William Henry Duke

 WILLIAM HENRY DUKE 

        Please note that there were several men named William Henry Duke from Ohio County - but they were from different generations so they are fairly easy to research.  In fact, that name was a popular throughout the country - perhaps because there was a British member of the royal family named William Henry and he was a Duke, so he was called William Henry Duke.  At least that's my theory about the popularity of the name.

        William Henry Duke was born 18 March 1869 in Hartford, the son of Thomas Sallinger Duke (1838 – 1898) and Eliza C. Miller (1841 – 1913).  William Henry was the one of five children – his siblings were Alva Georgia (1871-1945); Wilbur Thomas (1869-1912), twin of William Henry; Josephine B “Josie” (1867-1948); and Ida May (1874-1910).  Here is the obit of William Henry's mother, Eliza, who died in 1913:

          William Henry left Ohio County when he was in his late teens (approximately 1886) and moved to Montana.  I found a biography of William Henry in “The History of Montana” by Helen Fitzgerald Sanders, published 1913.  Here is a copy of the biography (note there is an error regarding his siblings, i.e. his twin brother is listed twice):

          William Henry married Anna Belle Martin in 1889 and they had four children: Hayden Olin “Harry” Duke, 1891-1937; Letha Duke, 1894- 1976; and William Henry, Jr., 1912-1980; the fourth child (name unknown) died as an infant.  I found two birth certificates of the children, Letha and William Henry, Jr.:

          William Henry died 3 Jul 1955 in Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas and his wife, Anna Belle, died in 1957.  Here is William Henry's obituary: