Benjamin H. Duddleston papers

Benjamin H. Duddleston was born in 1890 and raised near Reedsville, Wisconsin. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1917. He studied yield components in Reid Yellow Dent for his Master of Science thesis, with Professor Hughes, at Iowa State and graduated in 1918. Professor Duddleston served briefly in the U.S. Navy before joining the USDA at Purdue University.

He developed Indiana inbreds 461-3, B2, Fe, TR, and WF9 from improved Reid varieties at Purdue. Inbred WF9, the most popular inbred, was in hybrids grown on 30% of U.S. acres for 30 years. (Jones, 1942; Troyer, 1999). Five of his inbreds are in Stiff Stalk Synthetic. He is credited as one of the inventors of the remnant seed version of the ear-to-row method, along with C. G. Williams.

Ben bought Halsey Farm near Cornell University, where he had taken a sabbatical. He remained active with Halsey Hybrids at 100 years of age. Ben Duddleston died at the age of 101, in 1991.