Alfred Victor Philadelphe du Pont de Nemours (April 11, 1798 – October 4, 1856) was a

French American French Americans or Franco-Americans (french: Franco-Américains), are citizens or nationals of the United States who identify themselves with having full or partial French or French-Canadian heritage, ethnicity and/or ancestral ties. They ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

and industrialist, who was the eldest son and successor of

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (; ; 24 June 1771 – 31 October 1834) was a French-American chemist and industrialist who founded the gunpowder manufacturer E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. His descendants, the du Pont family, hav ...

, the founder of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. His son, Alfred Victor du Pont, was one of founding fathers of the alpha (first) chapter of

Phi Kappa Sigma Phi Kappa Sigma () is an international all-male college secret society and social fraternity. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are Skulls, Skullhouse, Phi Kap, and PKS (the fi ...

fraternity on October 19, 1850 affiliated with

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, which is a charter member of the

North American Interfraternity Conference The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting ...

Early life and family

Founder of Phi Kappa Sigma in 1850 Margaretta Elizabeth (Lammot) du Pont 1806 -1897 (cropped)

Du Pont was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, son of

and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont. He came to the United States in 1800 as an infant and grew up around the gunpowder mills founded by his father on the Brandywine Creek in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. Later he attended Mount Airy College, in

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ge ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and then studied chemistry at Dickinson College. While there he was president of ''Belles Lettres Literary Society'' and became a friend of one of his professors, Thomas Cooper. He later became Cooper's assistant at the

. Du Pont married American Margaretta Elizabeth "Molly" La Motte (or Lammot) in 1824; they had seven children.

E.I. du Pont Company

In 1818, du Pont returned home to help his father rebuild the gunpowder company after a disastrous explosion that killed 33 people and injured his mother. He worked closely with the men in the mills and was particularly interested in researching new gunpowder chemical developments. The laboratory was his home. However, after spending nearly 20 years as a "powderman," and after a reorganization of the partnership by

Jacques Antoine Bidermann Jacques Antoine Bidermann (April 17, 1790 – June 8, 1865), also known as James Antoine Bidermann, was an American businessman of French and Swiss origins who became the business partner and son-in-law of Éleuthère Irénée du Pont. He married ...

, he became head of the company in 1837. It was a difficult role for him, and after leading the company through a recovery from a disastrous mill explosion in 1847, he retired in poor health in 1850.

Death and legacy

Alfred du Pont died October 4, 1856, at Eleutherian Mills, near Greenville,

, and is buried in the du Pont de Nemours Cemetery near Greenville. His son, Alfred Victor du Pont, would become a founding father of

in 1850.

References

* *

External links

DuPont profile

Dickinson College profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Pont, Alfred V. Dupont, Alfred Victor Dupont, Alfred Victor Dupont, Alfred Dupont, Alfred Victor Alfred Victor Philadelphe French emigrants to the United States Alfred V. du Pont Businesspeople from Delaware

Early life and family

E.I. du Pont Company

Death and legacy

See also

References

External links