Du Pont family papers
Creation: 1588-1785Abstract
Abraham Dupont (1572-1640) was the progenitor of the South Carolina branch of the Du Pont family. In France, he dealt in manufactures of brass and copper. This is a small collection of his papers and those of his immediate descendants. The documents include the earliest records still extant in the Du Pont family papers. They are important for the evidence of descent they offer and for details about the ancestors of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817). Many relate to landed property in Rouen and in the nearby parishes of Fontaine-sous-Préaux and Roncherolles.
Dates
- Creation: 1588-1785
Creator
- Du Pont family (Family)
Extent
98 item(s)
Biographical Note
Abraham Dupont (1572-1640) was the progenitor of the South Carolina branch of the Du Pont family. In France, he dealt in manufactures of brass and copper.
He was born in Rouen, Normandy, France, to Jean Dupont (1538-1604) and Guillaume Brière (1536-1581), a Huguenot family. In 1627, he married Marie Cossart (1597-1648), and the couple had five children; the youngest surviving son was Jean Dupont I (1631-1710).
Jean Dupont I (1631-1710) was nine when his father died and remained in the care of his mother until he was fifteen, when his uncle took guardianship and he was sent to Antwerp to complete his education. He remained in Antwerp at least until 1651, and returned to Rouen in 1654. He married Marie du Busc (1632-1676) in 1656 and had nine children; two of their sons were Abraham Dupont (1658-1731) and Jean Dupont (1662-1731).
In late October of 1685, the French King officially revoked the Edict of Nantes, which allowed Protestants religious and civil liberties such as the right to worship, gather, and access to education, among other rights. The Edict of Nantes had been upheld for eighty-seven years; deprived of its protection, more than 400,000 persecuted Huguenots began to flee France. Many were forced to sign abjuration statements. Jean Dupont I (1631-1710), Jean Dupont (1662-1731), and his wife, Marie de La Porte Dupont (1674-1752), all signed and chose to remain in France.
Abraham Dupont (1658-1731) emigrated to London in 1681, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1693. He emigrated to America in 1695; from New York, he moved to South Carolina in 1696. In 1697, he married Anne Faucheraud (1678-1756), who was born in France and had immigrated to South Carolina in 1688.
In 1693, Jean Dupont (1662-1731) and Marie de La Porte (1674-1752) were married; their fifth son was Samuel Dupont (1708-1775). Samuel Dupont was a watchmaker. In 1737, Samuel Dupont married Anne Alexandrine de Montchanin Dupont (1720-1756). They were the parents of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817).
Scope and Contents
The documents in this collection include the earliest records still extant in the Du Pont family papers. They are important for the evidence of descent they offer and for details about the ancestors of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817). Many relate to landed property in Rouen and in the nearby parishes of Fontaine-sous-Préaux and Roncherolles. Known generally as actes notariés, they set forth the title to family houses in Rouen and to lands, including the property of La Robinette in the parish of Fontaine-sous-Préaux. Several key items among the land papers are significant because they concern properties referred to in several other documents. The deed of 1637 for the purchase of the house in Rouen by Abraham Dupont (1572-1640), and the deed of 1798 by which his great-great-grandson, Du Pont de Nemours, alienated this property, encompass those years of transition when the family gravitated to Paris and shed its provinciality. Likewise, conveyances of 1708 and 1717, by which Jean Dupont (1662-1731) acquired lands in Fontaine-sous-Préaux and Roncherolles, throw light on earlier generations of the family. But long before he acquired this estate, the record of its earlier owners appears in a series of documents reaching back to the sixteenth century, including the overlordships of the Canons of the Collegiate Church of Blainville and that of the Colbert family, marquises of Seignelay.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Language of Materials
English
Additional Description
Provenance Note
The Henry Francis du Pont collection of Winterthur Manuscripts (WMSS) contains the personal papers of those portions of the Du Pont family that descended to Colonel Henry Algernon du Pont (1838-1926) and his son, Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969) of Winterthur. Between 1949 and 1957, the bulk of this collection was deposited at the Longwood Library, where it joined a similar collection of family papers assembled by Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954) known as the Longwood Manuscripts (LMSS), also now held at Hagley Museum and Library. The papers of Henry Francis du Pont remain at Winterthur.
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title:
- Du Pont family papers
- Author:
- John Beverley Riggs
- Date:
- 1970
- Description rules:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description:
- English
- Script of description:
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2022: Laurie Sather
Repository Details
Repository Details
Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository
