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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES AND FAMILY HISTORY
Here are brief biographies of some key players in the du Pont family story:
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817)
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours was a liberal economist, prolific author, and editor. Alternately revered and reviled in his native France, depending on who was in power, du Pont was sometimes appreciated more elsewhere. In 1774 he was invited by King Stanislas Augustus of Poland to organize that country’s educational system.
He served as Inspector General of Commerce under Louis XVI, helped negotiate the treaty of 1783, by which Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United Sates, and arranged the terms of a commercial signed by France and England in 1786. |
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Du Pont was appointed Secretary-General of the Assembly of Notables in 1787. As a member of the Estates General at the beginning of the French Revolution, he favored a constitutional monarchy. Du Pont’s position on paper currency led to a 1790 mob attack on him that he barely survived.
On August 10, 1792, Pierre Samuel du Pont was among the armed defenders of the king; this made him a target of the new regime. Du Pont was imprisoned; he narrowly escaped the guillotine, thanks to the death of Robespierre on July 28, 1794. He was put in prison again three years later, and the family’s property was destroyed.
Emigration to the United States looked like the family’s best option, especially because Pierre Samuel had established a friendship with Thomas Jefferson when the latter was in Paris. On New Year’s day, 1800, the du Ponts arrived in America after a grueling three-month voyage. At first it was not clear what their next endeavor would be, possibly a trading and land company, but at son Eleuthère Irénée’s urging, the family purchased land along the Brandywine in 1802 and opened gunpowder mills. This was the beginning of the enterprise that would make them the richest family in America.
Pierre Samuel Du Pont continued his political and academic work, going back and forth between the United States and in France. At Jefferson’s request, he prepared a document on national education. Du Pont went back to France in 1802 to promote the treaty that resulted in the Louisiana Purchase.
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, patriarch of America’s closest clan to royalty, died in 1817 at age 77 after fighting a fire at the powder yard.
Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834)
Pierre Samuel’s youngest son, Eleuthère Irénée (E. I.) came up with the business idea that would make his family the wealthiest in America.
In France, E. I.’s father was a friend of chemist Antoine Lavoisier. Lavoisier was a director in the government’s Gunpowder and Saltpeter Administration. He got the 17-year-old E. I. a job in the royal mills at Essone, where the teenager learned the process of gunpowder manufacturing.
Royalists were not treated kindly by the revolutionaries. Lavoisier was guillotined, and the du Pont family left France for America, arriving on the first of January 1800. It was unclear what their next endeavor would be. |
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Then E. I., frustrated by the poor quality of black powder made in America, and familiar with the powder-making process, came up with the idea to make gunpowder. His father agreed to finance the venture. Thomas Jefferson supported the idea and suggested the family set up shop in Virginia, but E. I. was uncomfortable with the institution of slavery in that state, and settled along the Brandywine River in Delaware instead.
Construction on the powder works in began 1802. From the beginning, E. I. improved the existing system. He designed and constructed a series of small mills, one for each part of the production process, instead of one giant building. He also came up with the idea of using three stone walls and one wooden one for each of those building, with the wooden wall facing the water. Theoretically, if an explosion occurred, the wooden wall would blow off and leave the rest of the structure intact.
Saltpeter was produced by 1803. In 1805, almost forty-five thousand pounds of gunpowder was produced. Over the years there were setbacks, including deadly explosions and problems with creditors, but the firm started by E. I. du Pont was on its way to becoming the top munitions company in the world.
Eleuthère Irénée du Pont died in 1834, leaving the company management to his children.
The Next Generation
E. I.’s son Alfred Victor eventually took over the company. His son, Lammot, was a chemist and businessman. Lammot patented a way to make blasting powder without saltpeter, and also formed the Gunpowder Trade Association.
Lammot’s uncle Henry set Lammot up in a company to manufacture dynamite, which had been invented by Alfred Nobel. Within six months the firm was producing a ton of the explosive per day. Unfortunately, an experiment in March 1884 went awry, and Lammot was killed in the blast. He was survived by his wife and ten children. The eldest, Pierre S. du Pont, would be one of three cousins who eventually joined together to run the DuPont Company.
