Eugène du Pont (November 16, 1840 – January 28, 1902) was an American businessman who served as the first head of the modern-day DuPont corporation.

Life and education

Du Pont was born on November 16, 1840 at Hagley House in

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

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 ...

, son of

Alexis Irénée du Pont Alexis Irénée du Pont (February 14, 1816 – August 23, 1857) was an American business executive who ran the Eleutherian Mills gunpowder factory in Delaware. He was fatally injured along with five of his employees in an accidental explosion at ...

and grandson of DuPont founder

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 ...

(1771–1834). His brothers were Alexis Irénée du Pont Jr. and Francis Gurney du Pont. Eugène was the first head of the modern DuPont corporation, seeing the corporation into the 20th century. Eugène graduated from the

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 ...

in 1861 with a bachelor of arts degree.

Career

After he graduated from Penn in 1861, he became an assistant to his older cousin, Lammot du Pont (1831–1884), at the Brandywine Mills laboratory and by 1886, filed two patent applications for a gunpowder press and new variety of powder, brown prismatic. He became junior partner in 1864. He succeeded his uncle,

Henry du Pont Henry du Pont (August 8, 1812 – August 8, 1889) was an American military officer and businessman from Delaware, and a member of the Du Pont family. Early life and education Du Pont was born at Eleutherian Mills, Wilmington, Delaware, the s ...

(1812–1889), as senior partner in 1889. As senior partner, du Pont saw the completion of a new office in Wilmington and the new invention called the telephone. He also saw the rise of the dynamite industry and helped form the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. 1912, the Eastern Dynamite Company formally merged with DuPont. After du Pont's death, the company was brought under control by three of his nephews, Alfred I. du Pont, T. Coleman du Pont and Pierre S. du Pont.

Personal life

Eugène married Amélia Elizabeth du Pont, who was also born a du Pont as the daughter of Charles I. du Pont (1797–1869), nephew of Éleuthère Irénée. Together they had had: *Anne Ridgely du Pont (1867–1944) *Alexis Irénée du Pont III (1869–1921) *Mary Van Dyke du Pont (1871–1871) *Eugène Irénée du Pont Jr. (1873–1956) * Amy Elizabeth du Pont (1875–1962), who did not marry. *Julia Sophia du Pont Eugène du Pont died at his home in Christiana Hundred near Wilmington, Delaware on January 28, 1902.

Descendants

His daughter Amy Elizabeth du Pont was a prominent benefactor of the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

. The painter George Alexis Weymouth (1936–2016) was his great-grandnephew by his nephew, Eugene Eleuthere du Pont (1882-1954), as was his granddaughter, Ethel du Pont (1916–1965), the first wife of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. (August 17, 1914 – August 17, 1988) was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman. He served as a United States congressman from New York from 1949 to 1955 and in 1963 was appointed United States Under Secre ...

(1914-1988).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:du Pont, Eugene du Pont, Eugene du Pont, Eugene Eugene du Pont Du Pont, Eugene Eugène du Pont 19th-century American businesspeople