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 hand written 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, but housed at Hagley Museum and Library.  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

 

 

Henry du Pont

Folder title

Information and date

Series

Box

'African Repository'

publication, 1859

8

B8

Baldwin, William

social, 1863

3

B6

Bidermann Estate

business, 1865-1866 (3 folders)

4, 2

B6, B9

"British India - Its Races & Its History"

publication, 1858

8

B8

Chandler, Henry H.

lease, 1884

2

B7

Chicago property

business, deeds, 1849-1881

3, 2

B10 (oversize)

Coning, William

lease, 1870

2

B7

Die

object

6

BO10

Dobme, Victor

business, 1867, 1878

3

B6

Du Pont, Eleuthera

story, 1857

3

B6

Du Pont, Henry [5]

social, will, notes, n.d., 1887, 1889

3, 7, 9, 2

B6-7, BP4-5

Du Pont, S. M.

object

6

BO8

Du Pont, Sophie

social, n.d., 1886 (4 folders)

3

B6

'Eventful Nights in Bible History'

publication, 1886

8

B6

Gerhard

social, 1851

3

B10 (oversize)

Gerhard, John S.

business, 1873

3

B6

Hair

object

6

BO9

Heins?. Joseph

lease, 1884

2

B7

'Herbert's Works'

publication, 1855

8

B8

Hoffecker & Hoffecker

business, 1886

3

B6

Irving, A. Duer (Mrs.)

social, 1886

3

B6

Journal

business, 1840-1859

5

B7

Lally, Thomas R.

business, 1885

3

B6

'Memoir of G. D. Boardman'

publication, 1834

8

B8a

'New Biblical Atlas'

publication, 1855

8

B8

'New Testament'

publication, 1881

8

B8

Passmore, Willis

business, 1886

3

B6

'Poetical Works of Gray'

publication, 1856

8

B6

Rice, E. I.

business, 1886-1887

3

B6

Ridley Park Assn.

business, 1873

3

B6

Ring, William W.

lease, 1881

2

B7

Robinson & Co., R. R.

business, 1873

3

B6

'Rutherford's Letters'

publication, 1875

8

B8

Rydlott, Mathew

leases, 1872, 1878, 1881

2

B9

Saito, M.

social, 1887

3

B6

Saulsbury, Willard, Jr.

business, 1889

2

B6

Sherman, Gen. W.

social, 1878

3

B6

'Testament - Psalms'

publication, 1859

8

B8a

Willmot, William, Sr.

notes, business, leases, 1859-1865

2

B7