When company president Eugene du Pont died in 1902, the three senior partners decided to sell the century-old DuPont Company to its main competitor. A. I. duPont stepped in and said that he wanted to take over. Management agreed, providing that A. I.’s cousins Pierre S. and T. Coleman would be involved. The three purchased the company for $12 million.
The explosives company was modernized and expanded, and virtually monopolized the gunpowder industry. World War I brought revenues of more than $1 billion. DuPont diversified, adding products other than munitions to its line.
As the number of du Pont descendants increased, the company’s character as a unified family institution waned. However, DuPont retained its identity as an innovative, profitable firm as it became a multinational corporation with operations in more than seventy countries.
Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954)
Pierre S. du Pont was a great-grandson of DuPont Company founder Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. He was born in 1870 at the family home in Wilmington, the eldest son of Lammot and Mary du Pont. Pierre’s childhood ended abruptly when his father died in a manufacturing explosion. The fourteen-year-old became head of the family for his mother and ten brothers and sisters.
Despite this responsibility, Pierre was able to graduate from MIT with a degree in chemistry in 1890. He went to work for DuPont, then became president of the Johnson Company in Ohio. Returning to Wilmington in 1902, he joined his cousins Alfred I. duPont and T. Coleman du Pont to purchase a controlling interest in the DuPont Company. |
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Led largely by Pierre S. du Pont, the company successfully made the transition from a family firm to a multinational chemical company giant. General Motors also tapped Pierre du Pont’s expertise; he guided that company’s rapid development as its chairman from 1915 to 1929.
In 1915, du Pont married his cousin Alice Belin. The lifelong friends had traveled to many gardens together, including a visit to more than twenty Italian villas and gardens in 1913. Some of these would inspire the development of Longwood Gardens, as would the fifty French châteaux and gardens the couple toured in 1925.
Along with his many business and botanical achievements, Pierre S. du Pont was also a philanthropist. He gave more than $8 million for public schools in Delaware and Pennsylvania, donated $2 million to the University of Delaware, and was generous to local hospitals. He also backed public road improvements and expansions. His wish that Longwood Gardens would be part of the family legacy led to the creation of a foundation to operate the gardens after his death.
Pierre S. du Pont died in 1954.
Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969)
Henry Francis (H. F.) du Pont was born at Winterthur in 1880. By the early twentieth century, Winterthur was a self-sustaining agricultural community. Tenant farmers on the property raised turkeys, chickens, sheep, pigs, and cattle, and grew vegetables and grains. Gardens and greenhouses provided flowers year-round.
A shy child, he was a poor student and felt he was a disappointment to his father, a Civil War hero and U.S. Senator. |
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H. F. studied horticulture at Harvard’s Bussey Institution, then returned to Winterthur to manage the farm. He was especially interested in dairy operations and began a long-term Holstein-Friesian breeding program to increase the milk’s butterfat content. Du Pont’s herd broke records, and his cows were in great demand by other dairy farmers.
Du Pont married Ruth Wales in 1916. Along with their home at Winterthur, by 1923 they had houses on Long Island and in Boca Grande, Florida, as well as a New York City apartment.
At first, the du Ponts favored European furniture. Later they turned their attention to American furniture and objects. H. F. proved to be a discerning, tireless collector. Winterthur became a showcase for these American treasures, and H. F.’s methods inspired other collectors. Outdoors, du Pont put his horticultural talents and training to good use. The house and garden present one of the most beautiful sites in Château Country.
Because he did not use an agent to make purchases, always seeing the items for himself, he became respected as a connoisseur, and embraced by a community of people with like interests.
Du Pont received well-deserved recognition for his accomplishments. In 1961, Jacqueline Kennedy invited him to become chairman of the new Fine Arts Committee and oversee the renovations for the White House. Later, she asked him to suggest the first White House curator. He, in turn, hosted her at Winterthur.
Henry Francis du Pont died in 1969. The shy boy had become a respected expert on cattle breeding, American decorative arts, and horticulture.
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