Washington Duke

Washington Duke
Born	Washington Duke (1820-12-18)December 18, 1820 Orange County, North Carolina,U.S.
Died	May 8, 1905(1905-05-08)(aged 84) Durham, North Carolina,U.S.
Occupation(s)	Farmer, entrepreneur
Known for	Namesake ofDuke University; Founder oftobacco manufacturer'W. Duke, Sons & Co.'
Spouses	Mary Caroline Clinton ​ ​ (1842⁠–⁠1847)​ Artelia Roney ​ ​ (1852⁠–⁠1858)​
Children	Five, includingBenjamin,JamesandBrodie
Signature

Washington Duke(December 18, 1820 – May 8, 1905) was anAmericantobaccoindustrialist andphilanthropist.During theAmerican Civil Warhe enlisted in theConfederate States Navy.In 1865, Duke founded the "W. Duke, Sons & Co.", a tobacco manufacturer that would be merged with other companies to form conglomerateAmerican Tobacco Companyin 1890.

Early life and Civil War

Washington Duke was born on December 18, 1820, in easternOrange County,North Carolina,in what is today the township ofBahamainDurham County.The eighth of ten children of Taylor Duke (c.1770–1830) and Dicey Jones (born c.1780), Washington worked as a tenant farmer until he married Mary Caroline Clinton (1825–1847) in 1842. At the time of their marriage, his father-in-law gave the couple 72 acres of land located in what is today Durham County. It was on this land that he began his career as a subsistence farmer. The couple had two sons: Sidney Taylor Duke (1844–1858), andBrodie Leonidas Duke(1846–1919). Mary Duke died in 1847 at the age of 22.

In 1852, Duke built a homestead for his second wife, Artelia Roney (1829–1858), who was fromAlamance County, North Carolina.It still exists.Artelia gave birth to three children between 1853 and 1856: daughter Mary Elizabeth Duke (1853–1899), and sonsBenjamin Newton DukeandJames Buchanan Duke(the latter more commonly known as "Buck" ). In 1858, oldest son Sidney caught typhoid fever and died. Artelia, who had been caring for Sidney, also succumbed to the illness ten days later.

Very little is known about Duke's antebellum views on politics. It is known that Duke owned one slave, named Caroline, whom he purchased for $601, and had hired out the labor of another slave from his neighbors to work on his farm.

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Duke was 40 years old, too old for the initial conscription into service for the Confederacy. However, the secondConfederate Conscription Actpassed in September 1862 increased the draft-eligible age to 45. Duke, aware that he would soon be called into military service, held a sale at his home on October 20, 1863, to sell the entirety of his farm equipment.He enlisted in the Confederate navy, and served inCharleston, South Carolina,andRichmond, Virginia,until his capture by Union forces in April 1865. After a brief stint in a Federal prison, he was paroled and was sent by ship toNew Bern, North Carolina,and from there, walked 134 miles (216 km) back to his homestead.

Tobacco career

Puzzle Card Number 8, The Cryptogram Puzzle, from the Jokes series (N118) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco (c. 1890)

After the war, Duke stopped farming in order to focus on manufacturing tobacco products. In 1865, using a converted corn crib as a factory, Duke started his first company, "W. Duke and Sons," and began production of pipe tobacco under the brand name "Pro Bono Publico" ( "For the Public Good." )According to Duke, he, along with his sons Ben and Buck, produced between 400 and 500 pounds of pipe tobacco per day.As their company slowly prospered, they built a two-story factory on the homestead in 1869. In 1874, Washington Duke sold his farm and moved his family into the rapidly growing city of Durham. He and his sons built a factory on Main Street, and Washington spent the rest of the decade as a traveling salesman for "Pro Bono Publico."

Statue of Washington Duke atDuke University's East Campus, photographed in June 2006

In 1880, at the age of 60, Washington Duke sold his share in the business to Richard Harvey Wright, a farmer from nearby Franklin County. W. Duke & Sons & Co., led by Washington Duke's son Buck as president, eventually achieved great success as a manufacturer of cigarettes. This business became theAmerican Tobacco Companyaround 1890. Through merging multiple partners and through floating stock, the company became the largest tobacco manufacturer in the world.

After selling his share in the company, Washington Duke became more involved with local politics as a member of theRepublican Party,and devoted more time to charitable and philanthropic works.A lifelong member and supporter of the Methodist church, Duke began to support local churches financially, as well as institutions of higher learning. Duke helped to bringTrinity College,a Methodist college, to Durham fromRandolph Countyin 1890.In 1896 while Trinity College was struggling financially, Duke donated $100,000 to the institution on the condition that it "open its doors to women, placing them on equal footing with men."In appreciation, the school offered to rename itself after Duke, which he declined.

Washington Duke died at his home inDurhamon May 8, 1905, at the age of 84.Originally interred at Maplewood Cemetery in Durham, he was later re-interred in the Memorial Chapel within theDuke University Chapel.In the 1910s, members of the Duke family began to plan what would becomeThe Duke Endowmentof Trinity College. After the indenture for the $40,000,000Duke Endowmentwas signed in December 1924 by Washington's youngest son, James B. Duke, Trinity College renamed itselfDuke Universityin honor of Washington Duke, in accordance with the terms of the indenture. Today, a statue of Washington Duke sits on Duke University's East Campus.

Bibliography

• Durden, Robert Franklin,The Dukes of Durham: 1865–1929,Duke University Press, 1975.ISBN0-8223-0330-2
• North Carolina Historic SitesArchivedDecember 13, 2018, at theWayback Machine,North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Office of Archives & History]

External links

• AsoldierswalkhomeArchivedJanuary 18, 2018, at theWayback Machine
• library.duke.edu
• Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory
• Duke University biography of Washington Duke
• Duke Homestead Education & History Corporation