Du Pont, Alexis I. (Alexis Irénée), 1816-1857

Alexis I. du Pont was born on February 14, 1816, the youngest child of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, the founder of the Du Pont Company. He was educated at Mt. Airy College, Germantown, Pa., and at the New Haven Gymnasium (1829-31), where his nephew, James Irénée Bidermann, was a classmate. In 1831 he entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed his scientific studies in 1835, but took no degree. In 1836, he was married to Joanna Maria Smith (1815-1876), the daughter of Francis Gurney Smith of Philadelphia and a sister of Dr. Thomas MacKie Smith, who had married Eleuthera du Pont. There were eight children by this marriage. Alexis I. du Pont became a partner in E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in 1837 and continued as such until his death on August 23, 1857, having been fatally injured in an explosion of the powder mills on the preceding day.