William du Pont papers, 1863-1945 (bulk 1880-1928).

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

William du Pont papers, 1863-1945 (bulk 1880-1928).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/615808393

William du Pont's papers primarily encompass the years of his active business life from the early 1880s to his death in 1928, with a gap in his correspondence and invoices and receipts for the first decade of the 20th century. There are also some early personal correspondence, land purchasing agreements and papers pertaining to companies whose activities started before William du Pont involvement or lasted after his death. Family correspondence includes letters to and from his parents, sisters, daughter Marion and son William, second wife Annie Rogers du Pont and cousin Alfred I. du Pont. They discuss both family and business matters and are contained in Series I. Personal correspondence and Series II. General correspondence. Series I contains also 1892-1900 correspondence between William du Pont and his personal secretary in the United States, C.K. Lennig, which documents activities related to du Pont estate maintenance and businesses during the family's stay in England, including purchase of the "Montpelier" estate. Business-related correspondence of William du Pont collected in Series II. General correspondence reflects his major activities: involvement with powder and dynamite companies; investments in railroads, transportation, utilities and banking enterprises; membership in horse and cattle breeding societies and clubs, horse show organizations and hunting clubs; contacts with horse breeders and dealers; and construction, renovations and repairs at personal properties and business buildings. Materials of companies which William du Pont operated or invested in compose Series IV. Business papers. Papers of the du Pont high explosives enterprise Repauno Chemical Co. contain financial, technical and operational documents, Gunpowder Trade Association agreements and correspondence of the company first presidents Lammot du Pont (1880-1884) and William du Pont (1884-1892.) Another well-documented family business is U.S.F. Powder Company which papers (1919-1945) are probably the most comprehensive source of information on the development and manufacture of flashless powder by du Ponts. Records of the Hinckley Brake Co. and Miller Train Control Corporation, manufacturers of railroad car brake and stop control devices, contain patents for the devices with related correspondence, promotion and reference materials, minute books and bookkeeping records. The collection contains some papers of the Montpelier Supply Company which was organized in 1911 by William du Pont at his estate in Montpelier, Va. to resell general merchandise to the employees and farmers. Papers include minute book, store inventories, monthly farm payrolls and correspondence of William du Pont on financial and operational matters. Papers of William du Pont contain numerous enclosures. They include financial statements of many companies, prospectuses of banks and investment firms, more than 50 issues of informational leaflets of the Horse Association of America (1921-1927) and National Parks Association (1922-1923), catalogs and advertisements for agricultural products and domestic goods, horse and cattle show programs, photographs, blueprints and newspaper clippings. 17 photographs and 66 glass negatives of firing tests from papers of the U.S.F. Powder Co., together with other visual material from the collection have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections Department, Acc. 2007.205.

84 linear feet, 13 oversize folders.

Hagley Museum & Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7807038

Hagley Museum & Library

Related Entities

There are 31 Entities related to this resource.

Laflin and Rand Powder Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66b7wcg (corporateBody)

Hazard Powder Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6187rq2 (corporateBody)

California Powder Works.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z657qs (corporateBody)

National Horse Show Association of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65b4ms3 (corporateBody)

Horse Association of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sn4sdx (corporateBody)

Montpelier Supply Company (Montpelier Station, Va.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68m1s5n (corporateBody)

American Hackney Horse Society

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63n6mv7 (corporateBody)

Ball Grain Explosives Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pz9sd0 (corporateBody)

Du Pont, Lammot, 1831-1884

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60z7jq5 (person)

Lammot du Pont was born at Nemours, Delaware, on April 13, 1831. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in engineering, he began work for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. By 1859 he was supervising construction of blasting powder mills at Wapwallopen Mills, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania, the first Du Pont mills outside the state of Delaware. By 1865 he was in charge of all du Pont Company manufacturing units outside the state of Delaware. Lammot ...

Repauno Chemical Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vb2rfq (corporateBody)

Du Pont, Francis I. (Francis Irénée), 1873-1942

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xs6bqz (person)

Lied, Jonas, 1881-1969

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68p6ftm (person)

American Highway Association

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62v713g (corporateBody)

Delaware Trust Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69642hr (corporateBody)

Du Pont, William, 1896-1965

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kh0pxn (person)

William du Pont, Jr., the second child of William du Pont and Annie Rogers du Pont, was born February 11, 1896 at Losely Park, Surrey, England. In 1902 the family moved to Montpelier, Va., the former residence of President Madison. In 1919, William du Pont, Jr. maried Jean Liseter Austin of Pennsylvania and the couple resided in "Rosemont," near Newtown Square, Pa. They had four children. In 1941, they divorced, and William du Pont, Jr., moved to his estate "Bellevue Hall" north of ...

