James Buchanan Duke
Encyclopedia
James Buchanan Duke was a U.S. tobacco
and electric power
industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University
.
, on December 23, 1856 to Washington Duke and his second wife, Artelia Roney Duke. Duke was married twice, the first in 1904 to Lillian Fletcher McCredy, but they divorced in 1906 and had no children. In 1907 he married the widow Nanaline Holt Inman, with whom he had his only child, a daughter, Doris
, born November 22, 1912. Doris
was raised at Duke Farms
located in Hillsborough, New Jersey, where her father had worked with landscapers such as James Greenleaf (a member of the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted
), and Horatio Buckenham to transform more than 2000 acres (8 km²) of farmland and woodlots into an extraordinary landscape containing 2 conservatories, 9 lakes, 35 fountains, 45 buildings, countless pieces of sculpture, over 2 miles (3 km) of stone walls and more than 18 miles (29 km) of roadway. James Buchanan Duke died in New York City on October 10, 1925 and is interred with his father
and brother in the Memorial Chapel on the campus of Duke University
.
(1820–1905), had owned a tobacco company which his sons James Buchanan Duke and Benjamin Newton Duke
(1855–1929) took over in the 1880s. In 1885, James Buchanan Duke acquired a license to use the first automated cigarette
making machine (invented by James Albert Bonsack
), and by 1890, Duke supplied 40% of the American cigarette market (then known as pre-rolled tobacco). In that year, Duke consolidated control of his four major competitors under one corporate entity, the American Tobacco Company
, which was a monopoly
in the American cigarette market.
At the start of the 1900s, Duke tried to conquer the British market as he had done America, eventually forcing the then divided British manufacturers to merge into the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain and Ireland, Ltd (Imperial Tobacco
). After two years of intense competition in Great Britain, Imperial Tobacco took the fight to the US market, forcing American Tobacco to look for a settlement. This resulted in an agreement whereby American Tobacco controlled the American trade, Imperial Tobacco controlled the trade in the British territories, and a third, cooperative venture named the British-American Tobacco Company
was set up between the two to control the sale of tobacco in the rest of the world. During this time, Duke was repeatedly sued by business partners and shareholders. In 1906, the American Tobacco Company was found guilty of antitrust violations, and was ordered to be split into three separate companies: American Tobacco Company, Liggett and Myers
, and the P. Lorillard Company.
In 1892, the Dukes had opened their first textile firm in Durham, North Carolina
that was run by Benjamin Duke. At the turn of the century, Buck Duke organized the American Development Company to acquire land and water rights on the Catawba River
. In 1904, he established the Catawba Power Company and the following year he and his brother founded the Southern Power Company which became known as Duke Power, the precursor to the Duke Energy
conglomerate. The company supplied electrical power
to the Duke's textile
factory and within two decades, their power facilities had been greatly expanded and they were supplying electricity to more than 300 cotton mills and other industrial companies. Duke Power established an electrical grid that supplied cities and towns in the Piedmont Region
of North
and South Carolina
. Lake James
, a power-generating reservoir in Western North Carolina, was created by the company in 1928 and named in Duke's honor.
In 1911, the United States Supreme Court upheld an order breaking up the American Tobacco Company
's monopoly. The company was then divided into several smaller enterprises, of which only the British-American Tobacco Company remained in Duke's control. After his death in 1925, there was a great deal of controversy, and some historians suspect that some resentful Imperial Tobacco
executives were feeling some anger at Duke for having lost the Tobacco War between Duke's company and Imperial Tobacco
.
In December 1924, Duke established The Duke Endowment
, a $40 million trust fund (about $430 million in 2005 dollars), some of which was to go to Trinity College. The University was renamed "Duke University
" in honor of his father. The "James B. Duke Library," the main campus library at Furman University
, is also named for his philanthropic relationship with the university.
On his death, he left approximately half of his huge estate to The Duke Endowment
which gave another $67 million (about $725 million in 2005 dollars) to the trust fund. In the Indenture of Trust, Duke specified that he wanted the Endowment to support Duke University, Davidson College
, Furman University
, Johnson C. Smith University
; not-for-profit hospitals and children's homes in the two Carolinas; and rural United Methodist churches in North Carolina, retired pastors, and their surviving families.
