Author: Purdon, John
Biography:
PURDON, John (1784-1835: WBIS)
He was born in Philadelphia, one of the four sons of John and Mary Purdon. The title of his only volume of verse declares that most of the poems were written during an epidemic of yellow fever in the city: that would have been 1793, before his tenth birthday. He graduated from Princeton in 1802, was called to the bar in 1806, and established a prosperous law practice in Philadelphia. Appleton says that he was a member of the legislature and active in politics, but little confirming evidence has been found. (Newspaper reports do show that he took a leading role in citizens' groups campaigning on behalf of John Quincy Adams in the elections of 1820 and 1824.) He married and had at least one child, but again details are lacking. Purdon made his reputation as the author of An Abridgement of the Laws of Pennsylvania from 1700 (1811)--"Purdon's Digest"--which was repeatedly revised and supplemented, first by Purdon himself and then by others, for almost a hundred years. In 1834 he undertook the editorship of a monthly professional journal, The Law Library, but died on April 3, 1835, apparently quite suddenly. (Appleton; National Gazette and Literary Register [Philadelphia] 2 Jun. 1834)