John Price Durbin

Durbin was born on October 10, 1800, in Paris, Kentucky, to Elizabeth "Betsy" Nunn and Hozier Durbin;{{sfn|Roche|1893|p=4}} he was the oldest of their five sons. While he was still young, his father died and he went to work for a cabinetmaker. He continued in this trade until his religious conversion at age 18. Durbin studied Latin, Greek and English grammar with tutors.{{sfn|Curry|1887|p=329}}

Licensed to preach by the Methodist church, Durbin went to Ohio in 1819 in order to begin his ministry. His first church was in Hamilton, Ohio (1821); he entered classes at Miami University while serving there. After another relocation, Durbin continued his college education at Cincinnati College, from which he earned a bachelor's degree and a Master of Arts degree (1825). He was appointed professor of languages at Augusta College in Kentucky.{{sfn|Morgan|1933|p=249}}{{cite book |last1=Sellers |first1=Charles Coleman |title=Dickinson College: A History |date=1973 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |location=Middletown, CT |isbn=9780819540577 |page=204 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTG7AAAAIAAJ |access-date=1 August 2021}}

File:Dickinson College 2.JPG in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from 1833 to 1844.]]

In 1829, while teaching at Augusta College, his colleagues nominated him as Chaplain of the Senate. His nomination ended in a tie in the Senate, and Vice-President John C. Calhoun voted for another chaplain who was from the church his mother attended. Durbin was reconsidered as Chaplain of the Senate in 1831 and this time won the vote.{{sfn|Roche|1893|p=59}} He had not solicited the position and had been offered a position as professor of natural science at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, but declined it so as to accept the position of Chaplain of the Senate.{{sfn|Morgan|1933|p=249}}The Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 2, by John Howard Brown, p. 557 Thereafter, he was editor of the Christian Advocate (1832).{{sfn|Roche|1893|p=88}} In 1833, Dickinson College became part of the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Church; Durbin was called to be the new president, serving until 1844.{{sfn|Morgan|1933|p=248}}{{sfn|Curry|1887|pp=330-333}}Inaugural Address, Delivered in Carlisle, September 10, 1834, by John Price Durbin

Following retirement from the college, Durbin served Union Methodist Church in Philadelphia. In 1850 he became secretary of the Missionary Society, serving until 1872, when ill health led to his retirement. His several tours of Europe and the Middle East led to well-received books which he authored.

Durbin died in New York City on October 18, 1876.{{sfn|Curry|1887|p=353}} He was interred in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.{{sfn|Roche|1893|p=347}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=vqXWAAAAMAAJ The Methodists] by James E. Kirby, Russell E. Richey, Kenneth E. Rowe, p. 292

Durbin married Frances Budd Cook of Philadelphia on September 6, 1827, in Pennsylvania. His children with Frances Cook were Lucretia, Augusta, Margaret, Alexander Cook, John Price and William.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015036766767&view=1up&seq=7&skin=2021 Biographical Catalogue of the Matriculates of the College], University of Pennsylvania, p. 184 Following Frances' death he married her sister Margaret Cook in 1839.1850 and 1870 censuses; Will of Margaret C. Durbin: New York Wills, Vol 0228-0229, 1874-1875

• [https://books.google.com/books?id=7iQ2AAAAMAAJ Observations in Europe, Principally in France and Great Britain], Harper & Brothers, New York, 1844
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=moE2AAAAMAAJ Observations in the East: Chiefly in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor], Harper & Brothers, New York, 1845

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book

| last = Curry

| first = Daniel

| year = 1887

| title = The Methodist Review. (Bimonthly.) Volume LXIX. - Fifth Series, Volume III.

| publisher = Phillips & Hunt

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2dgWAQAAIAAJ

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Morgan

| first = James Henry

| year = 1933

| title = Dickinson College: The History of One Hundred Fifty Years 1783-1933

| publisher = Dickinson College

| url = https://archive.org/details/DKC0226/page/n281/mode/2up

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Roche

| first = John A.

| year = 1893

| title = The Life of John Price Durbin, D.D., LL.D., With an Analysis of His Homiletic Skill and Sacred Oratory

| publisher = Hunt & Eaton

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sKcDAAAAYAAJ

}}

• [http://archives.dickinson.edu/people/john-price-durbin-1800-1876 Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections]
• {{Find a Grave|144940047}}
• {{Internet Archive author |sname=John Price Durbin}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-rel}}

{{succession box|title=27th US Senate Chaplain|before=Henry Van Dyke Johns|after=Charles Constantine Pise|years=December 19, 1831 – December 11, 1832}}

{{s-end}}{{Chaplains of the United States Senate}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durbin, John Price}}

Category:1800 births

Category:1876 deaths

Category:19th-century American Methodist ministers

Category:19th-century American male writers

Category:19th-century American newspaper editors

Category:American cabinetmakers

Category:American Methodist clergy

Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)

Category:Chaplains of the United States Senate

Category:Educators from Kentucky

Category:Miami University alumni

Category:People from Paris, Kentucky

Category:Presidents of Dickinson College

Category:University of Cincinnati alumni

Category:Wesleyan University faculty