Because of the Duke University Archives' focus on the history of Duke University, we have limited our genealogical research to the Washington Duke line, and have not been able to trace other branches of the family. Washington Duke (1820-1905), the patriarch of the family for whom Duke University is named, was born in Orange County, North Carolina to Taylor (c. 1770-1847) and Dicey Jones (?-1860) Duke.

General Works about the Duke Family

Armstrong, Zella "The Duke Family," Notable Southern Families, III.
     (Chattanooga, TN: Lookout Publishing Co., 1918-1926) pp. 33-43.

Brandenberger, Evelyn Duke. The Duke Family.
 
Duke, Walter Garland. Henry Duke, Councilor: His Descendants and Connections.
   
Morris, Mrs. Jane Sims (Davison). The Duke-Symes Family.
     (Philadelphia: Dorrance and Co., c1940) -- Duke Family of Orange County, NC. pp. 105-119

Smyth, Samuel Gordon. A Genealogy of the Duke-Shepherd-Van Metre Family.
   

The Washington Duke Line

Anderson, Jean Bradley. Durham County.
    
Durden, Robert F. The Dukes of Durham, 1865-1929.
   
Durden, Robert F.  Bold Entrepreneur: A Life of James B. Duke.

Fuller, W. W. "James Buchanan Duke," in Ashe, Samuel A. Biographical History of North Carolina, III, 102-113.
  
Gray, Virginia, "A Goodly Heritage: The Dukes of Orange County," Duke Alumni Register, LV (September, 1969), 20-23, LV (November, 1969), 18-21.

Duke, Nanaline H., Perkins, William Robertson, and Allen, George Garland.  Determination by the executors of James B. Duke, deceased, of those entitled to participate in the distribution to be made under item VI of the last will and testament of said decedent and of the amounts they are, respectively, entitled to receive.
    

Online Sources

• General online resources for genealogists include The Genealogy Home Page and Roots-L.
• The Duke Endowment is the philanthropy established by James B. Duke to support charitable activities in the Carolinas.
• The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation

Other Duke Family Manuscript Collections

Libraries with Duke family papers and genealogical materials include:

    Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
    Box 90185, Durham, NC 27708.
    Telephone: 919-660-5822
    E-mail: special-collections@duke.edu
    Website: http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/
   

    The University of Virginia. Alderman Library. Special Collections
    Charlottesville, VA 22903-2498
    Telephone: (804) 924-3026, 3021
    E-mail: mssbks@virginia.edu
    Website: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/collections/duke/