
At the First Continental Congress in September 1774, Massachusetts delegate Samuel Adams suggested that Rev. Jacob Duché C1757 G1760 offer the opening prayer at the group’s meeting the next day. Duché, then a rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, had been a member of the first class of the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania). After graduating as valedictorian in 1757, he studied in England and was ordained by the Bishop of London. Duché also became a trustee of the College.
Although an Anglican minister whose denomination was led by King George III, Duché addressed the revolutionaries by first reading Psalm 35, then delivering an extemporaneous prayer:
O Lord our Heavenly Father … we beseech thee, on these our American States, who have fled to thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee, to Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give; take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field …
In a letter to his wife Abigail, another Massachusetts delegate, John Adams, wrote, “I must confess I never heard a better Prayer or one, so well pronounced. … with such fervour, such Ardor, such Earnestness and Pathos, and in Language so elegant and sublime—for America.”
Adams added that Duché was “one of the most ingenious Men, and best Characters,” and “a Zealous Friend of Liberty and his Country.” Duché became chaplain of the Congress, and repeated that role for the Second Continental Congress, beginning in 1775 and leading into the Revolutionary War.
A native Philadelphian, Duché was born in 1737, and his experiences at the College of Philadelphia were critical in his development.
Duché “absolutely” enjoyed studying there and made lasting relationships with his classmates, said Kevin J. Dellape, author of America’s First Chaplain: The Life and Times of the Reverend Jacob Duché.
“I think he had a strong belief about the mission of the college,” Dellape said. “I think it lined up with some of the things that mattered to him, the type of young people they were trying to build there at the college, preparing people to think on those levels, spiritually and academically, which were important to him.”
After being jailed for a day by the British during the occupation of Philadelphia, Duché wrote to George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, condemning the quest for American independence and asking him to make peace with the British. It was then that Duché’s popularity with the colonists took a turn.
Washington rejected the suggestion and made the letter public, branding Duché a traitor. Duché fled to England, and his property was confiscated by Congress. Despite the charges, he returned to Philadelphia in 1792 (possibly suffering from dementia after a stroke). He died in 1798 and was buried at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.
—Jon Caroulis