Several early companies, established by members of the du Pont family, operated on the Brandywine Creek in proximity to the mills of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. These businesses included factories that produced tanned leather, woolen and cotton cloth, and yarns. The firms also owned properties that were used by, or sold to, other developers of mills in the region.

The firm of Du Pont, Bauduy & Co. was organized by Victor du Pont (1767-1827), E. I. du Pont (1771-1834), Peter Bauduy (1769-1833), and Raphael Du Planty (1776-1854), as partners in 1810 in order to manufacture woolen cloth. The mill was at Louviers, Delaware, across the Brandywine River from the Du Pont Company's powder mills. In 1801 E.I. du Pont began importing Merino sheep. He also acquired the ram, Don Pedro, from Europe. By 1810 the du Pont family had raised a small herd of sheep and had made considerable progress in improving the quality of wool. The factory did, in fact, produce high-quality wool and counted both Presidents James Madison and James Monroe among its customers. However, when Bauduy and E.I. du Pont were involved in a series of financial disputes, Du Pont, Bauduy & Co. was dissolved and was succeeded by the partnership of Victor & Charles I. du Pont & Co.

As early as 1804 Archibald McCall (1767-1843) and E.I. du Pont were in business with each other. McCall was a prominent Philadelphia merchant involved in the East India trade, a director of the First Bank of the United States, and an agent for the sale of Du Pont powder. On April 30, 1813 the firm of Du Planty, McCall & Co. was organized with Robert McCall (1785-1854) (a younger brother), E. I. du Pont, Victor du Pont, and Raphael Du Planty as partners in a cotton spinning and weaving business. Archibald McCall and E. I. du Pont provided the capital and site for the factory. Robert McCall and Du Planty were designated as managers. The Army was the company's most important customer. However, the company was unable to compete with cheaper British textiles, which flooded the U.S. after the War of 1812 and went bankrupt in the panic of 1819. It took more than 25-years for its accounts to be settled as E. I. du Pont and Raphael Du Planty could not reconcile their claims and obligations.

The Brandywine Mill Seat Company was formed in 1813 by E.I. du Pont, Caleb Kirk (1792-1872), James Jeffries, John Torbert, and John Warner (1773-1825), all prominent businessmen in the Wilmington, Delaware, area, in an effort to attract manufacturers to the Brandywine area. Land along the creek was acquired from Job Harvey and Caleb Kirk, laid out in appropriate mill seats, and the waterpower computed for each. The venture was designed to profit from the increase in domestic manufacturing that accompanied the War of 1812, but like most others of the time it proved unsuccessful, and the property was divided and distributed among those who were members in 1829.

A. Cardon & Company was organized in 1815 by Alexandre Cardon de Sandrans (1787-?), James Antoine Bidermann (1790-1865), and Joseph Charles Dalmas (1776-1859) (of whom the last two were du Pont relatives). Cardon de Sandrans had just arrived in America, having accompanied Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours from France as his companion and secretary. He was a younger brother of Paul François, Baron Cardon de Sandrans (1781-1848), who married a niece of Madame du Pont de Nemours. The firm was to produce leather by an accelerated process of manufacture and established a tannery on Brandywine Creek near Wilmington. Over half the capital was advanced by E. I. du Pont for his brother-in-law, Dalmas, and for Bidermann. L.F. Chenou (1756-1832) was contracted to give instruction in the tanning process, but he left in 1816 to open a tannery in New Orleans. The first leather was produced late in 1816, but Cardon and Bidermann agreed to dissolve the business in 1825. Formal dissolution came on June 1, 1826, and debts were assumed, temporarily, by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, but eventually charged to the account of Bidermann. Cardon went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to manage the tannery of Eldridge & Brick, creditors of A. Cardon & Co. Cardon later owned iron works in Pennsylvania.

The Rockland Manufacturing Company was formed in 1825, as successor to W. Young, Son & Company, with William Young (1755-1829), William Wallace Young (1791-1863), Isaac Bannister (1775-1830), John McAllister (1753-1830), and John McAllister, Jr. (1786-1877), as directors. The firm manufactured cotton and woolen cloth at Rockland, on the Brandywine above Wilmington, Delaware. Alfred V. du Pont (1798-1856) became a director in 1846. The company became bankrupt and its property was seized in 1848-1849. Its property was eventually sold to Jessup & Moore, a paper manufacturer, and E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company.