FAMILY LIFE AT ELEUTHERIAN MILLS, 1803-34

Dorsey Wetlaufer January 20, 1964 INTRODUCTION

The property along Brandywine Creek was still a veritable wilderness

in the late spring of 1802 when Eleuthere Irenee du Pont arrived to over­

see the building of a barn, the black powder mills, and a residence for his family. Little progress had been made by July, but Mr. du Pont's wife and three young children moved into temporary quarters, within sight of

the building activities. A year later, in August of 1803, the E. I. du

Pont family was comfortably and permanently settled in the new residence overlooking the Brandywine. From that time until Mr. du Pont's death in

October, 1834, the family home was the center of social life as well as of business and farming activities at Eleutherian Mills.

Important happenings and day-to-day life in the du Pont residence re­

sembled those of every family, in every age and in every place. Victorine,

Evelina, and Alfred Victor who were small children when the family first

settled in Delaware grew into adulthood; by 1834 Eleuthera, Sophie, Henry and Alexis Irenee had been born in the house at Eleutherian Mills and were taken for granted as members of the family circle; one by one these seven children were marrying and establishing homes of their own; and gaps had been left by the deaths of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1817) and of E. I. du Pont's wife (1828). But it is not the purpose of this study to trace experiences universal to the family of man--birth, maturation, marriage, and death -- in family life at Eleutherian Mills.

This study is intended to be significant for anyone who is attempting to understand the social heritage of the United States of America. Within -2-

this context, details of family life at Eleutherian Mills in the early nine­ teenth century are significant because they contribute to an understanding of three particular aspects of American social history. First, the private life of the businessman is part of the story of our society's development.

Secondly, the immigrant family has been an important element in the main­ stream of national development. Finally, the basis of the social structure of the United States is the family; its way of life has reflected and con­ tributed to American society as a whole.

By examining personal relationships among members of the du Pont family, by describing members of the household who were not relatives, by tracing the educational development of the children, by attempting to understand the religious orientation at Eleutherian Mills, by describing the pastimes, interests, occupations, and customs of the du Ponts, and by viewing the relationship of the family to the larger American community, we can sketch three large pictures of life in early nineteenth century America. For each picture we shall need to color in the shadowy background, then trace with firmness the outline of elements in the foreground, and finally fill the outline with vivifying details. When we have finished, the three pic­ tures will provide insight into three aspects of the social history of the United States; we shall have a better understanding of the private life of an industrialist, the attitudes and problems of the immigrant fami­ ly, and the characteristic way of life in the home of every family during one era of our history. As we attempt to generalize about the American scene, 1803-34, life in the E. I. du Pont family will provide specific examples to fortify our imaginations. RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE FAMILY

The du Ponts had been away from France for less than three years when 2-

they settled in Delaware that summer of 180^. Mr. and Mrs. du Pont had

come from a society in which political, religious and economic absolutism

were epitomized. In France all political power had been vested in the

highly centralized monarchy, the Roman Catholic Church had occupied a pri­

vileged political, social and economic as well as religious position, and

individuals had been born subject to the stringent limitations of a com­

plicated and rigidly hierarchical class structure. The du Pont family had

taken part in the attempt to bring about moderate changes in this pattern

of French life, but they had never had the opportunity to live in an en­

vironment where the ideals of social and political liberalism were realized

peace fully.

As does any immigrant family, the du Ponts brought with them to Ameri­

ca their background of experiences in the Old World; these experiences

influenced the relationships within the family group. In France the so­

cial structure had been based upon a respect for authority; at home the

head of the family, the father, had wielded absolute authority over his

children, and they, in turn, respected him for his position. After E. I.

du Pont left Europe the deeply ingrained respect for his father's authori­

ty was retained.

Mr. du Pont's respect for his father was manifested in his sincere at­

tempt to comply with the moral teachings of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours.

Although the elder man did not continue to lay down specific rule and regu­

lations governing the behavior of his grown son, the bond of authority

-3- -4-

nevertheless held him tightly. The memory of Pierre Samuel's desires was kept alive in his letters to E. I. du Pont. "Remember that you are at the head of all my affairs and all my hopes; that every chance of money and honor is in your factory; that your business and your success are there­ fore your duty -- your only duty.""'" Even without such reminders, Mr. du

Pont could predict the reaction of his unswervingly principled father, and he governed his behavior to satisfy the oftentimes unspoken demands of that unquestioned authority. "Forgive me, my Father! Forgive me, my noble, gentle good Father, if this letter and those that I have had to write to Madame de Pusy distress you. I have always hoped that things would never reach this point and that I would never have the crowning sorrow of grieving you in your age ....

