The series is comprised of papers detailing the activities of the thirty-one companies which William du Pont, Jr. organized or that he inherited and operated after the death of his father, William du Pont. These include Bellevue Water Company, Delaware Land Development Company, Delaware Title Insurance Company, and Montpelier Supply Company. The series also includes records for companies in which du Pont had financial or professional interest (Delaware Steeplechase and Race Association, Grayson Foundation, and Marchized, Inc.). Hull, Inc., Rodman C. Rodan and Westover Hills, Inc., are companies in which William du Pont, Jr. did not participate directly, and those records are organized at the end of the series under the "Miscellaneous Companies" title.

William du Pont, Jr. did not play a major role in the DuPont Company powder and chemical business. However, he worked as a plant manager for the Ball Grain Explosives Company at the time of the World War I and served on the board of directors of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc., from 1930 and its Finance Committee. There is a small amount of material regarding his role with these companies in Series I: Correspondence. That series also contains material reflecting du Pont's role as the president and director of the Delaware Trust Company.

The companies represented in Series VII: Business Papers document du Pont's entrepreneurship in the fields of land development and real estate, farming, animal culture, Thoroughbred horses racing, foxhunting, and investment. He ran businesses primarily in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but also in Virginia (Montpelier Supply Company, Walnut Hall, Inc.), New York (Sara Corporation) and California (Point Happy, Inc.)

Foxcatcher Farms, Inc., incorporated in 1927, was the first company organized by William du Pont,... Jr., and it was his earliest attempt to operate Thoroughbred race horse breeding and racing as a business. Due to financial difficulties, the company ceased operations in 1931, and du Pont continued the business as his private enterprise under the name "Foxcatcher Farms." In a similar way, his foxhound breeding and foxhunting business started as a private Foxcatcher hound pack in 1912, was reorganized as Foxcatcher Hounds, Inc., in 1938, then became a private enterprise again in 1945.

During his active business life, du Pont reorganized the structure of his corporations several times in accordance with his financial interests. After his father's death, the Hopeton Holding Corporation was organized in February 1928 to manage the Delaware Trust Company stock inherited by both William du Pont, Jr. and his sister Marion du Pont Somerville. In May 1928, Shapdale, Inc., was organized as a holding company to manage du Pont's other capital assets.

Shapdale, Inc., administered a number of subsidiary corporations organized by William du Pont, Jr., such as investment companies: Bellevue Water Company, Halcyon Company, and Linwood, Inc.; land development and real estate companies: Bellevue Hall, Inc., Bellevue Park, Inc., Delaware Title Insurance Company, Delaware Trust Building Corporation (merged into Shapdale, Inc., as its Delaware Trust Building Division in 1945), Marchized, Inc., Point Happy, Inc., Sara Corporation, Silvertip, Inc., Suburban Wilmington Development Company; and farm operations companies: Stockford Farms, Inc. (organized in 1928 as a subsidiary of Delaware Land Development Company, acquired by Shapdale, Inc., in 1930), and Walnut Hall, Inc.

Stockford Farms, Inc., in turn, divided its land holdings in Maryland and Pennsylvania between seven subsidiaries organized in 1938: Center Square, Inc., Foxcatcher Hounds, Inc. (name changed to Fair Hill, Inc., in 1940), Little Elk, Inc., New London, Inc., Springlawn, Inc., Tri-State, Inc., and Turkey Town, Inc. These companies were involved in farming, leasing of farms, foxhunting, and thoroughbred cattle rearing. They were dissolved in 1945-1947 when Shapdale, Inc., formed new subsidiaries on the same premises as Stockford Farms, Inc.: Fair Hill, Inc. (Maryland) and Springlawn Corporation (Pennsylvania, originally a subsidiary of Center Square, Inc., which Shapdale, Inc., took over in 1947).

Center Square, Inc., was a company which specialized in the breeding and rearing of Hereford cattle, and it was absorbed into Foxcatcher Livestock Company. When du Pont became interested in breeding the American beef cattle brand Santa Gertrudis during the 1940s, it was Foxcatcher Livestock Company that established the new breeding and commercial herds.

