A Great American Family: The Du Ponts of Deleware

duPonts-of-Deleware

The du Ponts came to America after fleeing from France during the Revolution. Welcomed to America by president Thomas Jefferson Eleutheress Irenee du Pont Nemours was encouraged to set-up a powder mill. Jefferson knew that Eleutheress had learned to make gunpowder from the famous chemist Lavoisier. in 1802, Ireneee built his mill on Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware. the rest is history. Du Pont is still one of the world’s largest chemical firms and to this day the du Pont family has considerable influence. The du Pont family still observes the dictum from Irenee’s father; “No privilege exist that is not inseparably bound to a duty.” I will let theĀ  pictures from Life magazine’s August 19, 1957 edition tell the story of this this great American family.

Eleuthere Irenee - Thomas JeffersonIrenee with Thomas Jefferson

New-York-Harbor-1885Du Pont dynamite helping to clear New York Harbor 1885

DuPont-factory-1854Powder Mill outside of Wilmington

Lammot and Alfred

duPont-Company presidents-history

uPont-Company-presidents-history2

duPont-Company presdients-History3

Du Pont-Board MeetingDu Pont Board Meeting

duPont-Cuban-HomeIrenee’s Cuban Home Xanadu

swimming-CubaOne of his two daily swims

Colgate-Darden -Crawford-GreenwaltVisiting in-laws Colgate Darden and Crawford Greenwalt

Francis-Victor-du PontHighway expert Francis Victor du Pont

Henry-Francis-DuPontHenry Francis du Pont renowned horticulturist

William du Pont Jr.Horse expert and bank president William du Pont Jr.

George-duPontEngineer F. George du Pont at Remington Arms Co. which is controlled by Du Pont

Henry B. duPontVice President Henry B. du Pont (right)

Lammot-du Pont-CopelandArt Collector Lammont du Pont Copeland

yachtsmanYachtsman Pierre III secretary of the Du Pont firm

Jane DuPontJane “Dedo” du Pont daughter of Pierre at her coming-out party

Mrs.DuPontsVictorine and Mrs. Henry B. du Pont

duPonts-of-Deleware 4 du Ponts all named Irenee

oxford cloth button down
Jerrod Swanton is a simple man interested in simple, classic, and traditional style.

10 Comments on "A Great American Family: The Du Ponts of Deleware"

  1. max says:

    great post,& pix

  2. Gabe says:

    Thanks so much for this great post! I grew up near Wilmington, Delaware in the 1980s. Whenever we saw a Rolls Royce in a supermarket parking lot, we knew who’s it was!

  3. Jen says:

    I grew up down the road from John du Pont. While the family may have been great, he was not. He was mentally unstable and ended up murdering a wresting coach that lived on his estate. Then squandered away a lot of his money and ended up selling off most of his estate to developers.

    • oxford cloth button down says:

      Jen, thanks for the comment. Very interesting and disturbing. You have motivated me to do some further research.

    • AWZ says:

      You might find it interesting that there is a movie coming out about the murder of the wrestler Dave Schultz. While I’m sure it won’t portray the du pont family in a great light, I would love to hear your opponion of the movie and it’s accuracy.

  4. Charles Atkinson says:

    I grew up in Wilmington Delaware during the ’50s and many of my close friends and their parents were part of my life during years at Tower Hill sand beyond.

    Thanks for letting me relive those magical years

  5. oxford cloth button down says:

    AWZ – Thanks for the heads up. I will keep an eye out for the film.

  6. Gus says:

    What is the name of the painting and artist who painted it that Lammot DuPont Copeland is standing in front of?

I would like to hear from you