Washington Duke, 1820-1905, was a farmer in central North Carolina who suffered a number of tragedies during the late 1850s. His fourteen year old son contracted typhoid fever, and the boy's mother got the same disease trying to nurse him back to health. Both soon died. At about the same time, the cotton crop on the Duke farm failed.

Tobacco as an Alternative Crop

A few years earlier, a system for producing bright tobacco had been developed. The technique, which called for the addition of charcoal in curing, allowed the crop to be grown in relatively infertile soil. The result was a relatively mild product that was known as "bright tobacco" or "bright leaf." Duke decided to try raising tobacco, but the Civil War came, disrupting the product's distribution system. Duke, a Unionist in his early 40s who was opposed to secession, was conscripted into the Confederate Army. He later became a prisoner of war; when the conflict ended, because he did not have money for transportation, he had to walk more than one hundred miles back to his home.

Although much of his farm was in ruins, Duke was able to take advantage of the situation. Members of the Union Army stationed in central and eastern North Carolina had broken into a number of tobacco warehouses and had developed a taste for the bright tobacco. Duke and his family were able to manufacture a tobacco product they called "Pro Bono Publico," which they marketed to customers in North Carolina. The operation was successful, and the company expanded their operation. By 1881, W. Duke, Sons and Company had begun manufacturing cigarettes, first by hand, then by machine. Washington Duke's son James B. Duke was especially aggressive in his use of advertising.

Lowering Costs by Consolidation

In the 1880s, James Duke was convinced that the best way to bring down costs would be for all the major competing tobacco companies to merge their operations. In 1890, the five biggest tobacco manufacturers came together to form the American Tobacco Company. This organization was known as the "tobacco trust" because of its almost complete monopoly of the tobacco industry. American Tobacco continued to grow for about 20 years, until it was broken up by the courts in 1911.

Famous Quotation

Of his father, James B. Duke said, "My old daddy always said that if he amounted to anything in life it was due to the Methodist circuit riders who frequently visited his home and whose preaching and counsel brought out the best that was in him."

Philanthropy

The Duke family contributed money to a local Methodist school, Trinity College, in Durham, N.C. In 1924, that institution became Duke University. The Duke Endowment also provided millions of dollars for schools, orphanages, hospitals, and the Methodist church in North and South Carolina.