At the same time that the French respect for paternal authority was being retained in family life at Eleutherian Mills, the influences of the new political, economic, and social environment were making themselves

felt. "The decay of patriarchism is a natural corollary of political demo­ cracy; for the government recognizes, not families, but individuals ....

Moreover in a democracy the idea of a 'superior' fades before the idea of equal sovereignty. All men are sovereigns. Personality is exalted; 3 and the political status overflows and democratizes family institutions."

Life in the United States was not only new to the du Ponts. The na­ tion was still new in 1803, and the very conditions of life in a new country contribute to the emancipation of children from "the austere, the conventional, 4 and the legal elements in parental authority." One of the primary conditions which determined the character of life in the new nation was that the re­ sources available for profitable development were proportionally greater -5-

than the population. The situation at Eleutherian Mills, where Mr. du Pont needed all the help he could get in conquering the wilderness and carrying out his projected plans for a farm and a black powder manufactory, was typical of the general American situation at the beginning of the nineteenth century. "The new country was not ready for the 'prolonged infancy' that marks advanced civilization .""* Children in the American family were potential workers; they were needed to help "grasp fresh material opportunity crowding upon them in profusion."^ Consequently, they were forced to mature quickly and to competently assume adult roles of responsibility within the family circle. As the children matured, their father came to respect their opinions as valid and to view them as equals. "In a new country, reliance is less on tradition and more on a study of existing fact. The son's opinion seems likely to be as valid as the father's (at least that is the assumption underlying manhood suffrage) and the hold of ancestral and paternal prestige 7 diminishes."

A particular situation in the household at Eleutherian Mills serves to illustrate how ecological factors and utilitarian needs peculiar to the United States in the early nineteenth century contributed to undermine the strong prejudices toward patriarchal authoritarianism E. I. du Pont had brought with him from France. Apparent in Mr. du Pont's relationship with his oldest son Alfred Victor are the rapid maturation, the early ac­ ceptance of adult responsibility and the ensuing tendencies toward eman­ cipation of children and the acceptance of their opinions as equally valid with those of the father.

Alfred Victor du Pont was only twenty years old when he assumed some of the responsibility for directing the black powder manufactory at Eleu- -6-

therian Mills. Mr. du Pont was forced to be away a great deal, settling accounts, obtaining credit, and arranging for sales, so that direction of

the manufacturing processes often rested solely with his eldest son. Alfred

Victor was learning by experience, and he made serious mistakes which aroused

the exasperation of his father. But whenever E. I. du Pont reprimanded his

son his tone was neither superior nor uncompromising. It is apparent that he felt he should reason with his son, justifying his own position and per­ mitting Alfred to state his case.

"I am very sorry to hear from your uncle that you have paid Toy and done so without consulting him. I cannot understand it; it was perfectly evident that a payment of $640 in my absence might have disastrous consequences and that my arrangements are not made for it. If you had any idea of the endless, exhausting efforts that I am always making to avoid a catastrophe, you could never have clone such a thing. No condition, no reason could make it right for you to pay anything for which there was no positive engagement when by that payment you risked depriving us of the means of meeting a note and thereby ruining us. It may have been unpleasant and difficult to put Toy off until my return, but that cannot be compared with the danger of refus­ ing your uncle the means of safety in my absence. The least thing you could properly have done -- if it was absolutely necessary to pay Toy at once -- was to consult your uncle, to write to me and to wait until you had my answer. I am writ­ ing very seriously, my son, because the mistake that you have committed proves that you have no comprehension of the diffi­ culties that overwhelm me or the danger of our situation.

Having thoroughly scolded his son, Mr. du Pont then wrote to apolo­ gize for his severity and to restore friendly relations by praising

the boy for a job well-done, an effort which Pierre Samuel du Pont de Ne­ mours would never have made in a similar situation. "I have received Al­

fred's letter about the new mill; I am very pleased with it. I regret ex­ ceedingly that I could not be with him to begin the new process. I regret also that I scolded him so severely in my letter of Saturday; he must have had reasons that I do not know, but that seemed to him unanswerable, for 9 paying Toy ....,r Mr. du Pont had assumed and maintained the upper hand in his relationship with Alfred Victor, but his authoritarianism was tempered

with the recognition that the son was an equally reasonable and mature human

being, capable of formulating and acting upon valid opinions and judgments.

