Finding Aids

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company was organized in Paris in 1801 by Pierre Samuel "P.S." du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Eleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834) for the manufacture of gunpowder. Included here are records of the firm collected by P.S. du Pont and separated from the main body of company records.

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (1771–1834) was a French American chemist and industrialist who founded the gunpowder manufacturer E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. E.I. du Pont married Sophie Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828) in 1791; the couple had eight children, one of whom died in infancy. This collection of papers includes outbound and inbound correspondence covering personal and business matters. These include personal accounts, writings and memoirs, legal documents, and miscellany, of which the majority are accounts. There are papers of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. that date from 1802 to 1850 and include correspondence (drafts, retained copies, and letters received), contracts and other legal documents, accounts, bills and receipts, checks, promissory notes, bills of exchange, drafts, and certain miscellaneous notes and memoranda.

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (1771–1834) was a French American chemist and industrialist who founded the gunpowder manufacturer, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. E.I. du Pont married Sophie Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828) in 1791, and the couple had eight children, one of whom died in infancy. This collection primarily consists of E.I. du Pont's personal and business correspondence; writings and notes; school materials; memoranda on manufactures and tariffs; legal agreements; patents; and land surveys. Also included are Sophie Dalmas du Pont's correspondence and household account records.

Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904) was the youngest son of Alexis I. du Pont (1816-1857) and Joanna Smith du Pont (1815-1876), and grandson of Éleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. Walter G. Tatnall Jr. (1882-1949) was an engineer at the DuPont Pulp Keg Mill and president of the Department of Elections for New Castle County. The memorandum books from du Pont and Tatnall document their work for the DuPont Company, including data on the manufacture of pulp kegs.

Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904) was the youngest son of Alexis I. du Pont (1816-1857) and Joanna Smith du Pont (1815-1876), and grandson of Éleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The collection contains two letter books of du Pont to F.G. Thomas (-1901) of the Iowa Powder Mills, photocopies of selected documents by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) on gunpowder, and on awards to John Paul Jones (1747-1792) for his victory over HMS Serapis, and letter from Samuel Courtauld (1752-1821) to Captain Joseph H. Rees (1789-1821).

Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904) was the youngest son of Alexis I. du Pont (1816-1857) and Joanna Smith du Pont (1815-1876), and grandson of Éleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The papers of du Pont describe both his business activities at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, his family life, and his activities in the Episcopal Church.

Alfred Victor du Pont (1798-1856), son of Sophie Madeleine Dalmas (1775-1828) and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), the founder of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. He joined the company in 1818, after an explosion that killed thirty-three people. The maps in this collection depict the Hagley yard based on an 1834 survey done by du Pont.

Pierre A. Gentieu (1842-1930) was a photographer and a long-term employee of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. Gentieu's papers include correspondence with du Pont family members and coworkers, an account book of powder packed at the Hagley Yard (1858-1902), a record book with lists of explosions (1882-1909), time work sheets of powdermen during the 1890s, and a list of the principal events in the powder yards from 1882 to 1911.