Carr, Julian Shakespeare

Julian Shakespeare Carr was born October 12, 1845 to John W. Carr and Eliza P. Carr in North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served in the Confederate Army. After the war, Carr became a partner of W. T. Blackwell and Co., a tobacco manufacturing firm in Durham. His donation of land to Trinity College (Randolph County, N.C.), along with the financial support of Washington Duke, allowed the struggling school the opportunity to move to Durham. Carr served on the Board of Trustees of the College, prior to and after its move to Durham. In 1924, the school would be renamed Duke University. Carr died on April 29, 1924 and is buried in Durham's Maplewood Cemetery.

From the guide to the Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers, 1880-1982, (University Archives, Duke University)

Julian Shakespeare Carr (1845-1924) of Chapel Hill and Durham, N.C., was a manufacturer of tobacco products with interests in a wide range of other businesses, including banking and textiles. Carr was also active in the Methodist Church, the Democratic Party, and several Confederate veterans' organizations, including the North Carolina branch of the United Confederate Veterans, which he served as commander. He was also a strong supporter of various institutions of higher education in the state.

From the description of Julian Shakespeare Carr papers, 1892-1923. WorldCat record id: 25754144

Tobacco and textile manufacturer and civic leader of Durham (Durham Co.), N.C. He also served on the Board of Trustees of Trinity College (Randolph County, N.C.).

From the description of Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers, 1880-1976. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 154271164

The third son of John Wesley and Eliza Bullock Carr, Julian Shakespeare Carr was born in Chapel Hill, N.C., on 12 October 1845. John Carr was a prosperous shopkeeper on Franklin Street, the main artery adjacent to the University of North Carolina. With a childhood spent near the University, among whose faculty his father was well-respected, it seemed natural that Jule, as his father referred to him, should matriculate there in 1862.

In 1864, Julian Shakespeare Carr enlisted in the Confederate army, where he served with the Third North Carolina Cavalry. After witnessing the surrender at Appomattox, he returned to Chapel Hill, where he enrolled for the 1865-1866 term at UNC.

Carr spent 1868 to 1870 in Little Rock, Ark., where he had entered into business with an uncle. Returning to North Carolina, he received four thousand dollars from his father to purchase a one-third interest in the tobacco manufacturing firm of W. T. Blackwell and Company in Durham, N.C. Business boomed, primarily as a result of the pioneering advertising campaign that promoted the company's product under its trademark, Bull Durham, which soon became a household word. Carr bought out his partners, only to sell the business in 1898 to the American Tobacco Company. With this capital, Carr engaged in a wide range of business interests: banking, hosiery mills, the Durham-Roxboro Railroad, electric and telephone companies, and a Durham newspaper.

Successful in most of his endeavors, Carr was also said to have given away a fortune during his lifetime. To the Methodist church, the Confederate veterans, and the University of North Carolina, he was quite generous. A trustee of the University and of Greensboro College, he was also a benefactor of Davidson, Wake Forest, St. Mary's, Elon and Trinity colleges. As Commander of the United Confederate Veterans in North Carolina, Carr had the honorary rank of major general, and was often referred to as General. An active Democrat, he supported the party financially and served as a delegate to its conventions, though he was never elected to office.

Carr married Nannie Graham Parrish in 1873. He died on 29 April 1924.

From the guide to the Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers, 1892-1923, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)