Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1878-01-14

STATEMENT OF TIE LEADING FACTS OF The
Some,:m. before The year 1860 The North
Caro- "a railroad sss laid of over the farm i
D.. B.lil-t Durham. 10 A!amatc. .u1ty.
Nor:h Carolina. 4 station was Established
there and called D,nham's Station. Tins spot
SHORTY became the seat Of a N al tobacco fac
tory, ab.ack.0it shop. tsv=ln, and The resi-
deucss OF two or three families. |; remalcsd
al iosisoi6cao, plac= uoli ;f.er the evil var,
10 1865. 1t then teRas 10 grow Up under tie
effects of a Ser5 prosperous tobacco business
whica had arisen thar. 10 1866 it was loeor
poraied as town AID called Durham. Now
it IS place cG several thousand inhatlsauts,
and OF a very large busioess.
TIE original tobacco factory OF 1859 Was con,
dueted BY the firm Of Mo,rs l. Wright. This
6fm principally manufactured pug tobacco,
bu. i, utilized i,s cIipplces ana waste tobacco
ty cutt;ng il 10 bass AID dlspeslcg of Is IS
snckios tobacco.
S,neine before or 10 1861. one Of the part
ners OF this 6;n. William 4. Wr4 ht, (sho Is
c,uo: cled viii, The fleece IN this snH.l sold
out al! Ii: interest 70 the Other partner Morris,
and wet of toto the neighborhood. where be
manufactured tobacco 10 a ruds VAS for a
Sea.. epd then ioioed the Confederate army
aud disappeared from Durham's Station To
that p!ae: he has never returned. either to re-
side or do business lie seems TO have paid q
visit there about 1871 Or 1872. We first hear
of him. ate, the var, as tobacco mscu &C
tn,er 10 1863 10 Liberty. Eireioa- He then
went to Ste9ae s7ie. near Liberty, where be
remained until December 1870. He then went
20 Lscchb1re. Eirsieia, doing bu$nss>"
there 10 ISL. While At Liberty, hsarn. that
J. f. Green. a Successor TO Morris & Wright
at Dorham. was using the Durham bul! as 3
trade marx. b. adopted the device Of the head
and pack OF short horn bull on his tobacco
Whi!= a: L;nebburE. 10 1871, Wright sold to
S. 5. Arm.,ead pa,ens which be had then
recently Obtained (No.lll. Il2) for a com pound
liqad favofiee. shich be used in mskiog
an improrsa snpok;mg to5acc9,' called Dur
han! smoking tobacco" 10 which appellatiop
be used the word Durham as an arbitrary term
for Toe smoking tobacco made with the sail
patented a,voring liquid (R=cord. p. 3il." }
4 tigh: 10 etha word Durham. thus derived
b. Arm=tead Vas sold By Arn=teai 10 Septen-
Der, 1872, to The firm of ". T. Black we'll, hen
coosi-iog OF ". T. Blackwell sod Julian 8.
Carr. Of Durham, n. G. lR=cord, p. POI It
appears from the answer OF d: fsndaots, Dibrell
l. Co., that they are and have been using with
the consent and Jythe authoraty Of the said Wes-
leg A. Wright. a label substantially The same"
as that used By the p!aiosnt5, and filed by
them as az exhibi', to wit: A label having the
words and device Established 1860 at Dur
ham. ". C., the original Durham Smoking
Tobacco. ". S. Wright originator and pat
entee."
The original factory of Morris and Wright,
at Durham's Station. went on under dffere ut
proprietors. and its business has gradually de-
veloped into that DOW conducted at Durham
by w. r.. Blackwell Il Co., the compIaioauts
10 this suit. 1t has become probably the arg-
est mandatory OF smoking tobacco 10 the
Uoited States
Those who profess to know, aseribe the prcs.
perity which has attended this business to the
peculiar excellence of the tobacco grown 10 sew.
eral counties north of Durham, which market
their product at that place. They say, that it
is through the Influence of the climate or soil
or both, that the tobacco raised 10 the couoties
of Alamance, Orange, Caswell, Person and
Granville in North Carolina, three fourtbs of
which is brought to Durham, has this quality.
1t is probable that there is more demand for
the Durham tobacco as a smoking tobacco than
for aoy other grown 10 the Uoited States. Ii
is regarded as superior to all other articles for
making grdnutdted tobacco. on account Of its
bright color and fine natural favor; lis being
chiefly tue, SUD, or air cured. aud its beiog
THO 10 The leaf ADD sweet. Nineteen tweoiieths
IF the tobacco manufactured at and sent from
Durham are growo in The counties named
Durham is the principal market for the tobac.
- OF these o)uniea.
A circumstance which is claimed to have
given this tobacco the most sudden and wide.
spread celebrity was the following: Just at the
close Of the war the tobacco factory at Darham's
which has been mentioned had como down by
and succession 10 and Was then con
Quoted by one j. Il Green. At the time that
Sherman 8 and Johnston's armies were 10 Ala.
nance couoty, Green happened to have large
quantity OF loose leaf tobacco lying 10 bulk on
The floor Of his factory. OF cours, this was
prey which soldiers Of either army, ~ they
passed along. eagerly seized upon; and the evil
depce is, that the whole of this loose tobacco
was thus carried away; and. as The armies we're
5000 disbanded, much Of it is COL j:ctured 10
have been carried into distant Larts of the
Union. At all eVebts, the excellent quality Of
this smoking tobacco speedily obtained wide
spread advertisement and celebrity; and, ever
since thea, orders have como 10 Durham for it
from every quarter Of the United States.
j. K. Green found his business growing up
rapidly under his hands. De at once sdop ted
As his brand or label, and put il upon his bsga,
he words Dsrhom smoking tobaccy He con.
nected with these words the side figure Of short
horn bull, as a symbol of tho word Durham
and he had q al size painting OF such bull
placed brosdslde upon his factory, in conspicu.
us view of the railroad, as an sd7ertiae ment Of
his business TO sll travellers Green having died,
his business passed by succession and asai gnment
10 Blackwell and others, and is now conducted
BY w. T. Blackwell s. Co., the complsiasnts in
bis cause. The name Durham placed in Green's
brand was, of course, suggested by the place
where the species of tobacco in which he dealt
vas principally marketed, and WAS intended as
descriptive of that tobacco. 1t indicated tobac-
% grown in what Wheeler calls the "Goden
Belt of North Carolina" The trade mark Of
Durham bull was naturally assumed az s sym
ool Of the word Durham. which had come 10
characterize the particular growth and quality
If tob Acco which is marketed and manufactured
It Durham
Those who claim under Wright dsclaim that
he word Durham, az used by him and them. has
my reference to the place Durham's Station, or
Durham. in North Carolina, or to the tobsc.
o marketed there By planters. They clsi n
hat Wright when he manufactured tobacco near
)urham's, place then of utter insigncance, used
be word Durham as an arbitrary term that his |