The Legacy Begins

In the summer of 1826, five-year-old Washington Duke sat in the grass, holding a large, green grasshopper in the palm of his hand. The insect crawled around his thumb, and Washington turned his hand over to watch its progress. Feeling that he could sense the curiosity of this small creature, who appeared to be a gentle giant in his own world, Washington watched the insect walk around his hand unconcerned; he then turned his palm downward, allowing the insect to cross the dorsal surface in an upright position. The grasshopper spat a brown fluid on his hand. "What is that?" he asked Billy, his twenty-three-year-old brother who was sitting next to him. Billy was reading the Bible as they talked. Although the family had a Bible, Billy liked to carry his own so he could study no matter where he was.

"He is spitting tobacco on you," replied Billy. "The grasshopper does that to protect himself from harm. It doesn't hurt people, but it will discourage a field mouse or other small animal."

"Where did he get tobacco?"

"It isn't real tobacco," Billy said with a laugh. "It's digestive fluid acting upon the plants he has eaten."

"What is it for?"

"The grasshopper does that when he feels threatened. It gives off an odor detectable by small animals. Ordinarily, when a small animal encounters it he will back away from the grasshopper." Washington put the grasshopper on the ground and then stood up. "I don't want to scare him." Although he could not have known, someday he would become a gentle giant in his own world, much like the grasshopper he so admired as a child.

"It is good that you don't want to scare him. We should be kind to all living things. It says that in the Bible, and even the Eno people say that. We better go to the house for dinner. Mammy is making chicken and dumplings." Billy stood up and reached for Washington's hand.

"I love chicken and dumplings," Washington replied as he and Billy ran to the Duke homestead.

"Wash your hands before you sit at the table," said Washington's father, Taylor, when the boys entered the rustic building they called home. The family home was a wooden structure with five rooms and an oak frame with pine board walls. The family grew produce primarily for their own consumption, and they traded or sold some of the crops at the market in town. The crops consisted of beans, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and various fruits. They also grew cotton, some of which was used to make clothing for themselves and some of which was sold at the local market, and they grew tobacco, which they also sold at the local market. In addition, they raised cows and chickens. The cows provided dairy products for the community, and the chickens produced a daily supply of eggs. There were no schools in the area at the time, but Taylor and Dicey successfully taught all of their children mathematics, science, literature, music, and art. The son of Henry Duke, a scholarly man who had left a comfortable position among Virginia high society to raise his family in the wilderness, Taylor was able to keep his children abreast of the latest world events, while providing the rudiments of an education in the backwoods of North Carolina.

Inside the home was a dining table that was large enough to accommodate Washington's family of ten children. At one end of the living room area, which also served as the dining area, was a large fireplace. On each side of the fireplace was a wooden rocking chair; one was for Taylor, and one for Dicey. At various locations around the room there were other rocking chairs, but the children usually sat at the dining table when they studied. A long, soft Georgian couch, which doubled as a daybed, rested against the wall opposite the front door. Next to the door was a gun rack that held several muskets. In a world without modern communication, there was little to do with one's time, especially in the cold winter days, so the family spent most of their time reading.

As they sat at the table, everyone became silent so Taylor could say grace. The handsome deputy sheriff of Orange County, who was also a captain in the North Carolina militia, said, "Creator of the heavens and the earth, we thank Thee for this food we are about to eat and we ask that Thou would bless it for the nourishment of our bodies. Please, bless the hands that prepared it ..." The prayer was interrupted by a loud crash and a rattling sound outside. Boots, the big stray dog with an unfriendly disposition, that had suddenly appeared on the porch one day and stayed, ran out from under the table and began barking ferociously. Taylor jumped from the table and ran toward the door, grabbing his flintlock rifle from the gun rack. As he opened the door, he found himself staring directly into the face of a large black bear that had just knocked over a barrel of walnuts the boys had gathered for the winter. The startled bear jumped from the porch and ran into the woods as quickly as it could, with Boots chasing behind him. Taylor fired a shot in the air to ensure that the bear would continue running and not turn back.

Dicey, Washington's mother, stood up from the table and walked over to the door. She watched the bear disappear into the woods. "I think you scared the bear more than he scared you."

"Did you hit it?" asked Washington who walked over and looked out the door his father was closing.

"No, son," Taylor replied.

"Why not?" Washington asked with a puzzled expression.

"Because the bear didn't hurt us. He was just looking for food," Taylor said.

"Was it a grizzly bear?" asked Washington's older sister Mary, fearfully.

"No, it was a black bear. The grizzlies are the ones you need to watch out for the most," said Taylor, "but you should try to avoid all bears. Even a black bear can attack if it feels threatened."

This was the wilderness where the Duke family lived. Wild animals were commonplace....