du Pont, Eleuthere Irenee
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==E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company == | ==E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company == | ||
| − | Du Pont discovered, while on a [[hunting]] trip one day, that gunpowder in America was not only ineffective but also very expensive. After further investigation, he came to realize that the Unites States's need for better powder created an excellent [[market]] for the kind of quality gunpowder he had worked with in France.<ref>"E. Irenee Dupont." ''World of Chemistry.'' Thomson Gale, 2006.</ref> With help from Thomas Jefferson and [[Alexander Hamilton]], du Pont urged his family into forming a gunpowder plant at [[Eleutherian Mills]] - his home on Brandywine Creek near [[Wilmington]], Delaware in 1802. He used [[capital]], and [[machinery]] imported from France and brought in expertise in [[chemistry]] and [[gunpowder]]. In subsequent years the family run business, called the [[E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company]] (the DuPont Company) grew to become the second largest chemical company in the world. <ref>"Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont." ''Dictionary of American Biography Base Set.'' American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936.</ref> | + | Du Pont discovered, while on a [[hunting]] trip one day, that gunpowder in America was not only ineffective but also very expensive. After further investigation, he came to realize that the Unites States's need for better powder created an excellent [[market]] for the kind of quality gunpowder he had worked with in France.<ref>"E. Irenee Dupont." ''World of Chemistry.'' Thomson Gale, 2006.</ref> With help from Thomas Jefferson and [[Alexander Hamilton]], du Pont urged his family into forming a gunpowder plant at [[Eleutherian Mills]] - his home on Brandywine Creek near [[Wilmington]], Delaware in 1802. He used [[capital]], and [[machinery]] imported from France and brought in expertise in [[chemistry]] and [[gunpowder]]. In subsequent years the family run business, called the [[E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company]] (the [[DuPont]] Company) grew to become the second largest chemical company in the world. <ref>"Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont." ''Dictionary of American Biography Base Set.'' American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936.</ref> |
By the time of du Pont's death in 1834, it ranked among the largest of American companies in existence. By the mid nineteenth century, it had become the largest supplier of gunpowder to the United States [[military]] supplying as much as half of the gunpowder used by the Union Army during the [[American Civil War]]. Two hundred years later, the company remains successful, after diversifying by manufacturing several [[industry|industrial]] products including [[chemical]]s, [[plastic]]s, and [[synthetic]] [[fibers]].<ref>"Éleuthère Irénée du Pont." ''Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History.'' Gale Group, 1999.</ref> | By the time of du Pont's death in 1834, it ranked among the largest of American companies in existence. By the mid nineteenth century, it had become the largest supplier of gunpowder to the United States [[military]] supplying as much as half of the gunpowder used by the Union Army during the [[American Civil War]]. Two hundred years later, the company remains successful, after diversifying by manufacturing several [[industry|industrial]] products including [[chemical]]s, [[plastic]]s, and [[synthetic]] [[fibers]].<ref>"Éleuthère Irénée du Pont." ''Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History.'' Gale Group, 1999.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 17:58, 26 December 2007
| Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours | |
 Founder
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company | |
| Born | June 24 1771 Paris, France |
|---|---|
| Died | October 31 1834 (aged 63) Greenville, Delaware |
| Residence | Eleutherian Mills, Greenville, Delaware |
| Spouse(s) | Sophie Madeleine Dalmas |
| Children | Victorine Elizabeth du Pont Lucille du Pont |
| Parents | Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours Nicole Charlotte Marie Louise Le Dée de Rencourt |
Signature | |
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (June 24, 1771 – October 31, 1834), known as Irénée du Pont, or E.I. du Pont, was a French-born American chemist and industrialist who emmigrated to the United States in 1799 and founded the gunpowder manufacturing business, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. His descendants, the Du Pont family, were one of America's richest and most prominent families in the 19th and 20th centuries. Irénée du Pont's business had a major impact on American affairs in the 19th century, a legacy which contributes historic richness to his country and his home state of Delaware.
Early life and family
Irnee was born in 1771 in Paris to Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours and Nicole Charlotte Marie Louise Le Dée de Rencourt.[1] They were a distinguished family in France with connections to Louis XVI, Thomas Jefferson, and French chemist and researcher Antoine Lavoisier.[2] When only a teenager, though he did not care for academics, du Pont showed tremendous interest in gunpowder and engaged in his own independent research. In fact, at age 14 he entered the Royal College in Paris and worked as an apprentice with Lavoisier in manufacturing gunpowder for the government. Lavoisier instilled in the young du Pont knowledge of botany and agriculture, two passions of his which remained with him throughout his life, even advising people in his later years.[3] A few years later, after du Pont left his apprencticeship and lost his connection to government gunpowder manufacturing, he began to manage his father's publishing house. At this time, du Pont met Sophie Madeleine Dalmas who he was determined to marry. Only after much persistance and even pledging to fight in two duels for her hand in marriage did her father agree. They were finally married in 1791, and eventually the couple had eight children.
Like his father, he was initially a supporter of the French Revolution. However, both were among those who physically defended King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette from a mob besieging the Tuileries Palace in Paris during the insurrection of August 10, 1792. In 1799, after his father narrowly escaped the guillotine and their home was sacked by a mob, the entire family left for the United States.[4] Arriving with his family in America, du Pont established his home Eleutherian Mills on the Brandywine Creek in Delaware. They hoped (but failed) to create a model community of French émigrés.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
Du Pont discovered, while on a hunting trip one day, that gunpowder in America was not only ineffective but also very expensive. After further investigation, he came to realize that the Unites States's need for better powder created an excellent market for the kind of quality gunpowder he had worked with in France.[5] With help from Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, du Pont urged his family into forming a gunpowder plant at Eleutherian Mills - his home on Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware in 1802. He used capital, and machinery imported from France and brought in expertise in chemistry and gunpowder. In subsequent years the family run business, called the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (the DuPont Company) grew to become the second largest chemical company in the world. [6]
By the time of du Pont's death in 1834, it ranked among the largest of American companies in existence. By the mid nineteenth century, it had become the largest supplier of gunpowder to the United States military supplying as much as half of the gunpowder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War. Two hundred years later, the company remains successful, after diversifying by manufacturing several industrial products including chemicals, plastics, and synthetic fibers.[7]
Death and legacy
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont died of cholera on October 31, 1834 at the Eleutherian Mills, near Greenville, Delaware.[8] The company he founded was managed by his sons, Alfred V. du Pont (1798–1856) and Henry du Pont (1812–1889), in the years after his death.
The site of his gunpowder mill in Delaware was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966. The Hagley Museum and Library was also created along the banks of the Brandywine River. "The Hagely" is a nonprofit educational institution that includes the first du Pont family home and garden in the United States, the powder yards, and a nineteenth-century machine shop. On the hillside below the mansion lies a Renaissance-Revival garden, with terraces and statuary, created by Louise Evalina du Pont Crowninshield (1877-1958) in the 1920s. The Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation was formed in 1954, and the museum opened to the public in 1957.
In 1822, du Pont was made a director of the Bank of the United States and handled many inquiries on matters of agriculture and industry. In 1833, he refused to sell gunpowder to the South Carolina Nullifiers; 125,000 lbs. or $24,000 worth, an act of allegiance to the government.[9]
During the time of the French Revolution, the du Pont family led sixty men to guard the king and his palace on the night of August 10, 1792. Nonetheless, the King and even du Pont's mentor and friend, Antoine Lavoisier, fell victim to the guillotine.[10]
| New Title new company |
President of Du Pont 1802 – October 31, 1834 |
Succeeded by: Alfred V. du Pont |
Notes
- ↑ "Éleuthère Irénée du Pont." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Gale Group, 1999.
- ↑ "E. Irenee Dupont." World of Chemistry. Thomson Gale, 2006.
- ↑ "Éleuthère Irénée du Pont." Business Leader Profiles for Students. Vol. 1. Gale Research, 1999.
- ↑ "E. Irenee Dupont." World of Chemistry. Thomson Gale, 2006.
- ↑ "E. Irenee Dupont." World of Chemistry. Thomson Gale, 2006.
- ↑ "Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont." Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936.
- ↑ "Éleuthère Irénée du Pont." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Gale Group, 1999.
- ↑ "Éleuthère Irénée du Pont." Business Leader Profiles for Students. Vol. 1. Gale Research, 1999.
- ↑ "Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont." Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936.
- ↑ "Éleuthère Irénée du Pont." Business Leader Profiles for Students. Vol. 1. Gale Research, 1999.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Colby, Gerald. Du Pont: Behind the Nylon Curtain. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1974.ISBN 0132210770
- du Pont, B.G., E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company: A History 1802 To 1902. Kessinger Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1417916850
- du Pont, Pierre S., Genealogy of the Du Pont Family 1739-1942. Wilmington: Hambleton Printing & Publishing, 1942.
- Dutton, William S. Du Pont, One Hundred and Fifty Years. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1942.
- Winkler, John K. The du Pont Dynasty. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1935.
External links
- Bio at the Du Pont company website. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
- Hagley Museum and Library Hagley.org. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
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