“James Duane (February 6, 1733-February 1, 1797) was a prominent American lawyer and jurist as well as a leading figure in New York State politics and government during the Revolution and early years of the American republic. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, a New York State senator, mayor of New York City, and a U.S. District Judge, and he was a signer of the Articles of Confederation.
Anthony Duane (ca, 1679-1747), the father of James Duane, was born in Ireland and had been an officer in the British Navy at the time he came to America about 1698. In 1702 he left the navy and married Eva Benson, the daughter of New York City merchant Richard Benson. They had two sons. After Eva died, Anthony married Althea Ketaltas (variant spelling: Hettletas), the daughter of a wealthy Dutch merchant family. James is a son from this marriage. Althea died in 1736 and Anthony married a third time, in 1741, to Margaret Riken (Rycken).
Anthony Duane’s mercantile career provided him with the means to invest in land that could be developed and rented out. In 1741 he acquired a large tract located a short distance to the west of Schenectady, which at the time was primarily a frontier trading post in the colony of New York. After he died, the land passed to his son James, who expanded the estate by purchasing adjoining tracts of land.
The Duane landholdings were organized into a township that was officially recognized by letters patent, March 13, 1765. Eventually, much of the land in the original patent would form the present Town of Duanesburg in Schenectady County. The date of official recognition as a town was March 22, 1788.”
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New York State Library 1 January 1734.