Author: Durfee, Job
Biography:
DURFEE, Job (1790-1847: ancestry.com)
He was born on 21 Sept. 1790 in Tiverton RI to Thomas and Mary (Lowden) Durfee. He graduated from Brown in 1813 and proceeded to study law with his father, a judge. (Brown bestowed an LLD on him in 1845.) While still a student, he was elected to the state legislature, and subsequently to Congress: he held a seat at either state or federal level until 1829. In 1833 he joined the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, becoming its Chief Justice in 1835--a position he held until his death. His wife was Judith Borden; they were married at Tiverton on 25 Nov. 1820 and had at least seven children. Their son Thomas later edited his father's legal treatises (1849). Durfee died at Tiverton on 26 July 1847 and was buried in the family plot at nearby Quaker Neck. (ancestry.com 28 Aug. 2025; DAB; Appleton) HJ