R. Holland Duell

R. Holland Duell
United States Commissioner of Patents
In office
October 1, 1875 – January 30, 1877
Preceded byJohn M. Thacher
Succeeded byEllis Spear
Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings
In office
March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875
Preceded byJohn B. Hawley
Succeeded byHenry B. Metcalfe
Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Revolutionary Claims
In office
March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863
Preceded byGeorge N. Briggs
Succeeded byHiram Price
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from New York
In office
March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875
Preceded byDennis McCarthy
Succeeded byWilliam H. Baker
Constituency23rd district (1871–73)
24th district (1873–75)
In office
March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1863
Preceded byHenry Bennett
Succeeded byFrancis Kernan
Constituency21st district
Judge of Cortland County, New York
In office
1855–1859
Preceded byLewis Kingsley
Succeeded byStephen Brewer
District Attorney of Cortland County, New York
In office
1850–1855
Preceded byAugustus L. Ballard
Succeeded byEdward C. Reed
Personal details
Born(1824-12-20)December 20, 1824
Warren, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 11, 1891(1891-02-11) (aged 66)
Cortland, New York, U.S.
Resting placeCortland Rural Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Mary L. Cuyler (m. 1846)
Mary H. Greene (m. 1888)
Children4 (including Charles Holland Duell)
Signature

Rodolphus (sometimes Robert) Holland Duell (December 20, 1824 – February 11, 1891) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was elected to Congress and became United States Commissioner of Patents.

Early life

Duell was born in Warren, Herkimer County, New York on December 20, 1824, a son of Joseph Duell and Phoebe (Potter) Duell.[1][2] He completed preparatory studies and subsequently studied law, first with Daniel Gott and later with Charles B. Sedgwick.[1] He was admitted to the bar in 1845 and commenced practice in Fabius.[3]

Family

In 1846, Duell married Mary Ledyard Cuyler (1822–1884).[2] They were the parents of four children: Louise C., Charles H., Kate L., and Richard C.[2] In December 1888, he married Mary H. Greene.[4]

Career

Originally a Whig, he joined the Republican Party when it was formed in the mid-1850s.[3] Duell moved to Cortland in 1847, and was district attorney of Cortland County from 1850 to 1855.[1] He was Judge of Cortland County from 1855 to 1859.[1] He was a delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention, as well as the 1864 convention and the one in in 1868.[3]

Duell was elected as a Republican to the 36th and 37th United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1859, to March 3, 1863;[1] during the 37th Congress, he was Chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.[5] He resumed the practice of law in Cortland and was Assessor of Internal Revenue for the 23rd District of New York from 1869 to 1871.[1]

He was elected to the 42nd and 43rd United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1875.[1] During the 43rd Congress he was Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings.[5] Duell was appointed as United States Commissioner of Patents by President Ulysses S. Grant on October 1, 1875, and remained in office until January 30, 1877.[1] He resumed the practice of law in Cortland and New York City.[1] He died in Cortland on February 11, 1891; interment was in Cortland Rural Cemetery.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bruce, Dwight Hall (1896). Onondaga's Centennial: Gleanings of a Century. Vol. 2. Boston: Boston History Company. p. 19 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. XII. New York: James T. White & Company. 1904. p. 285 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b c Barnes, William Horatio (1874). The American Government. Vol. II: Biographies of Members of the United States House of Representatives of the Forty-Third Congress. New York: Nelson & Phillips. pp. 129–130 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ New York State, Marriage Index, 1881-1967. Albany, New York: State of New York. 1888. pp. 203, 282. Retrieved June 20, 2025 – via Ancestry.com.
  5. ^ a b Charles, Charles (1876). Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States. Washington, DC: James Anglim. p. 127 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Joint Committee On Printing, US Congress (1961). Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1961. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 832 – via Google Books.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to R. Holland Duell.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.