The remainder of Duke's estate, estimated at approximately $100 million (about $1 billion in 2005 dollars), went to his twelve-year-old daughter, Doris
, making her "the richest girl in the world". Doris
sued her mother for control of the Duke Farms estate and won. Associating Duke Farms with fond memories of her father, Doris Duke made few major changes to the property other than the adaptation of her father’s Conservatory to create Display Gardens
in his honor. These Gardens
showcased her father's extensive sculpture collection and were open to the public from 1964 until closed by her Foundation Trustees in May 2008.
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
and electric power
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
.
Personal life
James Buchanan Duke, known by the nickname "Buck", was born near Durham, North CarolinaDurham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, on December 23, 1856 to Washington Duke and his second wife, Artelia Roney Duke. Duke was married twice, the first in 1904 to Lillian Fletcher McCredy, but they divorced in 1906 and had no children. In 1907 he married the widow Nanaline Holt Inman, with whom he had his only child, a daughter, Doris
Doris Duke
Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...
, born November 22, 1912. Doris
Doris Duke
Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...
was raised at Duke Farms
Duke Farms
Duke Farms is an estate that was established by James Buchanan Duke, an American entrepreneur who founded Duke Power and the American Tobacco Company. It is located in Hillsborough, New Jersey.-History:...
located in Hillsborough, New Jersey, where her father had worked with landscapers such as James Greenleaf (a member of the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
), and Horatio Buckenham to transform more than 2000 acres (8 km²) of farmland and woodlots into an extraordinary landscape containing 2 conservatories, 9 lakes, 35 fountains, 45 buildings, countless pieces of sculpture, over 2 miles (3 km) of stone walls and more than 18 miles (29 km) of roadway. James Buchanan Duke died in New York City on October 10, 1925 and is interred with his father
Washington Duke
George Washington Duke was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist.-Biography:Duke was born in Orange County, North Carolina , to Taylor Duke and Dicey Jones...
and brother in the Memorial Chapel on the campus of Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
.
Business career
Washington DukeWashington Duke
George Washington Duke was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist.-Biography:Duke was born in Orange County, North Carolina , to Taylor Duke and Dicey Jones...
(1820–1905), had owned a tobacco company which his sons James Buchanan Duke and Benjamin Newton Duke
Benjamin Newton Duke
Benjamin Newton Duke was a U.S. tobacco, textile, energy industrialist and philanthropist.-Biography:...
(1855–1929) took over in the 1880s. In 1885, James Buchanan Duke acquired a license to use the first automated cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
making machine (invented by James Albert Bonsack
James Albert Bonsack
James Albert Bonsack invented in 1880 the first cigarette rolling machine....
), and by 1890, Duke supplied 40% of the American cigarette market (then known as pre-rolled tobacco). In that year, Duke consolidated control of his four major competitors under one corporate entity, the American Tobacco Company
American Tobacco Company
The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company...
, which was a monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
in the American cigarette market.
At the start of the 1900s, Duke tried to conquer the British market as he had done America, eventually forcing the then divided British manufacturers to merge into the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain and Ireland, Ltd (Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
). After two years of intense competition in Great Britain, Imperial Tobacco took the fight to the US market, forcing American Tobacco to look for a settlement. This resulted in an agreement whereby American Tobacco controlled the American trade, Imperial Tobacco controlled the trade in the British territories, and a third, cooperative venture named the British-American Tobacco Company
British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco company by global market share , with a leading position in more than 50 countries and a presence in more than 180 countries...
was set up between the two to control the sale of tobacco in the rest of the world. During this time, Duke was repeatedly sued by business partners and shareholders. In 1906, the American Tobacco Company was found guilty of antitrust violations, and was ordered to be split into three separate companies: American Tobacco Company, Liggett and Myers
Liggett Group
Liggett Group , formerly known as Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, is the fourth largest tobacco company in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Durham, North Carolina, though its manufacturing facility is 30 miles to the west in Mebane, North Carolina...
, and the P. Lorillard Company.
In 1892, the Dukes had opened their first textile firm in Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
that was run by Benjamin Duke. At the turn of the century, Buck Duke organized the American Development Company to acquire land and water rights on the Catawba River
Catawba River
The Catawba River is a tributary of the Wateree River in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. The river is approximately 220 miles long...
