The Dimmick family were descendants of the founders of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical research, and manufacturing company.

Joanna (Smith) du Pont (1815-1876) was the daughter of Francis Gurney Smith (1784-1873), of Philadelphia, and a sister of Dr. Thomas MacKie Smith (1810-1852), who had married Eleutheura du Pont (1806–1876). In 1836, she married Alexis Irénée du Pont (1816-1857), and they had eight children.

Joanna (du Pont) Dimmick (1854-1901), known as Minnie, was the youngest child of Joanna (Smith) du Pont and Alexis Irénée du Pont. In 1876, she traveled to Europe with her mother, sister Frances du Pont Coleman (1838-1902), brother-in-law Leighton Coleman (1837-1907), and nephew Alexis Coleman. While in England, her mother died. In 1880, du Pont married Edward Clarence Dimmick (1843-1895), and the couple had four children, three of whom survived to adulthood. Dimmick had previously been married to Minnie's sister Irene Sophie du Pont (1845-1877).

Sophie M. du Pont (1810-1888) he youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), was born at the family home, Eleutherian Mills. Her father was the founder of E.I du Pont de Nemours & Company. She was educated at home by her sister, Victorine du Pont Bauduy (1792-1861), 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.

Lavinia Elizabeth Dimmick (1874-1946) was the daughter of Irene Sophie du Pont and Edward Clarence Dimmick and a great-niece of Sophie M. du Pont. Dimmick was born on February 13, 1874. Her mother died in 1877, and her father married his late wife's sister Joanna "Minnie" du Pont in 1880. In 1897 Lavinia Dimmick traveled to England; there, through friends, she met Dr. Alfred Rée (1864-1933) of Manchester and Maclesfield, a manufacturing chemist who was ten years her senior. Dimmick's father died in the following year, and her stepmother took the entire family to England for an extended stay, during which she renewed her acquaintance with Dr. Rée. After a two-year courtship, he came to the United States, where they were married on June 14, 1900. The couple returned to England and had eight children.