Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828) had four daughters: Victorine (1792-1861), Evelina (1796-1863), Eleuthera (1806-1876), and Sophie (1810-1888).

Victorine du Pont, the eldest child, was born in Paris and came to the United States in 1800. She was educated at a school for French-speaking children in New York and, after the family moved to Delaware, at a Wilmington boarding school and Mrs. Rivardi's Academy for Young Ladies in Philadelphia. As the eldest child and with an ailing mother, she was responsible for overseeing her younger siblings. Du Pont married Ferdinand Bauduy (1791-1814) in 1813, but he died six weeks later, and she never remarried. After a period of grieving, she became involved in the Brandywine Manufacturers' Sunday School, sponsored by her father to teach workers' children, and was a teacher and superintendent until her death. Victorine also taught her siblings, nieces and nephews at home.

Evelina Gabrielle du Pont was born in Paris and came to the United States in 1800. She attended the female seminary of Madame Rivardi in Philadelphia from 1807 to 1811. In 1816 she married James Antoine Bidermann (1790-1865), one of her father's business associates. They had one child, James Irénée Bidermann (1817-1890). She and her husband traveled to France in 1827-1828 and 1837-1839. In 1839 they began to build their home at Winterthur, Delaware, where they resided until her death.

Eleuthera du Pont was born at the family home, Eleutherian Mills. She was educated at home by her sister, Victorine, and then attended Mrs. Hughes's Boarding and Day School in Philadelphia from 1821 to 1823. She married Thomas MacKie Smith (1809-1852), a physician, in 1834; they had no children. The Smiths toured Europe in 1846-1847. Eleuthera retrieved many of the papers of her grandfather, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817), and brought them back to the United States. After her husband's death, she became more involved with the Brandywine Manufacturers' Sunday School which served the children of du Pont company workers, succeeding her older sister Victorine as superintendent in 1861. Eleuthera and her younger sister Sophie Madeleine were also interested in family history and genealogy and together arranged and transcribed family papers.

Sophie Madeleine du Pont, the youngest daughter, was born at the family home, Eleutherian Mills. She was educated at home by her sister, Victorine, and then attended Mrs. Grimshaw's school in Philadelphia for several months in 1825. In 1833, du Pont married her first cousin, Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865), a son of Victor du Pont and Gabrielle Josephine de La Fite de Pelleport du Pont. There were no children by this marriage. Du Pont resided along the Brandywine her entire life, first in her parents' home, and then in her husband's home, Louviers, located across the river. Her interests included family history, drawing, literature, religion, politics, and missionary work. Due to Samuel Francis du Pont's naval career, which often kept him away from home, the couple frequently corresponded. After her husband's death, she edited two volumes of selections of his papers and was concerned with rehabilitating his reputation, which had suffered after he was blamed for the failure of the Union Navy's attack on Charleston. Suffering from a variety of health problems, du Pont was frequently housebound and consequently regularly corresponded with friends and family whom she was unable to visit.