It is apparent from this illustration that political philosophy and

utilitarian need were not the only factors promoting the emancipation of

children from parental authority in the early nineteenth century. Like

other Americans of the period, Mr. du Pont was extremely preoccupied with

establishing a new means of production in a new nation. He had to be

away from home a great deal in order to do so; consequently a large mea­

sure of the governing and disciplining of the children was left to his

wife. She, too, was busy with managing the dormitories for bachelor work­

ers in the powder mills, with tending to the management of the farm, and

with ordinary housework. Therefore the children were independent of close

parental supervision from an early age, a fact which not only encouraged

their rapid maturation but contributed to the establishment of sibling

friendships.

According to Calhoun, "the family was the one substantial social insti­

tution in a nation that had discarded hierarchical religion and that had

reduced government to a minimum, while business corporations had not yet 10

attained a notable development." While political influences, the pre­

occupation of men with production, and the utilitarian need for a pro­

ductive population in a land of unlimited resources all encouraged the

maturation and independence of children from parental authority in most

American homes of our period, these same factors were working to pro­ mote "a forward move toward family reciprocity, democracy, and spontaneous, -8-

unforced loyalty." "Rules and authority recede before tenderness and 12 confidence, and spiritual values of kinship are free to assert themselves."

It is not surprising to find that in relationship with each of his children

Mr. du Pont exhibited not only respect for their individual opinions but

tenderness, affection and loving concern as well. His touching plot to

spirit Henry away from school on a pretended visit to the dentist in the

hope of alleviating the boy's homesickness, and the trouble he took to

gather rocks for Alfred Victor's collection while he was away on a business

13

trip, reveal the affectionate care he took for his children. The under­

standing and the freedom which he gave Victorine as she chose a marriage

partner, shown in the following letter, epitomize the new unforced close­

ness and tenderness in American familial relationships. "Among her suitors the principal ones are Duplanty and Ferdinand -- Mr. Bauduy's son. I think the first is too old for her and the second too young. Duplanty is a very worthy man .... If the ques­ tion were left for myself I would marry him with pleasure; but I realize that if I were Victorine I should probably feel dif­ ferently and how can I -- who have had so happy a romance -- ad­ vise her to marry prudently? Victorine is so perfectly sensible that I have no uneasiness in leaving it to her to de­ cide and that is a great relief to me -- for I do not want to say either yes or no. I have told her that I am unwilling to influ­ ence her and she must decide as she thinks best."14

The closeness and warmth of Mr. du Pont's relationships with his

children were not simply the result of their emancipation and a consequent

demand for his recognition of them as individual personalities. Like other

men of the period who were preoccupied with the demands of a productive

society, E. I. du Pont sought refuge in the stability of his home. "Domestic

order and comfort were marked. Affection, fidelity, and good management on

the part of wives conserved the best interests of husband, children and 15 home." Confronted with the innumerable tasks and trials of establishing -9-

a new business in a new and strange land, Mr. du Pont depended upon his wife and family to provide the encouragement, the peace, the sympathetic understanding, and the restorative he needed to maintain strength. "Love 16 me, my dearest; that is the only happiness and the only comfort in my life."

Along with the comforts of home, Mr. du Pont took the responsibilities; to become a loving husband and father often required the super-human effort of disentangling oneself from business duties. "Since I could not do all those things at once I preferred the children's pleasure to my business cares, so here I am with Victorine, Sophie and Alexis going to West Point /to visit 17

Henrv_/ tomorrow...." More often than not, however, Mr. du Pont and other men of his era were deprived of the pleasures of family life while they tended to their business concerns. "I have finished the business matters and I hope that I need not come here again for a long time; but it is very hard to have spent this beautiful day -- the first day of the year -- away from you and the children; it makes me realize more than ever the troubles that 18 are filling my life."

The picture we draw from relationships among family members at Eleutherian

Mills in the early nineteenth century shows that: 1) the American industrial­ ist of our period was so beset by cares and problems in establishing new means of production that he was frequently separated from the family and so had to make a special effort to establish strong personal relationships within the group; 2) the American immigrant family brought with it ideas from an older society about how relations within the family circle ought to be maintained, but these were often changed by the influences of a new social, economic, and political environment; and 3) all American homes were becoming warmer and freer in the relationships among various members of the -10-

family because children were emancipated earlier and because the home pro­

vided a center of stability and warmth in a troublesome and rapidly changing

world.

