The Duke Homestead
byMarcus Walters and Ralph Isenrich
At the age of twenty one Washington Duke set out from home to take up tenant farming. As the son of Taylor Duke, the respected neighbor, head of a military section, and deputy sheriff, Washington was one of ten children. In that time it was not unusual to find very large families. The reason for this is that most of the husbands in these families were farmers, and they needed a bigger work force to help them out with the farming.
On August 9,1842 Duke was wed to Mary Caroline Clinton and of the two they together had two children. The were Sidney Taylor and Brodie Leonidas. In November of 1847 Mary Caroline passed away*. Left with two small children to raise, Duke continued his farming of corn, wheat, oats, and sweet potatoes. As a farme,r Duke had over three hundred acres of land which he had either bought or inherited from his father-in-law.
On December 9,1852 Duke married again and this time it was to Artelia Roney of Alamance County. Quickly their family grew from four to seven with the births of Mary, Benjamin, and James Buchanan Duke. Although Duke had such a large farm and not that many people to help around the house. He did all of the work on his own without the benefit of any slaves. Duke though did have one slave who was a house maid, but their were no others.
Life had been going rather smoothly for Duke until in 1858 when tragedy struck again. This time his fourteen year old son Sidney had become ill with typhoid and while trying to nurse him back to health Artelia also contracted the disease and they both died. Duke though was ale to manage with the help of Artela's sisters help who had volunteered to run the house hold.
At this time Duke decided to sell all of his farm land and convert all his means of farming into tobacco production. It is not clear whether the Homestead was rented or he bought it but all payment was made in leaf tobacco. During a short military career Duke was captured by Union forces and imprisoned in Richmond. At the end of the war though he was released and shipped back to New Bern. With lack of money and transportation Duke walked back to his Homestead a trip of some 135 miles.
The Duke's Tobacco Empire
This trek back to the Homestead represented the start of the Duke's Tobacco Empire. While away the tenants were not able to make the proper payments on the house so they had to abandon the Homestead. The remaining tobacco was confiscated by soldiers. What was left over was turned into pipe tobacco which was used to trade for supplies and sometimes cash.
During this time period although hard to make a living in the manufacture of tobacco Washington was however able to keep up a steady incline of the growth of his company. In 1873 the Duke's were producing around 125,000 pounds of smoking tobacco annually. As the empire steadily grew the more the number of customers grew outside of North Carolina.
In 1881 the Duke's started the production of cigarettes due to the heavy competition of some other companies. The manufacture of cigarettes at the time was a very hard laboring. An expert roller could roll only about four a minute. In 1884 however the Duke's bought two machines that were said to role over 200 cigarettes a minute
The Duke's gave it a chance and found that when working that the machine could do what was said, but when it broke down they were sent a technician from the company. William T. O'Brien was his name and as a team him and Buck Duke were able to fix the machine and made them the largest tobacco company in North America.
The American Tobacco Company
In 1890 the Duke's felt that the merger of all the major tobacco companies in North America would put them ahead and on top of everybody else in the business. So in 1890 five major tobacco companies combined to form the American Tobacco Company.
In 1911 though over a Supreme Court ruling the company had to be broken apart because it was forming a monopoly which was bad for the economy and this was the end of the Duke's almighty rein as tobacco kings.
*- Not much is known about Washington’s first wife and why she died and so on.
Bibliography
"The Duke Family and Duke University"- November 17, 1998 http://www.duke.edu/web/Archives/history/dukeduke.htm
"Duke Homestead and Tobacco Museum"- November 17, 1998 http://sunsite.unc.edu/maggot/dukehome/index.htm
Robert F. Durden, The Dukes of Durham, Durham, N.C.: 1975
The Durham Homestead (The Place) November 14, 1998
"Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club"- November 17, 1998 http://www.washingtondukeinn.com/history.htm
by Erin Casciere. and Kelly Kabbes.
The construction of the Governor’s Mansion, often times called the Executive Mansion, began in 1883 by prisoners. It wasn’t finished until seven years later, in 1900. The warden of the prison, Col. William J. Hicks (1827-1911) supervised the work done by the prisoners. The prisoners chosen to do the job, were skilled brick masons and carpenters, and the names of many of the prisoners can be found etched in the bricks of the walkways and the sidewalks that are found on the grounds of the Mansion today. The total cost of the delicately designed Mansion, work of Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan (1815-1884), was only $58, 843. This amount was twice as much as the anticipated amount of the state.
During the early times of the Mansion, many things were going on in the world. Among these things were: the Industrial Revolution, Japan emerged as a world power, the Boer War, the first automobile, the phonograph, and the box camera was invented, the Great White Fleet, New Zealand gave women the right to vote, the United states became a world power, the Wright Brothers flew the first plane, and Ford came out with the Model-T car. The presidents during this time were Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. The vice presidents during this time Levi P. Morton, Adlai E. Stevenson, Garret A. Hobart and Theodore Roosevelt, and Charles W. Fairbanks.
