Reverend Jacob Duché

The Reverend Jacob Duché (1737–1798) was a Rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the first chaplain to the Continental Congress. In 1759 he married Elizabeth Hopkinson, sister of Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Duché first came to the attention of the First Continental Congress in September 1774, when he was summoned to Carpenters' Hall 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.

Christ Church is a National Historic Landmark in Philadelphia.

Carpenters' Hall is a two-story brick building in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was a key meeting place in the early history of the United States. Completed in 1773 and set back from Chestnut Street, the meeting hall was built for and is still owned by the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, the country's oldest extant trade guild. The First Continental Congress met here. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 15 April 1970 (#70000552)[3] and is part of Independence National Historical Park.

When the British occupied Philadelphia in September 1777, Duché was arrested by General William Howe and detained, underlining the seriousness of his actions. He was later released, and emerged as a Loyalist and propagandist for the British, at which time he wrote a famous letter to General George Washington, camped at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in which he begged him to lay down arms and negotiate for peace with the British.[5] Suddenly, Duché went from hero of the Revolutionary cause to outcast in the new United States. He was convicted of high treason to the State of Pennsylvania, and his estate was confiscated.

c. 1777-1778 Duché was sent to England to answer for his perceived perfidy against the British but a storm diverted the ship and he was, for a while, the rector of a parish in Antigua. (see Journals of Mühlenberg <project>)

Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Duch%C3%A9
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church,_Philadelphia
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenters%27_Hall