MEMBERS OF THE HOUSEHOLD NOT RELATIVES

At the beginning of the nineteenth century it was customary for many

American families to have domestic servants because negro slaves and white

indentured servants provided labor for the minimal cost of room and board.

But as democratic idealism spread these two forms of servitude dwindled.

In a democracy where there was no established "inferior" or "superior" class

it was difficult to find persons who were willing to serve as domestics.

"Mistresses were troubled by disobedience, carelessness, faithlessness, in- 19

efficiency, and independence of their hirelings."

The changing character of domestic labor in the early years of the

nineteenth century is well-illustrated in the household at Eleutherian Mills.

Peter, a negro slave, came to the Brandywine with the du Ponts. His wife ,

Kitty, whose term of indenture was shortened from fourteen to ten years by

the addition of Peter's services, stayed behind with the Victor du Ponts 20

at "Goodstay" in New Jersey. By October 26, 1802, Peter had already be-

gun to show tendencies toward independence from his master and Victor du

Pont found his behavior bothersome. "You sent Peter to me without writing me one word. I want to know whether he is to be sent back to you or only

to be sent for a walk now and then. He eats, he drinks, he asks for money

that he says you authorized him to demand of me; he does nothing else, and

if he works at all it is for the neighbors. Of course it will result in 21 his wife having another baby, and that will be most annoying." -11-

After such early references to Peter and his wife, there is no mention made of negro slaves at Eleutherian Mills. It is likely that the du Ponts

followed the general trend in Delaware and other northern states toward emancipating the negro. "In 1790 there were 8,887 slaves in Delaware; by

1820 this number had dwindled to 4,509; in 1840 it was 2,605 .... the slaves were declining in numbers, and records make it fairly certain that this was

22

largely because slave owners were freeing their slaves."

The custom of employing white indentured servants was somewhat more

tenacious. Although Eleuthere Irenee du Pont followed the prevailing cus­

tom of keeping indentured servants at least until 1820, evidence suggests that he neither exploited nor maltreated this purchased labor; in fact, persons bound to him by indenture seem to have felt satisfied and well- treated. In 1802, Victor sent an indentured German gardener to Eleutherian

Mills with a note. "You will like the German. He is an excellent person who is eager to please you; I am sure he will succeed. He is delighted be­ cause when he began to struggle with Franco-Germanic expressions of grati­ tude for the way we have treated him, my wife assured him that my sister 23 and you are much nicer than we are." Observations of Baron Klinkowstrbm confirm Victor's comments, making it unlikely that they were unduly preju­ diced. "I saw in Mr. Du Pont's house in Delaware three /German/ people whom he had engaged in this manner /viz. by indenture^/, but who neverthe- ..24 less considered themselves fortunate to be in America."

Families who needed domestic help because the group was so large, the demands on the mother were extremely diversified, or they entertained an

inordinate number of guests employed persons from the local area when the customs of slaveholding and indentured servitude had died out. At Eleutherian

Mills the maid, the cook, the butler, and the gardener were likely to come -12-

the

from/families of workmen in the powder manufactory. A large majority

of these people were Irish immigrants, making it likely that Bernard Reilly who was the family gardener 1830-34 had been drawn from the labor force of

the immediate neighbor.

Family members seem to have regarded their domestic servants with

a high degree of personal affection. The young ladies gleefully followed

the progress of a romance between Mary Green, the maid, and James Mullen,

the butler. After their marriage in 1832, "Sir Sprol" (as he was nicknamed by the girls) and his wife stayed on at the residence in their respective 25 positions. Mrs. Waterman was originally taken into the family to do sew­

ing sometime in 1817, but she stayed on as a family companion for at least 26

thirty-seven years. Such anecdotes suggest that the spirit of democracy which was making domestic servants disobedient and independent was also creating warm personal relationships between the employer and employee in the domestic

realms of early nineteenth century America.

For most families in our period, members of the household who were not relatives were limited to the domestic help we have been describing. But

it seems likely that there were more persons who were part of family life

in the homes of American businessmen. How inextricably bound together the

family and the business life of men like Mr. du Pont were from 1803-34 be­

comes increasingly apparent when we realize that the industrialist's office was located in the family residence. At Eleutherian Mills the business for

the farm and the powder mills was transacted from a room on the first floor of the house. The bookkeeper and the clerks employed by Eleuthere Irenee were therefore as integral a part of the daily activity in the family resi­

dence as were Mary Green and James Mullen. Raphael Duplanty, Mr. Marken, -13-

and Mr. Donnan, contemporary bookkeeper and clerks, bridge the productive

27 activity in the mills and the domestic activity in the house. The entire family was not only in daily contact with these members of the office staff, but they knew the workmen who brought news and problems to Mr. du Pont or who came to be paid and obtain credit on the company books, and they visited with persons who came from outside the operation of the gunpowder works to discuss business with Mr. du Pont. In an early nineteenth century business­ man's home, family and industrial life stood in each other's shadows.

