Howard-Carroll County IN Archives Biographies.....Duke, George W. 1854 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 16, 2006, 2:57 am

Author: Jackson Morrow

GEORGE W. DUKE.

   Prominent in the public affairs of Kokomo, distinguished as one of the
leading men of Howard county and enjoying distinctive prestige in business
circles far beyond the limits of the community honored by his citizenship.
George W. Duke, of the old and reliable real estate firm of Duke Brothers &
Company, is entitled to specific mention in this connection and it is with no
little satisfaction that the reader's attention is respectively invited to the
brief story of his life, embodied in the following lines. Mr. Duke is a native
of Indiana, and the fifth of a family of seven children whose parents. David D.
and Jane (McCoy) Duke, were of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, respectively. These
parents settled in Carroll county, Indiana, a number of years ago, moving to
Delphi in 1855 and during the ensuing two years Mr. Duke cultivated a farm near
that city in addition to which he also operated a mill and did a fairly
prosperous business. Meeting with certain financial reverses, which greatly
embarrassed him, he subsequently disposed of his interests in Carroll county and
in 1860 moved to Kokomo, where he opened a restaurant and bakery which he
conducted with fair profits until 1882, when he removed to Silver Lake, Indiana,
where his death occurred two years later, his wife having preceded him to the
grave in 1872. The names of the children born to David and Jane Duke are as
follows: Alexander H., for some years an enterprising and public-spirited
citizen of Kokomo, and a member of the city councils, in addition to which he
also served as sheriff of Howard county and became widely and favorably known as
an efficient and popular official; Hattie A., the second in order of birth,
married a Mr. Walsh; Ladie is the wife of Richard Doughuff: David L. is engaged
in the real estate and insurance business in partnership with George W., the
subject of this review, after whom comes William and Charles Duke.

   George W. Duke was born in Carroll county, Indiana, on the 22d day of
February, 1854, where he remained until the removal of the family to Kokomo in
1860. Like the majority of city lads, his early life was without incident worthy
of note, having been put to work as soon as old enough to be of service, the
meanwhile attending the public schools where in due time he obtained practical
knowledge of the English branches and became quite well informed.

   From his youth, Mr. Duke manifested decided business talent, and while still
a young man formulated plans for his future, with the object in view of becoming
of some use in the world. After clerking for some time in a drug store and
becoming familiar with the principles and details of business life he was
elected in 1878, city clerk, the duties of which position he discharged with
credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the public, for two terms, proving
an able and acceptable officer, gaining many warm friends and greatly extending
his personal popularity during his incumbency.

   Mr. Duke, in the year 1880, embarked in the line of business with which he
has since been identified and in which his success has been such as to bring him
prominently to the notice of the business world and earn for him a reputation
far beyond the limits of the city and county to which his attention has been
principally devoted, namely dealing in real estate, writing insurance, and
loaning money. Associated with him is his elder brother. Daniel L. Duke, the
partnership under the name of Duke Brothers & Company being the oldest firm of
the kind in the county and by far the most successful, as is indicated by the
number and magnitude of their transactions in real estate, the vast amount of
money loaned and the large and liberal insurance patronage which has come to
them since opening their office twenty-eight years ago. Their business from the
beginning has been marked by a steady and substantial growth and at this time
represents some of the largest and most important real estate transactions in
the county and throughout the state, the firm dealing in all kinds of land,
buying and selling, exchanging and trading for other kinds of property, the
office being a continuously animated and busy scene in which numerous deals are
inaugurated and consummated, bargains made and large sums of money loaned, and
all lines of insurance represented, including life, fire, accident, etc.,
written, the firm having the agency of nearly all the large companies in the
United States, also a number in foreign countries.

   Mr. Duke is essentially a business man of progressive ideas and tendencies,
possessing ability of a high order and judgment which is seldom at fault on
matters in which he is interested. His familiarity with financial questions and
general monetary affairs enables him to forsee with remarkable accuracy the
future outcome of present transactions while his thorough knowledge of real
estate values and everything pertaining thereto has caused his counsel to be
sought and his advice followed not only by his patrons, but by many others who
contemplate selling or otherwise disposing of their holdings.

   In the year 1890, Mr. Duke was appointed state insurance commissioner, in
which capacity he served very acceptably for a period of five years, during
which time he had an office in Indianapolis and was unremitting in his attention
to the duties of the position. During his tenure of office he made a careful
study of insurance in its every detail and bearing, the knowledge thus obtained
proving valuable not only to the state, which profited greatly from his
services, but also to his personal interests, to say nothing of the frequency
with which he is consulted by others in relation to insurance matters, a branch
of business in which he is considered an authority. Although a very busy man and
keenly alive to everything pertaining to the lines of business to which his
attention is in the main devoted. Mr. Duke is public-spirited and enterprising,
and keeps in touch with the progress of his city to the extent of his ability,
encourages and assists all movements to this end. Through the medium of his firm
he has contributed much to the material growth of the community, in the way of
buildings and other improvements, and his name is inseparably connected with not
a few enterprises that have tended greatly to the advancement of the city and
welfare of the populace.

     In his political affiliations, Mr. Duke is a firm and unyielding advocate
of Democratic principles, and for a number of years his influence has been felt
in the councils of his party, having served several terms as chairman of the
county central committee, besides being active in the ranks  and a recognized
leader during the progress of campaigns. He has also been honored by being
chosen to represent from time to time the Democracy of Howard county in district
and state conventions and in which bodies his influence has always carried
weight and his opinions commanded respect.

   Mr. Duke is a commendable example of the wide-awake, enterprising
representative Americans of today, and as such stands high in business and
social circles and enjoys the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens among
whom few are as widely known or personally as popular. Although manifesting a
lively interest in all that concerns the welfare and stability of the body
politic, he has never sought official preferment nor aspired to leadership,
being content to serve his fellow men in a private capacity and satisfied to be
known simply as a citizen. He has an attractive home in Kokomo and since
December 12, 1907, has traveled life's pathway with the partner of his joys and
sharer of his successes and vicissitudes, having been married on that date to
Ella Thorne, of Howard county, a sister of the late Dr. John C. Thorne, of
Kokomo. and a lady of gracious presence and pleasing personality whose standing
in the best social circles of the city is firmly established and duly appreciated.


Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORY OF HOWARD COUNTY INDIANA
BY
JACKSON MORROW, B. A.
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. II
B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

(circa 1909)

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