The plan of reorganization and recapitalization for Shapdale, Inc., Stockford Farms, Inc., Fair Hill, Inc., and Foxcatcher Livestock Company was approved on July 12, 1962. Under the reorganization, Foxcatcher Livestock Company was merged into Fair Hill, Inc., and Stockford Farms, Inc., was merged into Shapdale, Inc.

At the time of du Pont's death, these were the active companies under his name: Count Steffan, Inc., Delaware Land Development Company, Delaware Title Insurance Company, Fair Hill, Inc., Hopeton Holding Corporation, Marchized, Inc., Montpelier Supply Company, Inc., and Sara Corporation (Marion du Pont Scott, co-owner in both), Shapdale, Inc., Springlawn Corporation, Walnut Hall Farm, Inc. (former Walnut Hall, Inc.), and several others that are not represented in this series, but appear in the materials contained in the Series VIII: McConnell Family Papers, Subseries F: Sale of the Fair Hill Property: Blandale, Inc., Hall, Inc., and Passyunk, Inc.

William du Pont, Jr. continued building Westover Hills, the first suburban Wilmington upscale development started by his father in 1927. There are detailed records for the project in the Delaware Land Development Company, Subseries F. Documents cover the development of each section of Westover Hills and include plans, drawings and blueprints, correspondence with architects, builders, utility companies, insurance and mortgage agents, maintenance companies, and tenants. The same subseries documents the construction of an addition to the Delaware Trust Building during July 1928-June 1930, while the initial construction of the building in 1919-1921 is covered in the documents of the Delaware Title Insurance Company (Subseries H) and other additions and maintenance in the papers of Shapdale, Inc. (Subseries W). Other real estate development projects in the Wilmington area documented in this series are the construction and lease of office buildings to the Delaware Trust Company bank branches and other companies at Penny Hill, Fairfax, Wilmington Manor, and Price's Corner (Subseries R: Marchized, Inc.) and at Concord Pike north of Murphy Road (Subseries BB: Suburban Wilmington Development Company)

The series also contains papers of William du Pont, Jr.'s business assistants and employees: engineers Bernard T. Converse (Subseries G: Delaware Steeplechase and Race Association [DSRA]; Subseries W: Shapdale, Inc.); Howell B. Eskridge (Subseries W: Shapdale, Inc.); and John W. McComb, president of the Delaware Land Development Company and vice president of Stockford Farms, Inc. (Series F: Delaware Land Development Co.) Two subject files of B. T. Converse cover the construction, additions, and maintenance of the Delaware Trust Building (Shapdale, Inc.) and Delaware Park (DSRA) and contain many trade catalogs regarding various construction materials and pieces of equipment, together with specifications, blueprints, and drawings. Besides the B. T. Converse material, the DSRA subseries contain du Pont's correspondence, which describes the process of merging the DSRS into Delaware Park, Inc., in 1962. The papers of J. W. McComb, who acted as an agent for the Delaware Land Development Company in acquisition of land for the Stockford Farms, Inc., contain correspondence on this matter.

Records comprising this series, with some exceptions, document the companies' activities throughout their existence. Generally, papers include certificates of incorporation and dissolution, minute books, account books, corporation federal and state tax returns, financial statements and statements of operations, banking papers, receipts on paid bills, and correspondence. Numerous agreements on acquisition, sale, and rent of the farm land and buildings include deeds from the mid-nineteenth century, maps, and drawings that document land development in the Fair Hill area. It is located on the border of Maryland (Cecil County), Pennsylvania (Lancaster and Chester Counties) and Delaware (New Castle County), and it was where du Pont conducted his animal breeding, horse racing, and foxhunting enterprises.

This series has thirty-five subseries, which are organized in alphabetical order by the name of the company; miscellaneous companies at the end of the series are organized alphabetically, also. The last subseries consists of a Corporate Meeting Log Book, January 16, 1947-April 21, 1966, which contains chronological records of annual, regular, and deferred regular board of directors meetings for the companies owned by du Pont.