Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904) was the youngest son of Alexis I. du Pont (1816-1857) and Joanna Smith du Pont (1815-1876), and grandson of Éleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The collection contains two letter books of du Pont to F.G. Thomas (-1901) of the Iowa Powder Mills, photocopies of selected documents by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) on gunpowder, and on awards to John Paul Jones (1747-1792) for his victory over HMS Serapis, and letter from Samuel Courtauld (1752-1821) to Captain Joseph H. Rees (1789-1821).

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) was a French political economist, writer, publisher, and public administrator. He was an advocate for a national educational system and promoted Franco-American trade relations. The collection consists of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours correspondence and writings in addition to correspondence of his second wife, Françoise (Robin) Poivre.