Colonel Jacob Duché (1708–1788) was a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in the colonial

province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

. Duché was born in Philadelphia, the son of Anthony Duché (c. 1682-1762), a potter from a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

family who had emigrated to England. Anthony had come with his wife to America in the same ship as

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

in about 1700. Jacob was appointed a colonel of the militia. He served as mayor of Philadelphia from 1761 to 1762. He became a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

through his election in 1768.Bell, Whitfield J., and Charles Greifenstein, Jr. Patriot-Improvers: Biographical Sketches of Members of the American Philosophical Society. 3 vols. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1997, 2:284–286. He was for many years a vestryman of Christ Church; when the congregation grew too large to be accommodated there, he headed the committee that oversaw the erection of its daughter church, St. Peter's.

Family

Duché married Mary Spence (d. June 5, 1747) on January 13, 1733–34. He later married a widow Bradley, née Esther Duffield. He was the father of Jacob Duché, chaplain to

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

. He died in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in 1788.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duche, Jacob Sr. 1708 births 1788 deaths 18th-century mayors of places in Pennsylvania History of Philadelphia Mayors of Philadelphia People from colonial Pennsylvania