This collection consists of Charles I. du Pont's papers; five of his children's papers; and his father-in-law Nicholas Van Dyke's (1769-1826) papers regarding his first wife, Dorcas Montgomery Van Dyke (1806-1838).

Charles I. du Pont's (1797-1869) papers have been arranged into four subseries: Correspondence, Accounts, Deeds and estate papers, and Letters.

The Correspondence subseries includes inbound business and personal correspondence dating from 1824 to 1845. Among the correspondents are John D. Bird, Samuel Breck, Peter N. Brennan, C.N. Buck, James Clayton, John M. Clayton, William B. Conway, James Couper, Henry du Pont (1812-1889), Mary Van Dyke du Pont (1826-1909), Samuel Francis Du Pont (1803-1865), E.I. Gilpin, Henry Hicks, John W. Houston, Callender Irvine, William Irvine, Joseph Kingsbery, Daniel Lammot, and D.W. Middleton. 

The Accounts subseries consists of extracts from the will of the father of his first wife, Dorcas Montgomery Van Dyke (1806-1838), a check, stock statements, and a receipt from Edward Gilpin.

The Deeds and estates subseries includes deeds for property in New Castle County, Delaware; data on Kentucky lands; a letter of William B. Conway (1839) discussing the proposed location for the capital of Iowa; and legal papers appointing him guardian of his children.

The Letters subseries includes a letter from John M. Clayton (1853) concerning an appointment for Charles I. du Pont Jr. (1830-1873). It also includes a letter from Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, to Clayton upon the subject. Addditionally, there is a Girard F. and M. Insurance Co. letter to stockholders, a letter from D. Lammot regarding an altercation between Mr. Buck and the Secretary at the Columbia Office, and the 42nd regiment's weekly return of a recruiting party.

Mary Van Dyke du Pont's (1826-1909) papers contain stock certificates of the Bank of Pennsylvania; deed for land in Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, 1858; a copy of her will and codicils, with notes and memoranda on the disposition of personal property (including furniture, pictures, and other family items); letters concerning family genealogy; and papers regarding the settlement of her estate.

Victor du Pont's (1828-1888) papers include deeds for the property in the area of Wilmington; correspondence with Charles I. du Pont (1797-1869), Henry du Pont (1812-1889), Peter Brennan, Ann (Ridgely) du Pont (1815-1898) (Mrs. Charles I. du Pont), B. Hoffay, and R. Kirkpatrick & Co.; his appointment to the Board of Visitors at the United States Military Academy at West Point, by John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, 1860; his commission as aide to the Governor of Delaware, 1859; his license to practice law in Wilmington, 1865; an invitation to the opening of the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, 1876; memorial tributes; and business and estate papers (post-1888), including some for his wife, Alice (Hounsfield) du Pont (1833-1904).

Charles I. du Pont, Jr.'s (1830-1873) papers include the license for his marriage to Mary Sophie du Pont (1834-1869), 1862; a certified copy of his will and codicils; checks and a promissory note to his brother, Victor du Pont (1828-1888), dating from 1862 to 1865; correspondence with his father, Mary Van Dyke du Pont (1826-1909), Victor du Pont (1852-1911), Lammot du Pont (1831-1884), Alfred V. du Pont (1833-1893), Charles I. du Pont Bird, James N. Kellogg, Peter N. Brennan, and the Louisville Paper Mill; and papers regarding the settlement of his estate.

Victor du Pont, Jr.'s (1852-1911) papers include a bill for schooling at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, dated 1869; letters, receipts, newspaper clippings, and memoranda concerning his stamp, coin, and medal collection, dating from 1895 to 1911; letters about the sale of Rokeby, a family property near Wilmington, 1905; a file on property and stock, dating from 1907 to 1911; correspondence with his mother, Mary Van Dyke du Pont (1826-1909), Samuel Francis Du Pont (1865-1893), Amelia Elizabeth (du Pont) du Pont (1842-1917) (Mrs. Eugene du Pont), and others, dating from 1893 to 1908.

Charles I. du Pont's (1859-1902) papers include letters from E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., William du Pont (1855-1928), Henry A. du Pont (1838-1926), Samuel Francis du Pont (1865-1893), W. Watts Sherman, Boies Penrose, Charles G. Rumford, and Willard Hall Porter. The letter of James G. Blaine, Secretary of State, is of particular interest, as it introduces Charles I. du Pont to diplomatic and consular officials when he traveled abroad on business connected with the Navy Department. His correspondence with Thomas F. Bayard (United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James's), 1892, 1897, includes introductions to the British financiers Walter H. Burns of J. P. Morgan & Co., Howard Potter of Brown, Shipley & Co., and Sir John Lubbock, M.P., for himself and T. Coleman du Pont (1863-1930), who sought British capital in the interests of the Johnson Co., an enterprise in which the du Pont family had holdings. Correspondence with Alphonse Getteman, a Belgian chemist, deals with the fabrication of smokeless powder and his knowledge of powder manufacturing in Europe. A letter from Pierre S. du Pont (28 October 1898) discusses testing shells for using DuPont smokeless powder. Other papers include: some concerning Samuel Francis du Pont (1865-1893); accounts of Charles I. du Pont with E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 1900, 1902; an itinerary of the tour of Alexander K. McClure, editor of the Philadelphia Times, and party to the Pacific coast and Mexico, 1901, with a letter to American diplomatic and consular officials in Mexico introducing Charles I. du Pont, member of the party (see A.K. McClure, To the Pacific and Mexico [Philadelphia, 1901]); and papers on the settlement of the estate of Charles I. du Pont.

The du Pont family miscellany series includes papers regarding the estate of Irvine Shubrick (1797-1849), who married Julia du Pont (1806-1882); estate papers of Sophie M. Du Pont (1810-1888), 1890, and of Samuel Francis du Pont (1865-1893), dating from 1893 to 1894; copies of the wills of Henry du Pont (1812-1889) and Amelia E. du Pont (1796-1869); letters of Henry A. du Pont (1838-1926), Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954), and Alfred I. du Pont (1864-1935) to younger members of the du Pont family, 5 May 1906, offering each of ten members $25,000 in stock of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. Company items include: manufacturing statements, 1899, 1900 and a report marked "Nobel. Smokeless Powder," undated.

The Van Dyke family papers include: land papers (deeds, bonds, surveys, etc.) concerning property at New Castle subsequently owned by Nicholas Van Dyke (1769-1826) that contain transactions involving John Carr, Richard Carr, Nathaniel Caruthers, George Dakeyne, David Finney, John Finney, Robert French, Nicholas Meers, Jonathan Savage, John Silsby, and John Wethered; correspondence of Nicholas Van Dyke with his daughter, Dorcas (1806-1838) (Mrs. Charles I. du Pont), Stephen Girard, Delia Stockton, and John Wales, dating from 1816 to 1822; copies of the wills of Zachariah Van Leuvenigh (1785) and Nicholas Van Dyke; and notes on Van Dyke genealogy, dating from 1785 to 1908. 

The Various newspapers, documents, and letters series consists of marriage certificates, newspaper clippings, indentures (copies), plats, and survey certificates. There are two pamphlets related to legal issues: one about abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia and another about the removal of the courts from New Castle to Wilmington. The indentures are copies; the originals have been returned to the owner, primarily for the New Castle, Delaware, area.

There are two letters from Elizabeth Montgomery to a church regarding the gift of a title to a house; a letter from Jefferson Davis related to the du Ponts; a few letters from various senders regarding fundraising; and a letter from Willard Saulsbury, an attorney, regarding the sale of the Fort Worth Land and Street Railway Company.