George Washington Duke

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George Washington Duke (December 18, 1820 – May 8, 1905) was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist.

Biography

Duke was born in the eastern part of Orange County, North Carolina (that part now being in Durham County, North Carolina), to Taylor Duke (c1770–1849) and Dicey Jones (c1780–1860). On August 9, 1842, he married Mary Caroline Clinton (1825–1847) with whom he had two children: Sidney Taylor Duke (1844–1858) and Brodie Leonidas Duke (1846–1919).

After Mary Duke's death at age twenty-two, he married Artelia Roney (1829–1858) on December 9, 1852. Both Mary and Artelia died of typhoid fever. With Artelia Duke, he had three children: Mary Elizabeth Duke (1853–1893) who married Robert E. Lyon; Benjamin Newton Duke (1855–1929) and James Buchanan Duke (1856–1925).

Washington Duke served in the Confederate Navy (1863–1865) during the American Civil War against his will. He was vigorously opposed to slavery though some have mistakenly concluded that he owned slaves because he once purchased a slave. In reality he was purchasing the slave's freedom and he set her free immediately after the purchase as is shown by the census records shortly thereafter when she was living on his land as a free woman. It is also alleged that he was once recorded selling slaves but this is not correct either. He mentioned that slaves might be sold at the same time as a sale of his property. He did not say they were his slaves and, in fact, the 1860 census, just prior to this "recorded" event shows that he did not own slaves. The third reason some claim that he owned slaves is that he once hired a slave from a slave owner to work for him on a temporary basis during which that slave escaped. It has been reported that he actually assisted the slave in the escape and he hired him so that the slave would have time to get to a northern state before Washington reported him missing.

After the war, he grew tobacco, but in 1874, he sold his rural home and moved to the city of Durham, where he began his tobacco business. His workers hand processed tobacco into a form that could be sold by the bag for pipe smokers or hand rolled into cigarettes. In 1881, the W. Duke Sons and Company was established as a tobacco manufacturer and was soon a marketer of pre-rolled cigarettes. In 1884 he was nominated by the Republican Party for North Carolina State Treasurer, an elected position, and lost.[1]

After a "tobacco war" among the five large manufacturers, Washington's son James Duke became president of the dominant American Tobacco Company and son Benjamin its vice-president. They would build the company into a multi-national corporation and a monopoly. In 1880 the Dukes were residing in Durham, and Washington was living with his son James and two sisters-in-law: Bettie Roney (born c.1830) and Annie Roney (born c.1846). Also in the household were Jennie Procter (born c.1862) as "house assistant" and two servants: Louisa Sparkman (born c.1867); and Laura Hopkins (born c.1869).

Duke used his influence to have Trinity College moved to Durham. The institution opened its new campus in 1892 with him and son Benjamin as its principal benefactors. In 1896, Duke gifted the college with $100,000 (about $2,200,000 in 2005 dollars) on the condition that it open its doors to women. Trinity College was renamed in honor of Duke in 1924, becoming Duke University.

Washington Duke was interred in Memorial Chapel in the Duke University Chapel on the campus of Duke University. He is memorialized by a statue at the entrance to Duke's East Campus.

George Washington Duke was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist who fought in the American Civil War.

Early Life & Civil War Washington Duke was born on December 18, 1820 in eastern Orange County, North Carolina, in what is today the township of Bahama. The eighth of ten children of Taylor Duke and Dicey Jones, Washington worked as a tenant farmer until he married Mary Caroline Clinton 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, and Brodie Leonidas Duke. Mary Duke died in 1847 at the age of 22.

In 1852, Duke built a homestead for his second wife, Artelia Roney, who was from Alamance County, North Carolina. It still exists. Artelia gave birth to three children between 1853 and 1856: daughter, Mary Elizabeth Duke, and sons, Benjamin Newton Duke, and James Buchanan Duke. 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. However, a majority of people in the Piedmont region of North Carolina leaned towards the Unionist position. Furthermore, the region's views on the issue of slavery was more of ambivalence, rather than strong feelings in favor or in opposition to slavery, and "while substantial numbers of white in the piedmont were not directly connected to the institution [of slavery], they nonetheless mostly accepted its presence without thinking." It is known that Duke owned one enslaved person, named Caroline, whom he purchased for $601, and had hired out the labor of an enslaved person 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 second Confederate Conscription Act passed 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 in Charleston, SC, and Richmond, VA, 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 to New Bern, and from there, walked 134 miles back to his homestead.

