The Reverend Jacob Duché (1737–1798) was a

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Christ Church in

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, and the first

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

to the

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Biography

Duché was born in Philadelphia in 1737, the son of Colonel Jacob Duché, Sr., later

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(1761–1762) and grandson of Anthony Duché, a French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

. He was educated at the Philadelphia Academy and then in the first class of the College of Philadelphia (now the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

), where he also worked as a tutor of Greek and Latin. After graduating as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

in 1757, he studied briefly at

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before being ordained an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

clergyman by the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and returning to the colonies. In 1759 he married Elizabeth Hopkinson, sister of

Francis Hopkinson Francis Hopkinson (October 2,Hopkinson was born on September 21, 1737, according to the then-used Julian calendar (old style). In 1752, however, Great Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar (new style) which moved Hopkinson's ...

, a signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

. In 1768, he was elected to the

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. Duché first came to the attention of the

First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...

in September 1774, when he was summoned to

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to lead the opening prayers. Opening the session on the 7th of that month, he read the 35th Psalm, and then broke into extemporaneous prayer. The-first-prayer-in-congress-september-1774

The-first-prayer-in-congress-september-1774

The prayer had a profound effect on the delegates, as recounted by

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to his wife. On July 4, 1776, when the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...

was

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, Duché, meeting with the church's vestry, passed a

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stating that the name of King

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was no longer to be read in the prayers of the church. Duché complied, crossing out said prayers from his

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

, committing an act of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

against

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, an extraordinary and dangerous act for a clergyman who had taken an oath of loyalty to the King. On July 9, Congress elected him its first official chaplain. When the British occupied Philadelphia in September 1777, Duché was arrested by

General William Howe William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, Order of the Bath, KB Privy Council of Great Britain, PC (10 August 172912 July 1814) was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief, North America#Commanders-in-Chief, America 1775–1783, C ...

and detained, underlining the seriousness of his actions. He was later released, and emerged as a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

and propagandist for the British, at which time he wrote a famous letter to General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, camped at

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, in which he begged him to lay down arms and negotiate for peace with the British. Suddenly, Duché went from hero of the Revolutionary cause to outcast in the new

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. He was convicted of high treason to the State of Pennsylvania, and his estate was confiscated. In consequence, Duché fled to England, where he was appointed chaplain to the

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orphan asylum, and soon made a reputation as an eloquent preacher. He was not able to return to America until 1792, after he had suffered a stroke. On October 1, 1777, Congress appointed joint chaplains, William White, Duché's successor at Christ Church, and

George Duffield __NOTOC__ George Duffield MBE (born 30 November 1946) is an English retired flat racing jockey. He served a seven-year apprenticeship with Jack Waugh, and rode his first winner on 15 June 1967 at Great Yarmouth Racecourse on a horse called Syl ...

, pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. Duché died in 1798 in Philadelphia, where he is buried in St. Peter's churchyard. His daughter, Elizabeth Sophia Duché (born on September 18, 1774, Philadelphia; died on December 11, 1808, Montréal), married Captain John Henry in 1799. Henry was an Army officer and political adventurer who was indirectly instrumental in the declaration of war on Great Britain by the United States in 1812.

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External links

Biography and portrait
at the

Duché's letter to George Washington
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duche, Jacob History of Philadelphia Clergy from Philadelphia American Episcopal priests University of Pennsylvania alumni Clergy in the American Revolution Continental Congress Religion and politics People of colonial Pennsylvania Huguenot participants in the American Revolution 1737 births 1798 deaths Burials at St. Peter's churchyard, Philadelphia

Biography

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