﻿Biographical 
  Sketches. 
  151 
  

  

  and 
  a 
  vast 
  amount 
  of 
  general 
  information. 
  He 
  followed 
  

   farming 
  pursuits 
  until 
  1863, 
  when 
  he 
  entered 
  the 
  Confed- 
  

   erate 
  Navy 
  and 
  was 
  stationed 
  at 
  Charleston, 
  S. 
  C. 
  Left 
  

   Charleston 
  in 
  September, 
  1864, 
  and 
  took 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  bat- 
  

   teries 
  at 
  Battery 
  Brook, 
  two 
  miles 
  below 
  Drury's 
  Bluff, 
  in 
  

   Virginia, 
  and 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  expert 
  

   managers 
  of 
  artillery 
  in 
  the 
  Confederate 
  service. 
  Distin- 
  

   guished 
  himself 
  in 
  the 
  heavy 
  bombardments 
  at 
  James 
  

   Island, 
  Charleston, 
  S. 
  C, 
  and 
  frequently 
  at 
  Battery 
  Brook, 
  

   where 
  he 
  was 
  promoted 
  to 
  the 
  rank 
  of 
  Orderly 
  Sergeant. 
  

   Captured 
  at 
  Appomattox 
  in 
  1865, 
  and 
  lodged 
  in 
  Castle 
  Thun- 
  

   der, 
  where 
  he 
  remained 
  two 
  weeks, 
  when 
  he 
  was 
  removed 
  

   to 
  New 
  Berne, 
  N. 
  C, 
  and 
  paroled. 
  From 
  New 
  Berne 
  he 
  

   walked 
  home 
  — 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  134 
  miles, 
  and, 
  accepting 
  the 
  

   situation 
  in 
  good 
  faith, 
  applied 
  himself 
  once 
  more 
  to 
  tilling 
  

   the 
  soil. 
  

  

  Prior 
  to 
  his 
  enlistment 
  in 
  the 
  Confederate 
  service, 
  Mr. 
  

   Duke 
  wisely 
  converted 
  all 
  the 
  means 
  he 
  had 
  earned 
  by 
  

   years 
  of 
  honest 
  industry 
  into 
  tobacco, 
  rented 
  out 
  his 
  farm, 
  

   receiving 
  his 
  rent 
  in 
  tobacco, 
  his 
  object 
  being 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  

   large 
  supply 
  of 
  tobacco 
  on 
  hand 
  when 
  the 
  war 
  closed. 
  He 
  

   anticipated 
  that 
  after 
  the 
  war 
  tobacco 
  would 
  be 
  the 
  great 
  

   leading 
  staple 
  of 
  commerce 
  in 
  this 
  section. 
  The 
  large 
  

   quantity 
  he 
  had 
  stored 
  away, 
  however, 
  was 
  pressed 
  into 
  ser- 
  

   vice 
  by 
  the 
  armies 
  of 
  Johnson 
  and 
  Sherman, 
  and 
  thus 
  dis- 
  

   tributed 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  Union, 
  and 
  what 
  was 
  then 
  considered 
  

   a 
  great 
  calamity 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Duke 
  and 
  others 
  who 
  lost 
  tobacco, 
  

   proved 
  ultimately 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  great 
  blessing. 
  So 
  when 
  he 
  ar- 
  

   rived 
  at 
  home 
  from 
  the 
  war 
  he 
  found 
  his 
  accumulations 
  

   " 
  scattered 
  to 
  the 
  four 
  winds 
  " 
  — 
  everything 
  swept 
  away 
  ex- 
  

   cept 
  his 
  little 
  farm. 
  But 
  with 
  an 
  undaunted 
  spirit 
  and 
  in- 
  

   defatigable 
  energy, 
  he 
  applied 
  himself 
  to 
  the 
  building 
  up 
  

   of 
  his 
  devastated 
  fortune. 
  His 
  great 
  success 
  is 
  due 
  mainly 
  

   to 
  economy 
  — 
  living 
  always 
  within 
  his 
  means 
  — 
  industrj% 
  

   and 
  wise, 
  prudential 
  management. 
  He 
  commenced 
  the 
  

  

  