Tobacco Career & Durham After the war, Duke decided to abandon farming in favor of tobacco manufacture. 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 which they called, "Pro Bono Publico" (For the Public Good). According to Duke, he along with his sons, Ben and Buck, managed to produce somewhere 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.”

In 1880, at the age of 66, Washington Duke sold his share in the business to Richard Harvey Wright, a farmer from nearby Franklin County. W. Duke & Sons & Co., led by his son Buck as president, would eventually achieve great success as a manufacturer of cigarettes. This business would soon become the American Tobacco Company around 1890, and through merging multiple partners in one step and through floating a stock, a company which became the largest tobacco manufacturer in the world.

After selling his share in the company, Duke became more involved with local politics as a member of the Republican Party, along with charity and philanthropic works. A lifelong member and supporter of the Methodist church, Duke began to invest financially in supporting local churches, as well as institutions of higher learning. Using his influence, Duke helped to bring Trinity College (a Methodist college) to Durham from Randolph County in 1890. In 1896 while the institution was struggling financially, Duke gave Trinity $100,000, under terms that Trinity "open its doors to women, placing them on equal footing with men." In appreciation, the school offered to rename itself after Duke, which Washington declined.

Washington Duke died on May 8, 1905 at the age of 84 years old. He was originally interred at Maplewood Cemetery in Durham (but would later be re-interred after the completion of the Duke Memorial Chapel). In the 1910s, members of the Duke family began to plan what would become The Duke Endowment. Washington's youngest son, James B. Duke, cemented the family legacy in December 1924 by signing the indenture for the $40,000,000 Duke Endowment. In appreciation, Trinity College changed their name to Duke University, in honor of Washington Duke, who had been a supporter of Trinity for decades. Today, a statue of Washington Duke sits on the university's East Campus, watching over the school he had supported for so many years.

Washington Duke (1820-1905) aka George Washington Duke I, was a manufacturer. (b. December 18, 1820; Durham County, North Carolina, USA - d. May 08, 1905; Durham, Durham County, North Carolina, USA)

Parents:
Washington was born in 1820 to Taylor Duke (c1770-1830) and Dicey Jones (c1780-?).

Birth:
He was born on December 18, 1820 in Durham County, North Carolina.

First marriage:
He married Mary Caroline Clinton (1825-1847) on August 09, 1842. Mary died of typhoid fever in 1847.

Children:
Sidney Taylor Duke (1844-1858) and Brodie Leonidas Duke
(1846-1919).

Second marriage:
After her death he married Artelia Romey (1829-1858) on December 9, 1852. Artelia died of typhoid fever in 1858.

Children:
With Artelia he had three children: Mary Elizabeth Duke (1853-1893) who married Robert E. Lyon; Benjamin Newton Duke (1855-1929) who married Sarah Pearson Angier on February 21, 1877; and James Taylor Duke (1856-1925) who married Lillian McCreedy and later married Nanaline Holt (1869-1961) on July 23, 1907 in Brooklyn, New York.

Civil War:
Washington served in the Confederate Navy from 1863 to 1865, in the American Civil War.

Tobacco:
After the war he grew tobacco and started a manufacturing business which consisted of hand processing tobacco to make it into a form that could be sold by the bag for people to smoke in pipes or to hand roll their own cigarettes. The family would travel throughout the United States to market their products then return to their farm. By 1880, James B. Duke turned the firm of W. Duke Sons & Co. into a manufacturer and marketer of pre-rolled cigarettes.

Durham, North Carolina:
In the 1880 US Census the Dukes are residing in Durham, North Carolina and Washington is living with his son James and two sister-in-laws: Bettie Romey (1830-?) and Annie Romey (1846-?). Also in the household are Jennie Procter (1862-?) as "house assistant" and two servants: Louisa Sparkman (1867-?); and Laura Hopkins (1869-?).

American Tobacco:
After a "tobacco war" among the five large manufacturers, James Duke emerged as president of the dominant American Tobacco company, which became a multinational corporation and a monopoly.

Relationships:
He was the grandfather of Doris Duke (1912-1993).

.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jul 15 2022, 3:08:36 UTC