The members of a typical household in the United States changed between

1803 and 1834. At the beginning of this period there were likely to be negro slaves and indentured servants helping with the domestic work; free, white persons had replaced the negro and the indentured servant by the conclusion of our period. Ideas of equal sovereignty penetrated this aspect of Ameri­ can family life to produce not only feelings of independence among servants, but strong feelings of personal attachment and mutual respect between the domestic servant and the family who employed him. In the home of the early

American businessman there were likely to be industrial employees participating in the daily activity of the household.

THE EDUCATION OF THE FAMILY

A society preoccupied with taming the elements and with establishing new modes of production to support a growing population is not likely to be concerned with the refinements of higher civilization such as institutions for the formal education of its citizens. But although American civiliza­ tion was still in the earliest stages of productive development at the be­ ginning of the nineteenth century, it was attending to the problems of edu­ cation. By 1834 many formal institutions of learning were part of the -14-

American way of life.

The immigrant family, with its appreciation for the values of

traditional education as they knew it in the Old World, undoubtedly con­

tributed to the early development of American educational efforts. Further­ more, as democratic principles of equal sovereignty became part of the gen­

eral climate of opinion, Americans realized the necessity of providing oppor­

tunities for formal learning to an increasingly broad segment of the popu­

lation. Finally, as sophistication in the means of production and in the

use of natural resources increased, new leisure and new wealth could support

the growing awareness of the utilitarian benefits derived from formal training

in the arts and sciences. The growth and development of American education in

the early nineteenth century are reflected in the variety of studies pursued by E. I. du Pont's children.

"Until schools and churches came, child-training was a necessity 28

exclusively a family affair; consequently of the simplest character." A re­

sponsible and educated father taught his children moral and religious lessons as well as the basic rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic during the earliest years of the nineteenth century. "In America, a great number of people read the Bible, and all the people read a newspaper. The fathers read aloud to their children while breakfast is being prepared.... And as the newspapers of the United States are filled with all sorts of narratives -- com­ ments on matters political, physical, philosophic; information on agriculture, the arts, travel, navigation; and also extracts from all the best books in America and Europe -- they disseminate an enormous amount of information, some of which is helpful to the young people, especially when they arrive at an age when the fa­ ther resigns his place as the reader in favor of the child who 2 Q

can best succeed him."^ wasBut , evehe n diidf nothte havfathee rth were time ea s necessareducatedy antod devotconscientioue to thes educatioas Mr. nd u ofPon hit s -15-

children. A substitute for education by the father had to be found.

Victorine du Pont, the eldest child, was eleven-years-old before she began going to primary school at Mrs. Capron's in Wilmington. Her class­ mates were the daughters of other parents who could (and would) pay for

formal instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, and some sewing and

drawing. A system of public education was slow to arrive in the United States, and when it did it was intended to provide for the education of poor children.

"From 1809 to 1835 the laws of Pennsylvania provided education for the children of those that were willing to take a pauper's oath. This condition put a stigma on public schools. In Dela­ ware and Maryland the schools were little better and were fre­ quently taught by redemptioners and indentured servants. A Dela­ ware act of 1817 appropriated one thousand dollars to each county for the education of the poor. The measure was never popular be­ cause it drew a hard and fast line between poor and rich."30

A happier solution than either the primary school taught by a house­ wife or the public school for poor children was a method of primary educa­

tion adopted at Eleutherian Mills. When Victorine was thirteen she was sent

to finishing school at Madame Rivardi's in Philadelphia; after two years

there she was considered qualified to teach the younger children in the family.

In 1809, for example, she gave Alfred Victor and his cousin Charles lessons 31

to prepare them for going to secondary school at Mount Airy. By thus uti­

lizing the education of a single older child, a family could afford to provide all the children with basic skills in the language arts and arithmetic. When

the Brandywine Manufacturers' Sunday School was established in 1816, older

children were entrusted with teaching the younger ones, just as they had been at home.

