Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/293

Rh source of many family feuds. In 1854-'6 he was a member of the common council of New Orleans, and as chairman of its finance committee was the author of several important measures. By sinking an artesian well in Canal street, Mr. Durell proved correct the opinion of Sir Charles Lyell, that New Orleans rests on the bed of the sea. He strenuously opposed the adoption of the secession ordinance in Louisiana, left the Democratic party on that issue, and for some time afterward he lived in retirement. After the capture of New Orleans by Par- ragut, Mr. Durell was called upon to con- struct a new munici- pal government, and drafted the so-called bureau system, which remained in force from July, 1862, till some years after the war. He was president of the city's bureau of finances in 1862-'4, and mayor of New Orleans during part of 1863, administering the office with great credit. In 1803 he was appointed by President Lincoln U. S. judge for the eastern district of Louisiana, and presided over the entire state after the aboli- tion of the western district in 1866. Judge Durell was president of the State constitutional conven- tion of 1864, and in 1865 declined the office of jus- tice of the IJ. S. supreme court, tendered him by Mr. Lincoln. In 1867, by a personal visit to Washington, he brought about a discontinuance of legal procedure in Louisiana under the confisca- tion laws, and in the same year declined the Aus- trian mission. In 1868 he was mentioned as a candidate for vice-president. He resigned from the bench in 1874, and from 1875 till his death re- sided chiefly in Schoharie, N. Y., engaged in liter- ary pursuits. He contributed much to periodical literature, and published " Sketches " under the pen-name of " H. Didimus " (New York, 1840). He left in manuscript a translation, made in 1840, of P. C. Roux's •' Essay on the History of Prance, and the Immediate Causes of the Revolution of 1789," and a volume of notes to the same ; and had in preparation a "History of Seventeen Years: from 1860 to the Retiring of the Pederal Arms from Louisiana and South Carolina."

DURFEE, Bradford Matthew Chaloner, merchant, b. in Fall River, Mass., 15 June, 1843 ; d. there, 13 Sept., 1872. His father died shortly after the boy's birth, leaving him a large fortune. He entered Yale, but failing health compelled him to leave college during his sophomore year, and he visited Europe in 1865, spending two and a half years in travel. On his return he assumed the management of his affairs, but his health compelled him to be largely on the sea, and he became an ardent yachtsman. For several years he made long cruises on his yacht " Josephine," visiting various countries on the Atlantic ocean. Durfee hall, one of the finest college dormitories in the United States, was his gift to Yale, which honored him with the degree of A. M. in 1871.

DURFEE, Job, jurist, b. in Tiverton, R. L, 20 Sept., 1790 ; d. there, 26 July, 1847. He was gradu- ated at Brown in 1813, and then, after studying law, admitted to practice. In 1814 he was elected a member of the state legislature, serving continu- ously until 1819, and again from 1827 till 1829, be- coming speaker in 1828. He was elected as a fed- eralist to congress, and served from 3 Dec, 1821, till 3 March, 1825. At the close of his congres- sional career he declined a renomination, and re- tired to his farm, where he devoted his attention to literature. Later he resumed his legal practice, and in 1833 was appointed associate, becoming, two years later, chief justice of the supreme court of his state, which office he held with honor to himself during Dorr's rebellion and till his death. Judge Durfee wrote poetry, and published " What Cheer? or Roger Williams* in Exile "(1832; repub- lished in England) ; also an abstruse philosophical treatise entitled " Panidea." See "Complete Works of Job Duffee, with a Memoir of his Life," edited by his son (Providence, 1849).

DURFEE, William Franklin, engineer, b. in New Bedford, Mass., 15 Nov., 1833, received a practical mechanical training at home, and took a course of special study at the Lawrence scientific school of Harvard. In 1853 he became an engineer and architect in his native town, and for five years held the appointment of city surveyor. He was chosen as one of the representatives of New Bedford in the legislature of 1861. and, as secretary of its military committee, was active in forwarding legislation for the equipment of troops at the beginning of the civil war. While holding office he introduced a resolution requesting congress to repeal "all laws which deprive any class of loyal subjects of the government from bearing arms for the common defence." This is believed to have been the first definite proposal for the arming of colored troops. Subsequent to the adjournment of the legislature he devoted himself to his profession, and designed a gun for naval use. A government commission reported that it was the best of its kind that had ever been brought to its notice. Every essential feature of this weapon anticipated that of the " Destroyer " of John Ericsson ; but the government was slow to adopt new weapons, and all efforts to introduce it were abandoned by Mr. Durfee. In June, 1802, he was invited to ascertain if the iron ores of the Lake Superior region were suitable for the manufacture of steel by a method invented by William Kelly, and he erected experimental works where ingots of steel were produced from which were rolled, on 25 Mav. 1865, the first steel rails ever made in the United States. Mr. Durfee became convinced early in his study of the Bessemer process that an exact knowledge of the chemical composition of the crude materials was necessary, and for this purpose equipped, at Wyandotte, Mich., the first analytical laboratory built as an adjunct to steel-works in the United States. Since that time he has had the management of various works, and has successfully introduced the Siemens's regenerative furnace in several places. During 1876 he was one of the group of judges at the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia, having under its supervision the examination of machine tools for wood, iron, and stone working. For his services he received a medal. Afterward he built, at Ansonia, Conn., the first successful furnaces for refining copper by the i;se of gaseous fuel ever constructed in the United States. Of his recent work, the most conspicuous undertaking was the removal of a brick chimney, eight feet square at the base and 100 feet high, weighing 170 tons, from its original foundation, and successfully placing the same upon a new one some thirty feet distant. In 1886 he accepted the general management of the U. S. mitis company, owners of important patents for the production of wrought-iron and