Background
Thomas Durfee was born on February 6, 1826 at Tiverton, Rhode Island, United States. He was the elder son of Chief Justice Job Durfee and Judith (Borden) Durfee.
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Thomas Durfee was born on February 6, 1826 at Tiverton, Rhode Island, United States. He was the elder son of Chief Justice Job Durfee and Judith (Borden) Durfee.
Durfee obtained his early education at home.
In 1842, having previously received two years’ private tuition at East Greenwich, Rhode Island, he entered Brown University, where he graduated in 1846.
He then studied law at Tiverton and later at Providence where he was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1848.
Commencing practise at Providence, Durfee was in 1849 appointed reporter to the supreme court and in that capacity compiled and published Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. He resigned in 1854 when he was elected by the General Assembly a member of the court of magistrates for the City of Providence. This position he retained by successive réélections for six years, being presiding magistrate during his last five terms.
In 1857 he completed and published A Treatise on the Law of Highways, which had been partially written by J. K. Angell prior to his death. For many years this remained the standard work on the subject. He retired from the magistracy in 1860 in order to devote himself to private practise, and on the outbreak of the Civil War came to the fore as a strong supporter of the war measures of the administration.
In 1863 he was induced to return to public life, entering the General Assembly as representative for Providence. Although he had had no legislative experience he was elected speaker, continuing to act as such till the expiration of his term.
In 1864 he headed the Rhode Island delegation to the Republican National Convention at Cincinnati, when Lincoln was nominated for a second term. In 1865 he was elected to the state Senate, but in June of the same year was chosen an associate justice of the supreme court of Rhode Island.
He became chief justice on January 28, 1875, and continued to occupy that position till his retirement, March 4, 1891, having completed over twenty-five years of judicial service.
Though in 1897 he acted as chairman of the commission to revise the state constitution, he passed the remainder of his life in comparative retirement, dying at Providence in his seventy- sixth year.
Durfee’s active interests were not confined to the law. He was throughout his life a devoted supporter of Brown University, and rendered notable service to that institution, of which he was successively trustee, chancellor, and fellow.
At the request of the Rhode Island Historical Society he edited, The Complete Works of the Hon. Job Durfee, Late Chief Justice of Rhode Island (1849), prefixing a memoir of the latter’s life. He was the author of The Village Picnic and Other Poems (1872), Gleanings from the Judicial History of Rhode Island (1883), and a number of occasional addresses on historical subjects which were published in pamphlet form.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
(This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)
On October 29, 1857 Durfee married Sarah, daughter of John Slater.