The Winterthur Archives

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Henry du Pont                                                

Title:               Papers

Dates:             1859-1889

Call No.:         Arc. 22

Quantity:        7 boxes

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

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 appointed Adjutant General for the State of Delaware.  From 1850-1889, Henry du Pont served as the head of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.  In 1861, he was appointed Major-General, commanding Delaware’s volunteers; thereafter, he was known as “The General.”  It is said that he, as much as anybody, kept Delaware on the Union side during the Civil War.  Du Pont was active in Delaware politics, first as a Whig and then as a Republican.  He also farmed and became the third owner of Winterthur, one of his family’s estates.  He died in 1889.

 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Collection contains Henry du Pont’s correspondence, invoices, leases, estate records, will, deeds, a journal, photographs, books, and various social forms.

 

 

 

ORGANIZATION

 

Collection is arranged in eight series and within each box, folders are arranged alphabetically by folder title.  Series 2 contains corporate records; series 3 holds correspondence; series 4 is governmental; series 5 original manuscripts; series 6 holds objects; series 7 has photographs; series 8 holds publications, such as books; and series 9 holds social forms.  Series 1, 10 and 11 are not represented.  The original finding aid to the collection, done in MSAccess, appears at the end of this finding aid.

 

 

PROVENANCE

 

Collection is owned by the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum.  It was assembled over years, from 1969-1978, by transfers and gifts from various sources: in 1969, from the clerical division of the Wilmington, Del. Office of Henry Francis du Pont; in 1970, from the financial division of the same office; in 1972, from the main museum building; in 1973, from the H.F. du Pont House and the main museum building; in 1974, from the Coach House and Gray Building; in 1975, from the main museum building; and in 1976 as a gift.

 

           

RELATED MATERIALS

 

Papers of Col. Henry A. du Pont, Louisa Gerhard, Victorine Foster, and Evelina du Pont, also owned by the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, are also housed at the Hagley Museum and Library.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

Administration of estates

Powder mills

Armed Forces

Delaware – politics and government

Agriculture

Invoices

Leases

Deeds

Correspondence

Photoprints

Books

Diaries

Mount Airy Military School

United States Military Academy

Fort Monroe

 

 

Table1

Folder title

Series

Box

Names cited

Subjects

'African Repository' (1859)

74H8

B8

American Colonization Society; Christ Church Rectory

publication, book plate

Baldwin, William (1863)

69H3

B6

Israel Lamborn

foreman, employment

Bidermann estate (1865)

73H4

B6

appointment of executor

'British India - Its Races & Its History' (1858)

74H8

B8

John Malcom Ludlow

publication, inscription

Chandler, Henry H. (1884)

69H2

B7

Winterthur Farm

lease, rent

Coning, William (1870)

69H2

B7

Clover Hill Farm

lease, rent

Du Pont, Victor (1867, 1878)

73H3

B6

Winterthur; James Bidermann

real estate, deed, sale, farm

Du Pont, Eleuthera (1857)

73H3

B6

Alexis du Pont

explosion, death

Du Pont, Henry (n.d.)

73H3

B6

Winterthur estate

real estate

Du Pont, Sophie Madeleine (1886)

69H3; 72H3; 76H3

B6

Rembrandt Peale; Xanthus Smith; Sarah Gilpin

(transcript), sketch, photographer

'Eventful Nights in Bible History' (1886)

74H8

B6

Alfred Lee; Mrs. S.M. du Pont

publication, inscription

Gerhard (1851) [hard to read]

72H3

B10 ovsz

Louisa Gerhard

[hard to read]

Gerhard, John S. (1873)

73H3

B6

Ridley Park Assn.; Mr. Smyth; Wilmington & Reading Railroad

mortgages, liens, deeds, real estate, stocks

Heins?, Joseph (1884)

69H2

B7

Wilson Farm

lease, rent

'The Temple: Sacred Poems…' (1855)

74H8

B8

George Herbert; S.M. du Pont

publication, book plate

Hoffecker & Hoffecker (1886)

