James P. B. Duffy
American politician (1878–1969)
James Patrick Bernard Duffy (November 25, 1878 – January 8, 1969) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served one term as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York from 1935 to 1937.
Early life and career
Duffy was born in Rochester, New York, one of nine children. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1901 and from Harvard Law School in 1904. He was admitted to the bar the same year and began practice in partnership with Republican James Breck Perkins, a member of Congress. He abandoned the practice of law in 1914 acceding to his father's request to take over as manager of The Duffy-Powers Department Store, the family business. There he remained until the concern went bankrupt in 1932.
Political career
Duffy was an avid Democratic Party member and held a series of political posts before and after his period on the bench. He was a member of the City of Rochester, New York School Board from 1905 to 1932, and a member of the New York State Alcoholic Beverage Control Board from 1933 to 1934.
Congress
He was elected to Congress in 1934, having defeated incumbent Republican James L. Whitley and represented New York's 38th congressional district from January 3, 1935, until January 3, 1937, departing due to his defeat for renomination in 1936.
Later career and interests
He was then appointed by Governor Lehman to the New York Supreme Court on April 20, 1937, and served until December 31, 1937.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “James P. B. Duffy” as american politician (1878–1969). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6140725. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1878, 1969, 1935 and 1937.
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This entry incorporates text from “James P. B. Duffy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.