Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/258

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236
DUANE
DUARTE

With John Jay and Peter Van Schaack he drew up an article of "association which all the revolution- ists in the town signed after the battle of Lexing- ton. Like Jay, he was in the beginning of the lievolution devoted to the English form of govern- ment and to the English church, and opposed to the republican sentiments that prevailed among the mechanics of New York. In the contest between the two revolutionary factions, the party of con- ciliation, of which those two prominent lawyers were exponents, obtained the representation in congress. In the 2d congress, on 24 May, 1775, Mr. Duane moved the opening of negotiations to settle the disputes between the colonies and Great Britain. He was prepared for extreme measures if the British ministry oifered no substantial con- cessions, but in April, 1776, he opposed the Declara- tion of Independence before the arrival of the com- missioners appointed to treat with the colonists. In May he still urged delay in order to ascertain the wishes of the people before changing the gov- ernment. He was a member of the Continental congress during the whole period of its existence ; also of the New York provincial congress in April, 1775, and from June. 1770, to April, 1777, also serv- ing on the committee appointed to draft a state constitution. In 1776-'7 he was a member of the committee of safety. He returned to New York city after its evacuation in 1783, and was chosen the first mayor of the corporation under the new charter, derived from the state legislature, serving from 1784 to 1789. He was a member of the state senate in 1782-'5 and in 1789-'90; also of the council, and of the convention that adopted the Federal constitution in 1788. From 1789 to 1794 he was U. S. district judge for New York.


DUANE, James Chatham, soldier, b. in Sche- nectady, N. Y., 30 June, 1824 ; d. in New York city, 8 Nov., 1897. He was graduated at Union college, and at the U. S. military academy. From 1848 till 1854 he served with the engineer corps, and as as- sistant instructor at West Point. He was then em- ployed in the construction of fortifications till 1856, was light-house inspector at New York in 1856-'8, commanded the engineer company in the Utah ex- jiedition of 1858, and was afterward instructor of engineering at the military academy till the begin- ning of the civil war. He was stationed at Fort Pickens, Fla., in 1861. During the winter follow- ing he organized engineer equipage for the Array of the Potomac, went to Harper's Ferry in Febru- ary, 1862, to bridge the Potomac, commanded the engineer battalion at the siege of Yorktown, con- structed bridges across Chickahominy and White Oak swamps, was engaged at Gaines's Mill on 27 June, 1862, and in the subsequent operations of the Peninsular campaign made roads, field-works, and bridges, notably one 2,000 feet long across the Chickahominy. In the Maryland campaign he served as chief engineer of the Army of the Poto- mac, and was engaged at South Mountain and An- tietam. In 1868, as chief engineer of the Depart- ment of the South, he took part in the attack on Fort McAllister, Ga., and in operations against Charleston. From 15 July, 1863, he was again at- tached to the Army of the Potomac, and was en- gaged at Manassas Gap, Rappaliannock Station, the Wilderness, and Cold Harbor, and distinguished himself at the siege of Petersburg. He became captain of engineers on 6 Aug., 1861, major on 3 March, 1863, and was brevetted colonel on 6 July, 1864, and brigadier-general at the close of the war. From 1865 to 1868 he superintended the construc- tion of the fort at Willet's Point, N. Y., receiving promotion as lieutenant-colonel on 7 March, 1867. He served subsequently as superintendent of forti- fications on the coast of Maine and New Hamp- shire, as light-house engineer of the northeast coast, as a member of various engineer boards, and as president of the board of engineers in New York city. He was promoted colonel on 10 Jan., 1883, in "the autuuin of 1886 was appointed chief of en- gineers, with the rank of brigadier-general, and in June, 1888, he was retired. He published a " Man- ual for Engineer Troops " (New York, 1862).


DUANE, William, journalist, b. near Lake Champlain, N. Y., in 1760; d. in Philadelphia, 24 Nov., 1835. He was educated in Ireland, learned the business of printing, and in 1784 went to India, where he amassed property rapidly, and became editor of a journal entitled " The World." Having taken sides against the local government in a dis- pute with some of its troops, he was invited by the governor. Sir John Shaw, to breakfast, and while on the way to meet the appointment was seized by Sepoys, put on board a- vessel, carried to England, and his large fortune confiscated. After vainly petitioning parliament and the East India com- pany for redress, he became editor of the " Gen- eral Advertiser " (which was subsequently merged in the " London Times "). In 1795 he i-eturned to this country and became editor of the Philadelphia "Aurora," making it the leading organ of the democratic party. Jefferson attributed his elec- tion to the presidency to its vigorous support, and appointed Mr. Duane a lieutenant-colonel in July, 1805. He served in the war of 1812-'15 as adjutant- general, his commission dating in March, 1813. The change of the seat of government to Washing- ton diminished the political importance of the " Au- rora," and Mr. Duane retired from its editorshij) in 1822, travelled through the republics of South America, and on his return he published " A Visit to Columbia in 1822-3 " (Philadelphia, 1826). He was appointed prothonotary of the supreme court of Pennsylvania for the eastern district, an office which he retained until his death. He published " The Mississippi Question " (Philadelphia, 1803) ; a "Military Dictionary" (1810); "An Epitome of the Arts and Sciences " (1811) ; a " Hand-Book for Riflemen" (1813); "Hand-Book for Infantrv" (1813) ; and " American Military Library " (1819). — His son, AVilliani Joliii,b. in Clonmel, Ireland, in 1780; d. in Philadelphia, 27 Sept., 1865, was originally a printer, afterward a paper dealer. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1815, and often represented Philadelphia in the legislature. He became a distinguished lawyer, took a deep in- terest in schools, and was a trustee and subse- quently a director in Girard college. During his father's editorship of the " Aurora " he was his assistant, became secretary of the U. S. treasury in 1833, and was removed by President Jackson for declining to order the removal of the deposits from the U. S. bank. He jniblished " The Law of Na- tions Investigated " (Philadelphia, 1809) ; " Letters on Internal Improvements" (1811); and " Narra- tive and Correspondence concerning the Removal of the Deposits " (1838).— -William, son of William John, b. in Philadelphia in 1807: d. 4 Nov., 1882, published " Christopher ^larshall's Diary," edited (1839) ; " A View of the Relation of Landlord and Tenant in Pennsylvania " (1844) ; " Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate," translated from the French (1846) ; " Law of Roads, Highways. Bridges, and Ferries in Pennsylvania " (1848) ; and " Canada and the Con- tinental Congi'ess " (1850).


DUARTE, Juan Pablo (du-ar'-te), founder of the Dominican republic, b. in Santo Domingo city early iu the present century ; d. in Venezuela, 15