Less typical of early nineteenth century methods of primary education was the hiring of a governess for the children. "Polly" Simmons came to

the du Ponts to direct Henry du Pont's primary education under circum- -16-

stances peculiar to life at Eleutherian Mills in a particular period. The family was not only more affluent by the time Henry was ready to begin his education, but Victorine no longer had the time to supervise his lessons because she had taken over the household duties of Mrs. du Pont who was seriously ill. But the hiring of a governess is illustrative of the di­ verse, helter-skelter ways in which Americans of the early nineteenth cen­ tury had to provide for the primary education of their children. Even with the advent of the Sunday School, there was no uniform, tried and true sys­ tem of primary education in the United States. The methods seen in the du

Pont home -- i.e. instruction by the father or an older child, and attendance at private primary school or the inadequate public school, and the hiring of a governess -- are representative of the diversity of attempts made at primary education in the early years of the nineteenth century.

"It is apparent that the parents of the pupil first chosen /viz. gift

"7 32 with intelligence^ would send him with his friend to the secondary school."

Even though a father recognized the intellectual ability of his son and even though he were convinced of the values of higher education, there was yet another factor he had to consider. Could he afford the expenses his boy would incur at school and could he afford to sacrifice the boy's help and/or potential income during the years he would be away at school? If a father decided to send his son for secondary education in a formal insti­ tution, a school similar to Mr. Constant's near Germantown, Pennsylvania, would be his choice. The boy would begin his studies there when he was about thirteen-years-old. A traditionally classical curriculum was offered at such schools; the boy would study such subjects as Greek and Latin, Eng­ lish grammar, spelling, penmanship, French, history, geography, and possibly -17-

philosophy. Schools like Mr. Constant's were extremely conservative so that the curriculum did not change appreciably during our period. For example, the college preparation which Alfred Victor gained starting in 1811, and the beginning of Henry's stay at Mr. Constant's in 1822, were notably simi­ lar. By 1826, however, the curriculum had been changed by the addition of natural philosophy and experimental science; the secondary schools were be­ ing influenced by the more utilitarian philosophy of education being put into practice at West Point.

In fact, a new attitude toward education was becoming generally preva­ lent among utilitarian-minded Americans by the middle of the 1820's. They could see that "in America, where country dwellings are very isolated, it is important that the principles of mechanical arts should be widely taught, and that each family should have at least one well-informed member ...."JJ

Consequently there began to be a demand for opportunities to learn the ap­ plied arts and sciences in institutions of higher education. In 1816, Al­ fred Victor du Pont was sent to Dickinson College because he would study under Dr. Thomas Cooper, the most respected chemist in the United States at the time. When Dickinson closed, Alfred followed his chemistry profes­ sor to the University of Pennsylvania. It was expected that Alfred Vic­ tor's scientific knowledge could be utilized in the black powder manufac­ tory on the Brandywine, and indeed it was. "Tell Alfred that the last can­ non powder that we sent to Kemble only gave 182 yards and/ the FFr 206, when they were proved.... As it is a most serious matter to us, it is imperative that Alfred should experiment in the burning of charcoal by other methods, 34 especially the one I have asked him to try...."

The most marked evidence of a new American attitude toward scientific education was the wide success and strong influence over secondary school -18-

curriculum of the changes from traditional modes of education at the United

States Military Academy. When West Point opened in 1802 it had "evolved

from a post-war supply depot to a training school for cadets. After 1817, with the arrival of Major Sylvanus Thayer, ... a chaotic stage in West Point

history ended. Trained as an engineer in the famous Ecole Polytechnique,

Thayer brought back outstanding French engineers, translated French tech- 35 nical textbooks, and raised the science work to national eminence." By

1826, more mathematics, engineering, and laboratory science were being

introduced at Mount Airy preparatory school. When Henry du Pont was ready

for college in 1829 his father considered that the finest training available 36

for his son was at West Point. Higher education was changing to meet the

needs of a society deeply involved in the search for scientific and tech­

nological means of exploiting the world of natural resources open to early

nineteenth century Americans.

