THE DUKE OF No. 210 ST JOHNS PL (1907)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** In 1907, a quiet wedding took place on a sleepy Brooklyn block in one of its august brownstones. It was no ordinary wedding, however. For the ceremony was about to join a young widow of the borough to one of the most successful businessmen of the country – and one of its most ruthless trust violators – the “Tobacco King.” THE ROBBER BARON CORNERS TOBACCO James Buchanan Duke, whose name was “lent” to the North Carolina university in exchange for part of a hefty $40M endowment, was known as the “Tobacco King” for his aggressive cornering of the American tobacco market in the late 19th century. Duke not only brought the American tobacco industry to its knees, but he also knew the importance to the future of the cigarette industry was in its automation; he, thus, obtained the license to the first automated cigarette making machine which brought a speedier production line as well as lower costs to his companies and, in extension, the entire cigarette industry. By 1890, Duke supplied 40% of the American cigarette market and, in the same year, consolidated control of his four major competitors under one corporate entity, the American Tobacco Company. This formed a monopoly giving him control of more than 90% of the American […]
