Finding Aids

The Crofton and Shubrick families were descendants of a prominent French American diplomat and businessman, Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827), and represent middle-class American women in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Two generations of women married military men who were stationed across the world. This collection spans three generations of women (Julia du Pont Shubrick, Gabrielle Josephine Shubrick Crofton, and Julia du Pont Crofton Walcutt) from these families and contains correspondence regarding everyday life.

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. This group of materials within the Winterthur Manuscripts collection contains the papers of the three eldest: Victorine (du Pont) Bauduy (1792-1861), Evelina (du Pont) Bidermann (1796-1863), and Eleuthera (du Pont) Smith (1806-1876), as well as their respective husbands: Ferdinand Bauduy (1791-1814), James Antoine Bidermann (1790-1865), and Thomas MacKie Smith (1809-1852). Victorine du Pont Bauduy and Eleuthera du Pont Smith were teachers at the Brandywine Manufacturers' Sunday School (BMSS), a nonsectarian school offering classes in reading, writing, arithmetic, and Bible lessons. Evelina du Pont Bidermann spent much of her adult life traveling alongside her husband and then building the Winterthur mansion in Delaware. Their papers document details about their education, social life, family, attitudes, and activities through incoming and outgoing correspondence, as well as personal papers such as diaries and account books.

Eleuthera du Pont Smith (1806-1876) was the daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828). This collection contains an invitation she received to attend the Lafayette Ball in Philadelphia in 1824.

Gabrielle Crofton (1873-1952) was the daughter of Gabrielle Josephine Shubrick (1835-1894) and Robert Erskine Anderson Crofton (1834-1898), and the great-granddaughter of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827), a prominent French American diplomat and businessman. The collection consists of two diaries, dating from 1917 to 1926, and reflect the leisured life of a middle-class, unmarried woman in the first quarter of the twentieth century United States.

Gabrielle Shubrick Crofton (1835-1894) was the daughter of Irvine Shubrick (1797-1849) and Julia du Pont (1806-1882), and the wife of Colonel Robert Crofton (1834-1898). His military service meant the family moved to where he was stationed. The papers consist primarily of correspondence between Crofton and her husband and mother, including an eight-year span living in army posts in the Dakota Territory.

Irene Sophie du Pont (1877-1961) was a philanthropist who served as the chairperson of the Delaware Commission for the Blind for thirty years. She married her distant cousin, Irénée du Pont (1876-1963), on February 1, 1900. Their eldest daughter was Irene "Sophie" Sophie du Pont May (1900-2001). Sophie du Pont May was a churchwoman and a philanthropist. This small collection consists of two sets of papers, one belonging to Irene Sophie du Pont and the other to her daughter, Sophie du Pont May. The papers were removed from each of their respective lap writing desks for preservation purposes. Irene Sophie du Pont's papers consist primarily of letters written to her between 1887 and 1898, prior to her marriage in 1900. Sophie du Pont May's papers are entirely comprised of her school materials from the Friends School in Wilmington, Delaware, dating from 1910 to 1916.

Margaretta “Meta” du Pont Coleman (1862-1938) was a descendant of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) who founded the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company with his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) in 1802. The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The Margaretta E. "Meta" du Pont Coleman Papers primarily consist of family correspondence collected by Meta Coleman.

This collection consists of a microfilm of volume twenty-four of the diary of Phoebe George Bradford (1794-1840), a native of Cecil County, Maryland, and resident of Wilmington, Delaware. The diaries contain descriptions of social doings and daily activities, opinions on family matters and religion, and occasional references to national matters and local happenings.

This collection consists of a microfilm volumes one and two of the diaries of Phoebe George Bradford (1794-1840), a native of Cecil County, Maryland, and resident of Wilmington, Delaware. The diaries contain descriptions of social doings and daily activities, opinions on family matters and religion, and occasional references to national matters and local happenings.

This collection consists of microfilms of volumes 1, 6-10, 15, 16, and 24 of the diaries of Phoebe George Bradford (1794-1840), a native of Cecil County, Maryland, and resident of Wilmington, Delaware. The diaries contain descriptions of social doings and daily activities, opinions on family matters and religion, and occasional references to national matters and local happenings.

This collection consists of photocopies of volumes 7-10, 15, 16, and 24 of the diaries of Phoebe George Bradford (1794-1840), a native of Cecil County, Maryland, and resident of Wilmington, Delaware. The diaries contain descriptions of social doings and daily activities, opinions on family matters and religion, and occasional references to national matters and local happenings.

The Crofton and Shubrick families were descendants of a prominent French American diplomat and businessman, Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827), and represent middle-class American women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This collection primarily consists of the papers of Gabrielle Josephine Crofton (1873-1952) and Mary Ethel Crofton Hunt (1875-1962), daughters of Gabrielle Shubrick Crofton (1835-1894) and Robert E.A. Crofton (1834-1898). It includes diaries, autograph book, notebook, and letters.