While education for men was becoming increasingly utilitarian, the

educational facilities and curriculum available to the American woman re­

flected the role she was assigned in nineteenth century society. "One hun­

dred years ago the object of female education was to enable girls to attract 37 men, gain husbands, maintain homes and manage families." The woman's exis

tence was completely merged in that of the man. Early marriage was the rule

so that contracted education for the woman was necessary; she had to be prepared to train the children almost singlehandedly because her husband was

away from home so much, but she was not admitted or welcomed to positions 38

outside the sphere of family life. At home she was expected not only to

care for the practical matters of domesticity efficiently, but she was also

to add superficial ornamentation, propriety, and feminine grace to the man's world. -19-

All of the du Pont girls received the education typically provided at

finishing schools for young ladies in early nineteenth century America. In these schools, emphasis was as much upon moral training as upon intellectual subject matter; young ladies were taught to behave and the extent to which they were taught to think was limited to recitation of memorized facts. When

Victorine was attending Mr. Rivardi's school in Philadelphia, a report of the girl's progress was issued to her parents. "She took the second mark in writing and answered all the questions that were asked her in grammar, geography and history. I am very pleased with her except for her lack of industry and her sewing. We have frequent little discussions about it and ... I have even threatened to ask her mother not to come until the work that she left for 39

Mile. Victorine to do shall be finished." In addition to showing the orien­ tation of young ladies' schools, the report shows that part of the curriculum was devoted to such practical subjects as sewing. Victorine also seems to have learned to write French while she was away at school, and the younger girls took music and drawing lessons.

Although women's education of the period seems extremely superficial when measured against modern-day standards, it did provide a broadening experience for the girls. Not ever^girl's parents could afford to pay for the acquisition of party manners and parlor skills nor could they spare a helpful daughter from the endless housework for a period of from two to four years. The girl who received even this small amount of higher education was exceptionally fortunate, for she could view the domestic environment to which she returned within a wider perspective. The limited education for young ladies in early nineteenth century America was as suited to the mature role they played in society as that for young men was to their more utilitarian role. THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE FAMILY

The role of religion in family life of the early nineteenth century in the United States is a significant one. Manifestations of the importance of

religion to the family as a group were the customary family prayers and Bible-

reading, the purchase of a family pew at church, and attendance at least once

every Sunday by family members in a group. At Eleutherian Mills, religion is

conspicuous by its absence from family life. How can we account for this

deviation from the usual pattern?

One is immediately tempted to attribute the lack of communal religious

life in the du Pont residence to the family's French background; perhaps

the absence of religion is a characteristic retained by the immigrant family

in resistance to the influences of a new social and cultural environment.

Two factors belie such an assumption. First, the largest group of French

people in the Wilmington area, and in fact in the United States, were the

Protestant Huguenots, refugees from the religious persecutions in seventeenth 41

and eighteenth-century France. Religion continued to occupy an impor­

tant- role in the lives of these French emigres; in part it accounts for

the early cohesiveness of immigrant groups in American cities and towns.

Secondly, the family of Victor du Pont, Eleuthere Irenee's brother who even­

tually settled on the opposite bank of the Brandywine, were practicing Ro­

man Catholics. "Madam Victor du Pont was a devout Catholic; and living

only a few miles from Coffee Run, she attended service there and rented a

pew in the little log church. She frequently brought in her carriage lit­

tle tokens of regard in the shape of either fruit, flowers, vegetables, — 42

cabbage or tomato plants, which greatly pleased the priest /Father Kenny_/."

Charles, Amelie, and Samuel Francis du Pont, children of Victor and Jose-

-20- -21-

phine, were baptized in the Roman Catholic Church and there is evidence

44 that some of the children were confirmed by Father Kenny. Other French families, including that of E. I. du Pont's own brother, conventionally ob­ served religion in their life together after settling in the United States.

But although it is not their character as an immigrant family which de­ termines the atypicality of the family's religious life, the background of it does lie in France. When Eleuthere Irenee du Pont was married in Paris,

1791, "all religious services were forbidden and his marriage contract was 45 signed by the custodian of the civic register." Mr. du Pont's mature years in France had been lived at a time when religious practice was considered politically subversive. Furthermore, Mr. du Pont's father Pierre Samuel had ft-. "kept to the decision made when he was a boy to be neither a Protestant na£ 46 a Catholic . . . ." His father's distaste for sectarian religion seems to have been adopted by E. I. du Pont.

