Angier Buchanan Duke Explained

Birth Date:8 December 1884
Birth Place:Durham, North Carolina
Death Place:Greenwich, Connecticut
Alma Mater:Duke University
Parents:Benjamin Newton Duke
Sarah Pearson Angier
Children:Angier Biddle Duke
Anthony Drexel Duke
Relations:Mary Lillian Duke (sister)
Doris Duke (cousin)

Angier Buchanan Duke (December 8, 1884 – September 3, 1923)[1] was a trustee of Duke University from 1914 - 1923, as well as vice president and president of its Alumni Association.[2]

Early life

Duke was born on December 8, 1884, in Durham, North Carolina. He was the only son of Sarah Pearson (née Angier) Duke (1856–1936) and Benjamin Newton Duke, and an heir to the American Tobacco Company fortune.[3] He was the brother of Mary Lillian Duke (who married his wife's brother, Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr.),[4] and first cousin to the flamboyant heiress Doris Duke.[5]

Duke attended Durham's Trinity College, the institutional predecessor of Duke University.

Career

After his graduation from Trinity, he went into the family business with his father. He was a member of the Racquet and Tennis Club and the Calumet Club, as well as the Ardsley and Sleepy Hollow Country Clubs.

Personal life

In 1915, he was married to seventeen year-old Cordelia Drexel Biddle of the Biddle family who were prominent in business, political and cultural affairs in Philadelphia. By this marriage, which took place at Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia, "one of the oldest and richest Philadelphia families was united with one of the richest families of the South."[6] Cordelia was a daughter of bank heir Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Sr.[7] Together, Angier and Cordelia were the parents of two children:

After separating in December 1918,[10] they divorced in 1921.[11] [12] After their divorce, Cordelia remarried to Thomas Markoe Robertson in 1924.

Following the accidental discharge of his gun in 1905 during a hunting trip, his left arm was amputated below the elbow.[1] In 1923, he drowned at Indian Harbor Yacht Club on Long Island Sound (near his summer residence in Port Jefferson),[1] when a boat overturned and he was unable to get back into the boat because of his missing hand.[13] After a funeral at the Duke family home in Durham, he was interred in the Duke Mausoleum in Maplewood Cemetery in Durham.[14]

In popular culture

John Davidson portrayed Duke in the 1967 musical film The Happiest Millionaire.[15]

Notes and References

  1. News: A.B. DUKE DROWNED WHEN DINGHY UPSET; Man and Three Women Rescued by Sailor at Indian Harbor Yacht Club Float. . 21 October 2019 . . 4 September 1923.
  2. Web site: Angier Buchanan Duke . . 2008-07-03 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080501112730/http://library.duke.edu/lilly/about/lillyartproj/angier-buchanan-duke.html . 2008-05-01 .
  3. Web site: A Washington Duke genealogy as it pertains to Duke University . March 22, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110305122212/http://library.duke.edu/uarchives/history/duke_wash-genea.html. 5 March 2011 . live.
  4. News: $500,000 IN GIFTS AT BIDDLE WEDDING; Son of A. J. Drexel Biddle Marties Miss Mary L. Duke, Completing Dual Alliance, CEREMONY AT DUKE FARMS Bishop Darlington Officiates Before 600 -- Bridegroom's Sister and Her Husband Attendants. . 21 October 2019 . . 17 June 1915.
  5. News: Hewitt. Bill. Where There's a Will - Vol. 43 No. 20. 27 November 2017. PEOPLE.com. May 22, 1995. en.
  6. News: DOUBLE ALLIANCE OF DUKES AND BIDDLES; Cordelia Biddle's Marriage to Angier B. Duke Followed by Mary Duke's Engagement TO BROTHER OF THE BRIDE 1,200 Attend Ceremony in Holy Trinity, Philadelphia -- Bride Receives Jewels Worth $200,000. . 21 October 2019 . . 29 April 1915.
  7. News: CORDELIA BIDDLE TO WED ANGIER B. DUKE; Mr. and Mrs. Anthony J.D. Biddle of Philadelphia Announce Daughter's Engagement. . 21 October 2019 . . 31 January 1915.
  8. News: Severo. Richard. Angier Biddle Duke, Diplomat, 79, Dies; Scion of a Prominent American Family. 27 November 2017. The New York Times. 30 April 1995.
  9. News: Fox. Margalit. Anthony Drexel Duke, 95, Dies; Scion of Wealth Aided Underprivileged. 27 November 2017. The New York Times. 2 May 2014.
  10. News: Times . Special to The New York . MRS. ANGIER B. DUKE ASKS FOR A DIVORCE; Suit Is Filed at Philadelphia, but Attorneys and Family Refuse to Discuss It.COUPLE SEPARATED IN 1918 Marriage of Miss Cordelia Biddle at Age of 17 Was an Outstanding Society Event of 1915. . 21 October 2019 . . 18 June 1921.
  11. News: Divorce Recommended for Mrs. A.B. Duke – Master Files Report in Action Brought by Farmer Cordelia Biddle.. 27 November 2017. The New York Times. 20 September 1921.
  12. News: Mrs. Duke Wins Divorce – Former Miss Cordelia Biddle Receives Decree in Philadelphia.. 27 November 2017. The New York Times. 25 October 1921. 19.
  13. Web site: Notable Harnett County Residents: B. N. Duke . . 2010-03-23 .
  14. News: ANGIER B. DUKE'S FUNERAL; His Body Placed in Mausoleum After i Services at Home in Durham. . 21 October 2019 . . 6 September 1923.
  15. News: Nemy . Enid . Biddles, Drexels and Cadwaladers Turn Out for Film . 21 October 2019 . . 22 October 1967.

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