73H3

B6

F. Day

real estate, deed

Irving, A. Duer (Mrs.) (1886)

69H3

B6

Sophie Madeleine du Pont; Rembrandt Peale; Xanthus Smith; Sarah Gilpin

(transcipt, photocopies) sketch, photographer

Journal (1840-1859)

73H5

B7

farm animals, lists, farming diary

Lally, Thomas R. (1885)

73H3

B6

James White; Mr. Capell

real estate

'Memoir of G. D. Boardman' (1834)

74H8

B8a

Alonzo King

publication, inscription

'New Bibical Atlas' (1855)

74H8

B8

Christ Church Rectory; American Sunday-School Union

publication, book plate

'New Testament' (1881)

74H8

B8

Sophie M. du Pont; Alfred Lee; American Committee of Revision

publication, inscription

Passmore, Wills (1886)

73H3

B6

Mr. Mouseley; Mr. Dey

fence

'Poetical Works of thomas Gray' (1856)

73H8

B6

Rev. John Mitford

publication, inscription

Rice, E. I. (1886-1887)

73H3

B6

Chicago; Egbert G. Handy; Lydia D. Custard; North British & Mercantile Insurance Co.; Westchester Fire Insurance Co.; German-American Insurance Co.; Henry Waller

real estate, deeds, quit-claims, mortgages, insurance

Ridley Park Assn. (1873) [handwriting hard to read]

73H3

B6

S.M. Selton

real estate

Ring, William W. (1881)

69H2

B7

Bidermann Farm

lease, rent

Robinson & Co., R. R. (1873)

73H3

B6

stock transactions

'Rutherford's Letters' (1875)

74H8

B8

Rev. A.A. Bonar; S.M. du Pont; ?.R.H. Peck; Christ Church Rectory

publication, inscription, book plate

Rydlott, Mathew (1872-1881)

69H2

B9

Lucritia, Emmon J. & Thomas Reese; Henry Barker; Thomas A. Hall

leases, rent

Saito, M. (1887)

73H3

B6

(photocopy) tour of powder works, Japanese navy

Saulsbury, Williard, Jr. (1889)

69H2

B6

invoice, lawyer

Sherman, Gen. W. (1878)

73H3

B6

(photocopy), tour of powder works, French officers

'Testament - Psalms' (1859)

74H8

B8a

V.E. Baudry; Sophie du Pont

publication, inscription

Willmot, William, Sr. (1859-1869)

69H2

B7

James A. Bidermann; John Thompson; John Davis; R. Betty; Sallie A. & Lizze Dougherty; Charles I. du Pont

lease, inventory, farm stock, implements

Bidermann, Anthony (1835)

17H2

B6

John L. Morris' estate; Henry Latimer

invoice

Chicago property (1849-1881)

70H2

B10 ovsz

Alfred du Pont; Alexis I. du Pont; Abraham J. Kinsley; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co.; Lyman Baird; Charles Rietz & Bros. Lumber Co.; John McConnell; Nathaniel K. Fairbank;

real estate, canals, railroads, deeds

Chicago property (1849-1881) cont'd.

70H2

B10 ovsz

Crayton H. Conger; Nathan H. Walworth; George McConnell; S.B. Boomer; Edward McConnell; William D. Kerfoot

Chicago property (1883)

70H3

B10 ovsz

Victor du Pont; Henry Waller; DuPont Co.; Alexis I. du Pont

deed, real estate

Du Pont, Sophie (n.d.)

73H3

B6

General Lafayette; Elizabeth Gilpin; Eleuthera du Pont

(photocopy), visit

Du Pont, Henry (1887)

69H9

B6

calling cards, wedding anniversary

Du Pont, Henry (1889)

69H2

B7

John K. Bradford; Frank E. Haley; David B. Curlett; Edward Collison

will, codicils

Bidermann estate (1865-1866)

73H2

B9

Hoopes & Jackson; Charles Smith; Anthony Bidermann

invoices, tombstone engraving, final settlement

Bidermann estate (1865)

73H4

B9

U.S. Internal Revenue

taxes