Building a Family Tree

Shared connections: From Braxton Craven, top, to Carl (Sr.) and Mary Eskridge King, to today’s students, multiple generations of families are woven into the history of Duke. Credit: Duke University Archives

Loyalty to Duke runs deep, particularly among families that can claim multiple generations of alumni. Even though Duke is a relatively young university, it's not uncommon to find that two and even three generations of alumni have attended; some legacies even extend back to the institution's beginnings in the nineteenth century.

In 1842, Braxton Craven became principal of Union Institute, the precursor to Normal College, Trinity College, and, eventually, Duke University. Craven, who selected the name Trinity College and the motto Eruditio et Religio, was the institution's longest-serving president. Among the most recent Craven family descendants to attend Duke are his great, great, great-grandsons Thomas Blair Hines '96 and Robert Craven Hines '99, sons of Mary Young "Larry" Hines A.M. '93 and Thomas Blair Hines A.M. '94. (Larry Hines' mother is Isobel Craven Drill '37, whose brothers Erle B. Craven Jr. '25 and John Braxton Craven '25 also had children who attended Duke.)

University Archivist Emeritus William E. King '61, A.M. '63, Ph.D. '70 also has longstanding ties to Duke. His wife, Helen Brewer King M.Ed. '79; son, Carl H. King M.Div. '95; brother, Carl H. King Jr. '54; and cousin Argyle King Clarke R.N. '52 all earned Duke degrees. But it's his parents' affiliation with the institution that has an unusual twist. His father, Carl Howard King '24, was in the last class to graduate from Trinity College, and his mother, Mary Elizabeth Eskridge King '25, was in the first class to graduate from Duke University.

The Duke Alumni Association (DAA) plans to document other multigenerational Duke families, including those with affiliations through marriage (e.g., daughters- and sons-in-law, nieces and nephews, and cousins). Please send information, including degrees earned and year(s) of graduation, to Carol Lilley, DAA staff assistant. E-mail: carol.lilley@daa.duke.edu. Fax: (919) 684-6022. Please include DAA Multigenerational Project in the subject line.