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Uncle Billie's business: Belief, farming By DAVID NEWTON W.J. "Uncle Billie" Duke was a moving force in Methodism in Durham County and now 187 years after his birth, he has moved again. Uncle Billie has found his final resting place under the serene pine trees of the cemetery at Duke's Chapel United Methodist Church north of town on Old Oxford Highway. Uncle Billie, the older brother of Washington Duke, was exhumed in mid-July from his grave on his horneplace on Denfield Road with sale of Duke the land to.a developer. He was re-interred at Dukes Chapel. His relocation at Dukes Chapel will be part of the church's 150th anniversary celebration Sept. 9, which includes a covered dish luncheon following the 11 am worship service. Uncle Billie holds a minor place in the Duke pantheon. He was 17 years older than his brother Washington, who after the Civil War formed a tobacco company that his son, James B. Duke, built into an international economic powerhouse. Along the way, James B. Duke amassed a colossal fortune and endowed Duke University. Uncle Billie’s business was belief and farming. He owned a 640-acre farm north of Durham. His work as a lay preacher at Orange Church, Massey's, Pleasant Green, Mount Hebron and Fletcher's have led some historians to view him as one of the help take root in this part of the state. He has also been credited with leading his younger brother, Washington, to join Mount Bethel United Methodist Church in Bahama when he was 7 years old.In 1840, Uncle Billie donated an acre of land for the construction of Mount Hebron Church near the site of his conversion. The $100 log cabin was located near the intersection of Denfield Road and North Roxboro Road and drew this remark from Washington Duke: "That's a heap of money to put in religion." The church moved to its current location in 1885 and was named Duke's Chapel. The current church was completed in 1927 with stone identical to that used in the construction of Duke University. Today the church has 300 members. Uncle Billie had a slight build and was described as "thin and dried up" toward the end of his life. An insurance salesman once cornered him while he was plowing and tried to convince him of the need for life insurance. "What? Insure this?" asked Uncle Billie inspecting his bare-bones body. "I'm not interested. But if you've got some insurance for my soul I’ll talk to you." Uncle Billie died in 1883.
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