Hercules Powder Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ht6hvf (corporateBody)

Du Pont, William, 1855-1928

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ft932p (person)

William du Pont, the youngest son of General Henry du Pont (1812-1889) and Louisa Gerhard du Pont (1816-1900), was born on August 21, 1855 near Wilmington, Del. He attended the Lake Mohegan boarding school (NY) from 1869 to 1872 and spent two semesters at MIT in 1872-1873. In 1878, William du Pont married his cousin May Lammot du Pont (1854-1927). William du Pont worked for the first du Pont dynamite manufacturer, Repauno Chemical Company, as secretary and treasurer (1880-1884) and ...

Du Pont, Alfred I. (Alfred Irénée), 1864-1935

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pn974p (person)

Alfred I. du Pont was the eldest son of E. I. du Pont (1829-1877). He joined the family gunpowder firm in 1884, after attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the 1902 reorganization, he became co-owner and general manager. As a result of a family quarrel, he left the firm in 1916 and eventually built his own banking and real estate empire in Florida. Du Pont was active in Delaware Republican Party politics from 1916 to 1920. From the description of TLS : to Edward A. ...

Chandler, Sophie du Pont, 1851-1931

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6th8pb7 (person)

Gunpowder Trade Association.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64n3q0f (corporateBody)

Du Pont, Henry, 1812-1889

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r78gtn (person)

Henry du Pont was born in 1812 at Eleutherian Mills near Wilmington, Delaware. He attended the Mount Airy Military School in Germantown, Pennsylvania, from 1823-1829 and then went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating in 1833. As a Second Lieutenant, he joined the 4th Artillery at Fort Monroe in Virginia. On July 15, 1837, he married Louisa Gerhard and together they had 9 children, including Henry Algernon, Victorine Foster, and Evelina. In 1846, he was appoin...

Bellevue Hall (Bellevue, Del. : Dwelling).

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fb9n9m (corporateBody)

Percheron Society of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xh47d5 (corporateBody)

Atlas Powder Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nw3d2p (corporateBody)

The mines of Michigan's Copper Country were generally self-reliant; however, there were at least three things they could not find along the Keweenaw Peninsula - coal, iron and explosives. These items were transported, often at great expense, to Michigan from elsewhere. In an attempt to lower these costs, the controlling interests of the Tamarack and Osceola Mines, and later Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company invested in the area's first explosives plant at Woodside in 1884. When thi...

Railway Business Association (U.S.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v16n93 (corporateBody)

Du Pont, Annie Rogers, 1858-1957.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zc8jbf (person)

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64r1jw9 (corporateBody)

The family firm of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company was established in 1802 and during the 19th century it became one of the United States' most important manufacturers of black powder. In 1902 three younger du Pont cousins: T. Coleman, Alfred I., and Pierre S. took over the company and within three years succeeded in bringing 75% of the American explosives industry (which at that time included black powder, dynamite, and smokeless powder) under their control. During the first decade of the...

Miller Train Control Corporation

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cc5jxn (corporateBody)

Scott, Marion du Pont, 1894-1983

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ww8109 (person)

Marion duPont Scott; last private owner of Montpelier estate; b. Marion duPont, daughter of William duPont (1855-1928); married 1st: T.H. Somerville; married 2nd: actor Randolph Scott; d. 1983. From the description of Letter to Hamilton [Sommerville?], 1930 March 31. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 49898459 From the description of Letter to Hamilton [Sommerville?] [manuscript], 1930 March 31. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647922992 ...

Chandler, Theophilus P. (Theophilus Parsons), 1845-1928

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t73052 (person)

"Rencourt" was the Wilmington, Del., home of Alexis I. du Pont and his family. It was designed by Pennsylvania architect Theophilus P. Chandler, Jr., built in 1890 and demolished in the 1950s. From the description of Plans of "Rencourt," 1890. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 775014539 Theophilus P. Chandler was born in Boston, Massachussetts and studied one year at Harvard University and later at the Atelier Vaudremer in Paris. He worked in Boston architec...

Saulsbury, May du Pont, 1854-1927

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6805jxx (person)

May du Pont was a daughter of Victor and Alice Hounsfield du Pont. Her first marriage to her cousin William du Pont (1855-1928) ended in divorce. In 1893 she married Williard Saulsbury, Jr., a Wilmington attorney who served a single term as U.S. senator from Delaware. From the description of Journals, 1919 [transcripts]. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122370761 ...