Background

William Alexander Duer was born on September 8, 1780 at Rhinebeck, New York, United States. He was the son of William Duer, a member of the Continental Congress, of file Revolutionary Committee of Safety, and of the committee that drafted the first constitution of the state of New York. His mother was Catherine Alexander, daughter of General William Alexander, claimant to the Scottish earldom of Stirling.

Education

At the age of eleven Duer was sent to England to be educated, under the care of his maternal aunts, but in a few years he returned and enrolled at Erasmus Hall, in Flatbush, under Dr. Peter Wilson. On leaving school he entered the law office of Pierre fitienne Du Ponceau of Philadelphia, and later that of Nathaniel Pendleton in New York. After interrupting his legal studies to enlist as midshipman against France, serving on the same ship with Decatur and in the same rank, he returned to the law and was admitted to the bar in 1802.

Career

Duer began practise in conjunction with Edward Livingston, then United States district attorney and mayor of New York, but a little later he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Beverley Robinson. At this time he was a contributor to the Corrector, a newspaper edited by Dr. Peter Irving in support of Aaron Burr. His former partner Livingston having meanwhile opened a law office in New Orleans, Duer joined him there in a thriving practise in which he devoted himself to the study of Spanish civil law. His friend Irving was now editing the Morning Chronicle, and Duer contributed occasional literary articles to this newspaper. After opening a law office at Rhinebeck, he was elected to the state Assembly in 1814 and served till 1820.

As chairman of the Committee on Colleges and Academies he secured the passage of a bill which furnished the basis for ensuing laws on common-school income. He was also chairman of the committee that drafted the law investing Livingston and Fulton with navigation rights in the Hudson River, and in the controversy over this he published two pamphlets (1817, 1819) addressed to Fulton’s biographer, Cadwallader D. Colden. He aided in legislation concerning the canal system and the abuses of the lottery system.

In 1822 he was made a judge of the supreme court of the state, and remained on the bench until 1829, when he resigned to accept the presidency of Columbia College. He held this office until failing health forced him to retire in 1842. His attention was given particularly to certain curricular changes, notably the establishment of scientific courses in which Latin should not be required and the furthering of studies in the modern languages and in Hebrew. He secured the foundation of a number of scholarships and increased the enrollment of the college. Taking personal charge of the freshman course in composition, he also gave to the seniors a course of lectures on constitutional jurisprudence, later published as A Course of Lectures on the Constitutional Jurisprudence of the United Stales (1843). Ilis wise and efficient administration won the admiring affection of his college associates and his eloquence in numerous addresses, largely of political concern, gave him a leading place in the community.

After retiring, Duer lived at Morristown, New Jearsey, where he wrote a biography of his grandfather in The Life of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, published in 1847 by the New Jersey Historical Society. He continued to make frequent public addresses, notably one on education delivered at Columbia College, and one on his early recollections of New York, with reminiscences of Washington’s inauguration, before the St. Nicholas Society. These were published as: The Duties and Responsibilities of the Rising Generation (1848), and New York as it Was, During the Latter Part of the Last Century (1849). His Reminiscences of an Old Yorker (1867) was published posthumously.

Achievements

• Duer served as president of Columbia University, then called Columbia College.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Life of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling; Major-general in the Army of the United States, During the Revolution: With Selections From His Correspondence

    (High Quality FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION: Duer, William Alexan...)

  • The Duties and Responsibilities of the Rising Generation: An Address Delivered Before the Literary Societies of Columbia College, at Their Anniversary Meeting, July 24, 1848

    ( About the Book Biographical books, or bios, are detaile...)

  • REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD YORKER.

    (First and only edition, limited to 35 numbered copies and...)

  • New-York as It Was, During the Latter Part of the Last Century: An Anniversary Address Delivered Before the St. Nicholas Society of the City of New Yo

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Connections

On September 11, 1806 Duer married Iiannah Maria Denning, daughter of William Denning, a prominent New York Whig.

Father:

William Duer

Mother:

Catherine Alexander

Grandfather:

William Alexander

Wife:

Iiannah Maria Denning