Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/294

272 steel castings. Mr. Durfee is a member of numer- ous scientific bodies, to whose proceedings he has contributed papers of technical interest.

DURFEE, Zoheth Shearman, manufacturer, b. in Fall River, iiass.. 22 April, 1881 : d. in Provi- dence, R. I., 8 June, 1880. He was graduated at the New Bedford high school, and finished at the Friends' academy in that city. On the completion of his studies he learned the blacksmith's trade, after which he was associated with his father and uncle in the same business. In 1858 he was re- quested by a number of New Bedford capitalists to report on a new process for the making of steel direct from pig-iron, invented by Joseph Dixon. This led to a careful study of the entire subject of the manufacture of steel, and especially of the Bessemer process, then recently invented in Eng- land. He discovered that a patent substantially the same as Henry Bessemer's, but claiming pri- ority over it, had been granted in the United States to William Kelly. After satisfying himself of the validity of this patent, he obtained control of it, and visited England for the purpose of buy- ing Bessemer's rights in the United States, but failed. Meanwhile he accumulated much informa- tion relative to the practical details of the manu- facture of steel, and became convinced that the in- vention of Robert Mushet was an essential feature in both processes. On his return to the United States he organized a company of prominent iron- makers for protecting and introducing into prac- tical use the Kelly patent. In 1863 he again visited England, secured the control of the Mushet patent for the United States, and subsequently experi- mental steel-works were erected by the Kelly-pro- cess company in Wyandotte, Mich., where the in- gots from which the first steel rails ever made in the United States were produced. During the fol- lowing year Mr. Durfee, after a course of experi- ments, indicated the desirability of melting the charge in the cupola instead of in the reverberatory furnace. That feature prevails exclusively to-day and demonstrates the correctness of Mr. Durfee's views. In 1866 the conflicting interests of the rival patentees were united in the Pneumatic steel asso- ciation, of which he became secretary and treasurer, holding that office tiil his death. Later he was called to superintend the steel-works in Troy, N. Y., but relinquished that appointment in 1868 and re- turned to New York, henceforth devoting his ex- clusive attention to the steel association, whose business he managed until a short time before his death. He patented various improvements in ma- chinery for the manufacture of iron and steel, and made the first movement and probably did more than any other single person toward introducing cheapened steel into the United States.

DURHAM, John George Lambton, Earl of, English statesman, b. in Lambton castle, county Durham, 12 April, 1792 ; d. in Cowes, Isle of Wight, 28 July, 1840. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge, served a short time in a regiment of hussars, and in 1813 was returned to parliament, where he distinguished himself by his liberal views. During the reform excitement of 1819 he advocated the popular cause, both in parliament and at public meetings. He was one of the defenders of Queen Caroline, and in 1821 brought forward a scheme of parliamentary reform which, though at that time unsuccessful, was embodied in the reform act of ten years later. In 1828 he was raised to the peer- age as Baron Durham ; in 1830 he was lord privy seal in Earl Grey's ministry, and in 1833, on his retirement from the cabinet, was made an earl. In 1836-'7 he became ambassador to Russia, and in 1838 was sent, with extraordinary powers, to Can- ada, as governor-general. When he arrived there he found the disturbed state of public feeling, con- sequent upon the rebellion of 1837, still in exist- ence, the constitution practically suspended, and the efficient administration of the law no longer possible. In order to remedy these evils he issued different ordinances which declared, among other things, an amnesty to all the rebels, save their leaders, who were declared banished to Bermuda. His administration of the duties of his office failed to give satisfaction, either in Canada or Great Britain, and he was in consequence recalled in December, 1839. Soon after his return to Em;land an elaborate report by him on Canadian affairs was published. In it he proposed the scheme of the union of the British Noi-th American provinces for legislative purposes, and insisted upon the fullest constitutional freedom for the people. It is sup- posed that the disgrace of his recall preyed upon his mind and hastened his death.

DURHAM, Milton Jamison, lawyer, b. in Mercer county, Ky., 16 May, 1824. He was gradu- ated at Asbury university in 1844, after which he studied law with Joshua P. Bell and was gradu- ated at the Louisville law-school in 1850. For several years he followed his profession with great success, and in 1861-'2 was one of the circuit judges of Kentucky. He then returned to his law practice in Danville, which he continued till 1873, when he was elected as a Democrat to congress, serving from 1 Dec, 1873, till 3 March, 1879. Mr. Durham resumed his profession, but in March, 1885, was appointed first comptroller of the national treasury. Mr. Durham lives in Lexington.

DURIER, Antoine, R. C. bishop, b. in Rouen, France, in 1833. He was preparing himself for the priesthood in the seminary of Lyons when, in response to an appeal from Archbishop Blanc, of New Orleans, he volunteered for the mission of Louisiana. He arrived in the United States in 1855, and was sent to the College of Mount St. Mary's of the West, whei'e he completed his theo- logical course and studied English. He was ordained in 1856, and stationed at Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1857 he was appointed assistant pastor of the cathedral of New Orleans, and afterward became pastor of the Church of the Annunciation in the same city. In 1885 he was consecrated bishop of Natchitoches.

DURIVAGE, Francis Alexander, author, b. in Boston, Mass., in 1814; d. in 1881. He was a contributor of poems, humorous articles, short stories, and sketches to the magazines, under the pen-name of " Old Un." In connection with W. S. Chase he translated Lamartine's " History of the Revolution of 1848." At a later date he issued, with George P. Burnham, who wrote under the pseudonym of " Young Un," " Stray Subjects ar- rested and bound over, being the Fugitive Off- spring of the Old Un and the Young Un that have been lying around loose, and are now tied up for Fast Keeping " (Boston, 1848). He was the author of several plays, and was for a time co- editor of " Ballou's Pictorial." In addition to the works previously mentioned, he published a " Cy- clopaedia of History" (Hartford. 1836). and "Life Scenes from the World around Us " (Boston, 1853).

DURKEE, Charles, senator, b. in Royalton, Vt., 5 Dec, 1807 : d. in Omaha, Neb.. 14 Jan., 1870. He was educated in his native town and in the Burlington academy, after which he engaged in business, and later emigrated to the territory of Wisconsin, where he was one of the founders of Southport, now Kenosha. He was a member of