Background
Duffy was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the third child of James J. Duffy and Johanna Shiely.
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James Bishop
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Career
When the death of the parents in 1879 orphaned the eight Duffy children, James Albert went to live at the Boys Orphan Asylum in Minneapolis. From 1887 to 1893 he was a student at the University of Saint Thomas and subsequently attended Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity from 1894 to 1899. He was ordained on 27 May 1899 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, by James Trober.
Following his ordination, Duffy served as a priest at Immaculate Conception Church in Minneapolis (1899-1902) and at Saint Anne"s Church in Le Sueur, Minnesota (1902-1904).
In 1904, he became rector at the cathedral parish of Saint Mary"s in Cheyenne, Wyoming, under Bishop James J. Keane. Duffy was consecrated as the first bishop of the Diocese of Kearney (which became the Diocese of Grand Island in 1917) by Archbishop James J. Keane on 13 April 1913.
Duffy oversaw construction of the Cathedral of Saint Mary from 1926-1928, and he also established the Nebraska Register. He remained bishop until 1931, after which he became Titular bishop of Silandus.
He died on 12 February 1968 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Grand Island, Nebraska.
At the time of his death, Bishop Duffy was most the senior Bishop in the United States in both age and years of consecration.
