Family and Business
1820 - 2012
Birth of James B. Duke
James Buchanan “Buck” Duke is born on December 23 to Washington and Artelia Roney Duke on a North Carolina farm. He has a sister, Mary, a brother, Ben, and two half-brothers, Sidney and Brody. The Duke Homestead near Durham, North Carolina, is now preserved as a historic site. The home consists of four rooms with a kitchen addition.
Photo courtesy of North Carolina Collection, Durham County Library.
Instilling Good Values
James B. Duke’s father, Washington, instills in his children a sense of responsibility and perseverance. The son of a farmer, Washington was influenced as a boy by Methodist circuit riders who preached near his home and visited his family.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
Death of Artelia and Sydney Duke
When James B. Duke is just 2 years old in 1858, his half-brother Sydney and his mother, Artelia, die from typhoid fever. “Telia” Duke is remembered as a beautiful woman, full of kindness and integrity. With no mother to raise him, James is taken in by relatives after his father is conscripted into military service during the Civil War.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
Modest Beginnings of a Family Business
James B. Duke’s father, Washington, returns from the Civil War, walking 130 miles back to his beloved homestead. He possesses only his farm, two blind mules, a storehouse of dried tobacco and 50 cents. Washington and his sons, young James and his older brother, Benjamin Newton Duke, launch a small family business selling tobacco.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
New Business Interest
James B. Duke and Ben Duke become intrigued by the potential of the fledgling hydroelectric power industry. The brothers acquire land and water rights along the Catawba River and build the Great Falls generating plant. In 1904 and 1905, Catawba Power Company and Southern Power Company (known today as Duke Energy) are founded.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
A New Beginning
The inauguration of the Duke Power Company plant at Great Falls, South Carolina, in 1905. Today, Duke Energy delivers electric power to about four million customers in the United States.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
Washington Duke 1820-1905
On May 9, 1905, Washington Duke, the patriarch of the Duke Family, dies. Both James and Ben are in Durham with him at the time of his death. Factories and businesses in the city close in his honor. “His death has cast a gloom over the entire city,” writes one reporter.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
Doris Duke is Born
In 1912, Doris Duke is born, the only child of James B. Duke and Nanaline Duke. A new father at 55, Mr. Duke dotes on his blond-haired daughter. “You certainly are the dearest little girl that any daddy ever had,” he writes to her in the summer of 1923.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
James B. Duke Establishes The Duke Endowment
On December 11, 1924, James B. Duke signs an Indenture of Trust, establishing The Duke Endowment with an initial gift of $40 million. His philanthropy builds on the giving begun by his father, Washington, and carried on by his older brother, Ben. Mr. Duke is Chair of The Duke Endowment’s Board of Trustees from 1924 to 1925.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
Benjamin Newton Duke 1855-1929
After his death on January 8, 1929, Benjamin Newton Duke leaves behind a lasting legacy of philanthropic giving. The Durham Sun writes that he died “at the conclusion of a life of noble accomplishment.” After the completion of Duke University’s Chapel in 1932, he is interred in its Memorial Chapel along with his father and brother, Washington Duke and James B. Duke.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
Duke Resting Place
James B. Duke dies in 1925 and is buried beside his father in the family mausoleum in Maplewood Cemetery in Durham. After Duke University Chapel was completed in the early 1930s, his remains, along with his father and brother, are moved to three sarcophagi in the church’s Memorial Chapel.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
Supporting Higher Education — Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship
In 1985, the Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship at Duke University is created. Based on academic achievement, leadership and community service, it is awarded to outstanding seniors from North Carolina and South Carolina.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
Doris Duke 1912–1993
On October 28, 1993, Doris Duke dies at age 80. Many of her philanthropic interests reflect the influence of her father. She left the majority of her estate to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which has worked to improve the quality of people’s lives by supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment.
Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.
Mary D. B. T. Semans 1920–2012
Granddaughter of Ben Duke, Mary D.B.T. Semans continued the family’s charitable legacy by serving as an Endowment Trustee for 55 years and the first female Chair. She served as a Trustee for numerous institutions, including Duke University and the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. Mrs. Semans received the Duke University Medal for Distinguished Meritorious Service; the National Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews; and the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities. She was a 2009 inductee in the North Carolina Women’s Hall of Fame. Mrs. Semans was Chair of The Duke Endowment’s Board from 1982 to 2001 and Chair Emerita 2002 until her death in 2012.