In 1795 he had the gratification of witnessing the consecration, by Bishop Provost, of an Episcopal church he had erected in Duanesburgh, at his own expense. In 1796 he commenced building a house in that town for his own residence, but he never lived to complete it. On the morning of the first of February, 1797, just as he was about to rise, he was taken with an affection of the heart, and expired immediately.

This notice of his public employments shows the esteem and respect in which the Hon. James Duane was universally held ; in private life there is no tradition of his having ever lost a friend. He was of a kind, cheerful, and social disposition, fond of society, and well calculated to bear a prominent part in it, whether the amenities and courtesies of life were required to be exercised, or whether grave matters of business were topics of discussion. Many societies in other states enrolled him among their members. He was an honorary member of the Cincinnati Society in July, 1784, attended their meetings, was one of their committee of correspondence, and aided in procuring the alteration in their constitution that took away the jealousy of so many of the ardent democracy of the country. No layman of the Episcopal church was more instrumental than himself in uniting all its members in the United States under one constitution, and in obtaining the consecration of her first bishops.

At his death Judge Duane was survived by his widow, one son and four daughters. The son was the late James C. Duane, of Schenectady. His oldest daughter married the late General North of Duanesburgh, and is long since dead. His second daughter married George W. Featherstonhaugh, an English