James Duane

James Duane (1732-1808) was the first mayor of New York City and a New York delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774-1783. A lawyer by trade, he held numerous positions, serving as attorney general for New York in 1767, boundary commissioner in 1768 and 1784, and state Indian commissioner in 1774. Duane served on the Committee of Sixty in New York, and was a signer of the Articles of Confederation in 1778. He was also a member of the state convention which ratified the Federal Constitution in 1788.