, 1765-1789).

New York Public Library
New York, N.Y.
James Duane papers, 1750-1867.
2 vols. and 2 boxes; collection contains titles to property in New York, a partition book, records of rentals, surveys, and "A Defence of the Rights and Conduct of the Government of New York and its Misrepresentations and Ingratitude of Some of the Claimants under New Hampshire" (1773).

Portraits

James Duane (1733-1797); by Robert Edge Pine; Oil on canvas; ca. 1784; The Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture, The New-York Historical Society, N.Y., ref. #: 1948.54. Reference image courtesy of The New-York Historical Society. Further reproduction prohibited without permission of the repository.

Additional images:

James Duane (1733-97); by Robert Edge Pine; Oil portrait; 1785; Privately owned; Reproduced in Lillian B. Miller, The Dye is Now Cast: The Road to American Independence, 1774-1776 (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975): 21. James Duane (1733-1797); by John Ramage; Miniature watercolor on ivory; ca. 1780-1790; Museum of the City of New York, N.Y., ref. #: 39.207.

James Duane; formerly attributed to John Singleton Copley, but may be attributed to John More; Oil on canvas; ca. 1772; New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, ref. #: N0388.1955.

You are here

Duane, James