James Antoine Bidermann (1790-1865) was the son of Jacques Antoine Bidermann (1751-1817) and his wife, Gabrielle Aimée Odier (1761-1842). The elder Bidermann, a native of Winterthur, Switzerland, became a noted banker in Paris and was an important stockholder in Du Pont de Nemours, Père et Fils & Cie. The capital funding of the powder firm of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. came from his stock. It was this interest that brought James Antoine Bidermann to Delaware. When Peter Bauduy withdrew from E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., James Antoine took his place and became head of the firm upon the death of E.I. du Pont in 1834. He retired in 1837.

Upon their return to Delaware from France, Evelina and James Antoine Bidermann commenced to build the present Winterthur mansion in 1839, and it remained their home for many years. Madame Bidermann died there in 1863, and her husband left soon afterward for France, where he remained with their only child, James Irénée Bidermann (1817-1890), until his death in 1865.