Coleman, Margaretta du Pont, 1862-1938

Margaretta E. ("Meta") du Pont Coleman (1862-1938), the first child of Bidermann du Pont and Ellen Coleman du Pont, was born in Louisville, Ky. After the death of her mother in 1876, she briefly resided with her maternal grandmother in Wilmington, Del. and then attended boarding school in Philadelphia, Pa. from October 1878-May 1879. She returned to her father's home in Louisville, where she was responsible for running the household and had an active social life. Meta du Pont married a first cousin, Bannen Coleman, in 1888. They had three children. She apparently lived a conventional life of a married upper-middle class woman in the late nineteenth century.

After her husband's death in 1898, Meta Coleman continued to live in Louisville until approximately 1910 when she moved to the Boston, Mass. area where she lived until her death. Meta Coleman was interested in genealogy and collected family memorabilia.

Meta Coleman's father, Bidermann du Pont (1837-1923), moved to Louisville, Ky. after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1856. He joined his older brother A.V. du Pont in a paper mill business. Both of the brothers achieved financial success; Bidermann du Pont was later president of the Elizabethtown and Paducah Railroad, the Louisville, Paducah and South-Western Railroad, and the Central Coal & Iron Company.

Meta Coleman was one of seven children. Her siblings include T. Coleman du Pont (1863-1930), president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (1902-1915) and U.S. senator (1924-1928), and Zara du Pont (1869-1946), known for her work in women's suffrage, labor activism, and social causes.