Alfred Victor du Pont (1798-1856) was born in Paris and came to the United States in 1800. He was educated at Mt. Airy College in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He studied chemistry at Dickinson under Thomas Cooper (1759-1841), a disciple of Joseph Priestly (1733-1804). In 1818, he joined the firm E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Upon the death of his father in 1834, he formed a new partnership with his brother-in-law, James Antoine Bidermann (1790-1865). In 1837, Alfred Victor du Pont became the senior partner. He retired in 1850. He was primarily interested in developing methods for improving the manufacture of black powder. He worked with Ellwood Morris (1814?-1872), a Philadelphia engineer, evaluating the efficiency of turbines at the Du Pont mills.

In 1824, he married Margaretta Elizabeth Lammot (1807-1898), daughter of Daniel Lammot (1782-1877) and Susan Parham Beck (1786-1817). They resided at Nemours, a house built for them in 1824, near the home of his father. He was active in the local school and political affairs, and served as a Presidential Elector in 1844. Margaretta (Lammot) du Pont and her father were active in establishing the Wilmington congregation of Swedenborgians (Church of the New Jerusalem) in Delaware. Of the seven children of Alfred V. du Pont, two sons, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1829-1877) and Lammot du Pont (1831-1884), were active in the firm of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. After her husband's death, Margaretta Lammot du Pont moved to another residence, Goodstay, located in Wilmington, where she resided until her death.