In 1797, a plain story building with an office for the governor was built on the corner of Fayetteville St. and Hargett St. In 1810, the house was inadequate due to a cracked chimney, a leaking roof and falling plaster. In 1816, an elaborate brick building with white columns was built. They called it the "Governor’s Palace." Governor William Miller was the first governor to occupy the "palace." Twenty succeeding governors recided in the "palace." Zebulon Vance was the last governor to occupy the "palace" at the end of the Civil War. During the reconstruction of the new Mansion, the governors lived in rental houses or hotel rooms. During two administrations, the governors lived in their own homes. There was much debate over the location of the new Mansion, and the decision was finally approved by the General Assembly. A bill in 1883 allowed the new mansion to be built on Burke Square.
The current governor living in the Mansion is Governor Jim Hunt, who was governor sixteen years ago. Then James Grubbs Martin was in office from 1985-1993, then Jim hunt came back into office again, in 1993. He has four children and six grandchildren, but none of them currently live in the house with him and his wife, Carolyn Leonard Hunt. His favorite room in the entire house is the library. Often times the doors to the library will be closed because he has decided to hold a meeting in there, instead of a private office room.
The entire Mansion has a total of fifteen rooms, not including the Entrance Hallway. The rooms are: the Gentleman’s Parlor, Ballroom, Library, the Dining Room, Ladies’ Parlor, Morning Room, Living and Dining Area, Southeast Bedroom, South Central Bedroom, Southwest Bedroom, Northwest Bedroom, East Bedroom, Northeast Bedroom, Kitchen and Family Den. Throughout the house, on the hardwood floors, there are scratch marks in the floor from children roller-blading throughout the house. There are a total of fourteen fireplaces in the house and in the Entrance Hallway there is a huge red rug that was given to the Mansion as a 100th Anniversary gift. Along the edges of the carpet are names of the past governors that have lived in the house. And when you walk in the front door, you see many delicately painted portraits hung along the two walls of the hallway. When you walk into the Mansion, the first portrait on your right is always of the current governor. And along the hallway are hung the past governor’s portraits. The current governor is allowed to arrange any of the portraits any way he wants.
The Gentleman’s Parlor features Chinese Chippendale furnishing in rich, masculine tones. The handmade rug has medallions in the corners, which represent certain historical events in the state. These historical events include De Soto’s expedition in 1540, Sir Walter Raleigh’s 1585 attempt at colonization, 1795 founding of the first state university, 1903 Wright Brothers’ flight.
The Ballroom is used for many different events such as meetings, recitals, and dinner parties. The room is balanced with two fireplaces on opposite sides of the room, a pair of Sheffield chandeliers, and two pairs of mirrors. The mahogany furniture is part of the Mansion’s original collection of furniture.
The Library features stained heart pine woodwork, handmade bookcases, which contains a collection of North Carolina books. There is a leather-top conference table that Governor Jim Hunt loves to use. On the maroon colored couch, there are eight pillows with the eight major industries of the states woven into them. There is a pillow for agriculture, fishing, furniture, manufacturing, textiles, tabacco, tourism and transportation. On the wall of the library are several maps and documents that are important to the state of North Carolina.
The Dining Room is used for receptions and meals. The San Domingo mahogany table can serve up to twenty-four people. Above the beautiful table hangs an Austrian crystal chandelier, which was given to the state as a gift from a German woman that came over to the United States during World War II. She gave the chandelier to the state because she was so grateful because of the courtesy she received when she came to North Carolina. When she gave the chandelier to the state, they decided to put it in the Governor’s Mansion. They went to put it all together and soon realized that the 400-piece chandelier came without directions. Because of this it was a major challenge to put it together!
There aren’t many spectacular myths or legends about the Mansion, except for one. It takes place in the Northwest Bedroom and the current governor at the time was Governor Fowle. He was a widower at the time he occupied the mansion. His young son, Daniel, was afraid to sleep by himself in his new home. He often crawled into bed with his father. Governor Fowle had a special bed, six feet by six feet, made to accommodate the two of them. However, after only three months, Governor Fowle became ill and died in this very bed on April 7, 1891. While Robert W. Scott was governor, Governor’s Fowle’s bed temporarily was removed from this room and placed in the attic. Shortly after, strange sounds began to come from the Northwest Bedroom walls. This suggested to Governor Scott that Governor Fowle was "upset" by the removal of his bed and restlessly "searched for repose." The bed has been returned to this room, and no further sounds have been reported.
The Governor’s Mansion is an amazing house, but very few get the opportunity to live in it. If you have a chance, go to the Governor’s Mansion in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.
Bibliography
William B.Bushong and Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans. "The Governor’s Executive Mansion." 1993.
"The Executive Residences of North Carolina."
"Executive Mansion." citysearch. triangle.citysearch.com. December 2, 1998.
http://triangle.citysearch.com/E/V/RDUNC/1002/52/17/Received more information from a touch screen/printer at the Visitor’s Center in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina
