﻿Biographical 
  Sketches. 
  153 
  

  

  Republican 
  Convention 
  held 
  at 
  Raleigh 
  in 
  May, 
  1884. 
  Mr. 
  

   Duke 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  a 
  quiet 
  man 
  in 
  politics, 
  but 
  always 
  

   voted 
  with 
  the 
  Republican 
  party. 
  Should 
  he 
  be 
  elected, 
  he 
  

   would 
  be 
  a 
  safe 
  man 
  to 
  handle 
  the 
  State 
  funds. 
  

  

  HENRY 
  A. 
  REAMS. 
  

  

  The 
  subject 
  of 
  this 
  sketch 
  is 
  so 
  intimately 
  connected 
  with 
  

   the 
  rise, 
  progress 
  and 
  development 
  of 
  Durham 
  as 
  a 
  great 
  

   tobacco 
  market, 
  that 
  any 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  town, 
  failing 
  to 
  give 
  

   him 
  honorable 
  mention, 
  would 
  be 
  grossly 
  unjust, 
  incom- 
  

   plete 
  and 
  utterly 
  unworthy 
  of 
  public 
  favor. 
  To 
  him 
  justly 
  

   belongs 
  the 
  distinction 
  of 
  being 
  the 
  pioneer 
  warehouseman 
  

   of 
  Durham. 
  He 
  was 
  born 
  in 
  Granville 
  county 
  on 
  the 
  13th 
  

   da}' 
  of 
  March, 
  1842 
  — 
  a 
  son 
  of 
  John 
  P. 
  Reams, 
  Esq., 
  a 
  man- 
  

   ufacturer 
  of 
  tobacco 
  for 
  thirty-seven 
  years. 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  A. 
  Reams, 
  

   therefore, 
  was 
  trained 
  from 
  infancy 
  to 
  manhood 
  in 
  the 
  to- 
  

   bacco 
  business, 
  and 
  what 
  he 
  does 
  not 
  know 
  about 
  tobacco 
  is 
  

   hardly 
  w^orth 
  learning. 
  His 
  father 
  gave 
  him 
  a 
  fair 
  English 
  

   education. 
  He 
  commenced 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  tobacco 
  for 
  

   himself 
  when 
  only 
  eighteen 
  years 
  of 
  age. 
  Was 
  married 
  

   January 
  14th, 
  1863, 
  to 
  Miss 
  Bettie 
  Allen, 
  daughter 
  of 
  

   Nicholas 
  W. 
  Allen, 
  Esq., 
  of 
  Person 
  county. 
  He 
  continued 
  

   in 
  the 
  manufacturing 
  business 
  until 
  1869, 
  during 
  which 
  

   year 
  his 
  factory 
  was 
  barned. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  18th 
  of 
  May, 
  1871, 
  he 
  opened 
  a 
  warehouse 
  in 
  Dur- 
  

   ham 
  for 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  leaf 
  tobacco, 
  and 
  sold 
  on 
  that 
  day 
  the 
  

   first 
  leaf 
  tobacco 
  ever 
  sold 
  at 
  auction 
  in 
  Durham. 
  During 
  

   the 
  year 
  1871 
  he 
  sold 
  about 
  700,000 
  pounds 
  of 
  tobacco, 
  and 
  

   with 
  untiring 
  energy 
  and 
  self-sacrifice, 
  he 
  continued 
  to 
  en- 
  

   large 
  his 
  business 
  until 
  his 
  sales 
  amounted 
  to 
  between 
  four 
  

   and 
  five 
  million 
  pounds 
  per 
  annum. 
  No 
  one 
  worked 
  more 
  

   assiduously, 
  or 
  deserves 
  more 
  credit, 
  than 
  Mr. 
  Reams, 
  for 
  

   the 
  establishment 
  of 
  the 
  tobacco 
  market 
  of 
  Durham. 
  It 
  was 
  

   in 
  its 
  infancy, 
  and 
  therefore 
  a 
  time 
  when 
  hard 
  work 
  and 
  

  

  