author
Job Durfee
1790–1847
A Rhode Island lawyer, judge, and public figure who also found time to write imaginative poetry and historical drama, he brought literary ambition to the civic life of early America. His best-known work, What Cheer, turns colonial New England into a sweeping, reflective story.
1 Audiobook
What Cheer; Or, Roger Williams in Banishment: A Poem
by Job Durfee
About the author
Born in Tiverton, Rhode Island, on September 20, 1790, he graduated from Brown University in 1813, studied law, and built a career in public service. He served in the Rhode Island legislature, represented the state in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1821 to 1825, and later became chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Alongside his legal and political work, he wrote poetry and dramatic works. His best-known book, What Cheer (also published as Roger Williams in Exile), revisits the story of Roger Williams and early Rhode Island in an elevated, literary style that reflects the historical imagination of the 19th century.
He died on July 26, 1847. A posthumous edition of his collected works helped preserve both sides of his legacy: a prominent Rhode Island jurist and an author whose writing was deeply tied to the history and ideals of his home state.