Colonel B. F. Duke, 1843-1911

In one of my many conversations with Mr. George Taylor of Mason, I asked him who had been the richest man in Mason when he had been a boy (around 1900).  He replied without hesitation that would have been "Colonel Duke."  Benjamin Franklin "Tobe" Duke to be exact.  Col. Duke fought in the Civil War, but I'm not sure if he ever attained a rank higher than private.  As was the custom of the day, however, once he acquired wealth and prestige he was addressed as "colonel."

He was quite popular among the men of the town and several boys born during that era were named for him.  At one time, he owned several farms in the area that were worked by sharecroppers.  Mr. Virge Nowell, grandfather of the late Mrs. Sara Nell Seay, was the "rider" for Col. Duke.  A rider was a man who rode on horseback to the various farms checking on the progress of the sharecroppers.

Mr. George Taylor told me that Col. Duke looked "just like this Col. Sanders with the chicken on TV."  So I was thrilled to find this photo of him a few years ago.  Col. Duke never married and later lived in Memphis the last several years of his life in a mansion of Belvidere.  His obituary notes that his days were often spent at the Peabody Hotel and the Tennessee Club.  The Tennessee Club was a gentlemen's club now occupied by the Burch Porter law firm.

His plantation in Tunica County was purchased by George Day "Jack" Perry whose descendants still own it.  Jack Perry and his wife Sallie Whitley Perry had moved from Mason to Robinsonville to manage the Duke plantation.  Col. Duke instructed his heirs to sell to no one but Jack Perry!