. In 1904, he established the Catawba Power Company and the following year he and his brother founded the Southern Power Company which became known as Duke Power, the precursor to the Duke Energy
Duke Energy
Duke Energy , headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is an energy company with assets in the United States, Canada and Latin America.-Overview:...
conglomerate. The company supplied electrical power
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
to the Duke's textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
factory and within two decades, their power facilities had been greatly expanded and they were supplying electricity to more than 300 cotton mills and other industrial companies. Duke Power established an electrical grid that supplied cities and towns in the Piedmont Region
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
of North
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. Lake James
Lake James
Lake James is a large reservoir in the mountains of Western North Carolina which straddles the border between Burke and McDowell Counties. It is named for tobacco tycoon and benefactor of Duke University, James Buchanan Duke. The lake lies behind a series of 4 earthen dams, and was created by...
, a power-generating reservoir in Western North Carolina, was created by the company in 1928 and named in Duke's honor.
In 1911, the United States Supreme Court upheld an order breaking up the American Tobacco Company
American Tobacco Company
The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company...
's monopoly. The company was then divided into several smaller enterprises, of which only the British-American Tobacco Company remained in Duke's control. After his death in 1925, there was a great deal of controversy, and some historians suspect that some resentful Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
executives were feeling some anger at Duke for having lost the Tobacco War between Duke's company and Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
.
Philanthropy and Wills
The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment is a private foundation established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke. The mission of the foundation is to serve the people of North Carolina and South Carolina by supporting selected programs of higher education, health care, children's welfare, and...
, a $40 million trust fund (about $430 million in 2005 dollars), some of which was to go to Trinity College. The University was renamed "Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
" in honor of his father. The "James B. Duke Library," the main campus library at Furman University
Furman University
Furman University is a selective, private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is one of the oldest, and more selective private institutions in South Carolina...
, is also named for his philanthropic relationship with the university.
On his death, he left approximately half of his huge estate to The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment is a private foundation established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke. The mission of the foundation is to serve the people of North Carolina and South Carolina by supporting selected programs of higher education, health care, children's welfare, and...
which gave another $67 million (about $725 million in 2005 dollars) to the trust fund. In the Indenture of Trust, Duke specified that he wanted the Endowment to support Duke University, Davidson College
Davidson College
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...
, Furman University
Furman University
Furman University is a selective, private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is one of the oldest, and more selective private institutions in South Carolina...
, Johnson C. Smith University
Johnson C. Smith University
Johnson C. Smith University is a private, co-ed, four-year liberal arts institution of higher learning located in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. JCSU is also a historically black college...
; not-for-profit hospitals and children's homes in the two Carolinas; and rural United Methodist churches in North Carolina, retired pastors, and their surviving families.
The remainder of Duke's estate, estimated at approximately $100 million (about $1 billion in 2005 dollars), went to his twelve-year-old daughter, Doris
Doris Duke
Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...
, making her "the richest girl in the world". Doris
Doris Duke
Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...
sued her mother for control of the Duke Farms estate and won. Associating Duke Farms with fond memories of her father, Doris Duke made few major changes to the property other than the adaptation of her father’s Conservatory to create Display Gardens
Duke Gardens
Duke Gardens in Somerset County, New Jersey were among the most significant glass house collections in America. Created by Doris Duke herself, the aerial view confirms they were larger than the New York Botanical Garden's Haupt Conservatory, and were open to the public from 1964 until they were...
in his honor. These Gardens
Duke Gardens
Duke Gardens in Somerset County, New Jersey were among the most significant glass house collections in America. Created by Doris Duke herself, the aerial view confirms they were larger than the New York Botanical Garden's Haupt Conservatory, and were open to the public from 1964 until they were...
showcased her father's extensive sculpture collection and were open to the public from 1964 until closed by her Foundation Trustees in May 2008.
Further reading
- Robert SobelRobert SobelRobert Sobel was an American professor of history at Hofstra University, and a well-known and prolific writer of business histories.- Biography :...
The Entrepreneurs: Explorations Within the American Business Tradition
- (Weybright & Talley 1974), Chapter 5, James Buchanan Duke: Opportunism Is the Spur
- Robert F. Durden Bold Entrepreneur: A Life of James B. Duke (Carolina Academic Press, 2003)
- John Wilber Jenkins James B. Duke: Master Builder (George H. Doran Company 1927)