Neither Pierre Samuel nor E. I. du Pont was atheistic; they seem rather to have been deistic in their religious philosophies. "If the ideas that are received at the earliest age are contradic­ ted by those next offered, most children will never have positive or definite opinions. Such a situation is most harmful to those who are impression­ able and positive. Compelled to realize that a part of their early instruction was untrue, they will reject the whole thing and they will doubt even the truths that were received prior to the errors. Thus must atheists, educated by fanatics, reject the GREAT INTELLIGENCE who governs the universe, because of the gross stu­ pidity with which their instructors spoke of him. Voltaire said very aptly,^jThey have made God suffer for the follies of the priest.' " Further evidence that the du Ponts were not irreligious, although they avoided traditional forms of worship, is offered by the purchase of a 48 French Bible by E. I. du Pont in 1830. -22-

The background for the lack of conventional observance and sect­ arianism in religion may rest in the French political situation of the late eighteenth century and in Pierre Samuel deistic philosophy, but two charac- teristics of life at Eleutherian Mills seem to have reinforced tendencies to avoid religious life after settlement in the United States. One of these characteristics can be found in Mr. du Pont's personality; he was shy in large groups of people. "Although he is pleasant in society, where he plays lightly on words and ends by enjoying himself, he runs from it as

49 a rule." His natural shyness would have made it difficult for him to feel at ease in a sectarian church group, as the following anecdote illus­ trates . "Yesterday morning my curiosity inspired me to go into a church during a sermon; I hid behind a pillar; but unfortunately I was discovered by five or six parishonejrs who_came one after the other to invite me to enter their pews /in Eng^/ that I might enjoy the sermon at my ease; I refused them as politely as I could and I thought that I was safe; but at the other end of the church an important personage rose from his seat and came directly to me, with more entreaties. His shoes creaked, the priest was inter­ rupted, and the entire congre/gation turned to observe the bows we were making to each other. I had much trouble to convince him that I was quite happy where I was; and I left as soon as I de­ cently could, somewhat disconcerted by my adventure but delighted to be in the street again."-^

Another, and perhaps stronger, motivation for avoiding sectarianism came from Mr. du Pont's respect for the beliefs of his employees. Once again, then, we see the intrusion of business interests into all aspects of the private life of the early nineteenth century American industrial­ ist. Mr. du Pont feared that his workmen would feel confined or influ­ enced or offended by the religious practices of the owner of the mills in which they worked and the property on which they lived.

"Our Father's intentions were that no partiality or leaning to any Sectarian Creed should be shown, in our Mills persons of different persuasions are employed, they as well as ourselves have a right to adopt any creed they may think best, provided that it -23-

does not interfere with the laws of our Country, or by the regu­ lations required to be observed within the limits of the lands held by the Firm ....when the great effort of revivals of 1819, 1820 took place, it was with his consent I wrote to a very revd. & good Clergyman that he should be ducked in the creek the very first time he could be found on our property. Our Father was liberal in giving money for charitable and religious purposes, but could never countenance or assist any religionist; he had his own opinion, but could never have fa­ vored one Sect in preference to another...."51

Mr. du Pont may have been one of those fathers who, in the early years of the nineteenth century, preferred to give no religion to his "childr

in order that they might pick one for themselves when they reached the age of reason," for there seems to be no record of objection on his part as one one 52 by/his daughters became active members of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

But during Mr. du Pont's lifetime, none of the religious activities common

to the period were part of the family life at Eleutherian Mills. Personal

conviction, stemming from experiences in France and the deistic persuasion

of his father, reinforced by his own feelings of reticence in social groups and his concern for the welfare of his employees, led to the lack of re­

ligious activity in the E.I. du Pont home, rendering it different in one

important respect from other American homes of the early nineteenth century.

THE PASTIMES AND INTERESTS OF THE FAMILY

"At the close of the War of 1812, Wilmington contained 750 houses, mostly of brick, nine places of worship, with a population of 4,416. Brandy­ wine Village, on the northern side of the creek, had 50 houses and 300 in­ habitants. There were in the Borough an academy and 21 schools with 650

53

scholars." Wilmington could hardly be considered an urban area, and the

du Pont family lived at least five miles from the town. It is not surpris­

ing to find that the pastimes and interests of family members, particularly -24-

toward the beginning of our period, are typical of those enjoyed by Ameri­ can families living in the country. Isolated from other groups and fami­ lies for the most part, the family members learned to provide their own entertainment, taking advantage of the resources available in a rural at­ mosphere .

But "the major social, intellectual, and political movements of the early nineteenth century developed in cities, and in them the new republi- 54 can society was shaped and directed." In 1814, the first steamboat pas­ senger and freight service on the Delaware River between Wilmington and

Philadelphia was offered by the Warners; now the du Ponts were within easy access of Philadelphia which "was generally agreed to be the cleanest, best- 55 governed, healthiest, and most elegant of American cities." Toward the end of our period, the du Ponts became part of the mainstream of the new cultural and social developments in urban America. Both country and city ways of life are typified in family life at Eleutherian Mills on the Brandy­ wine, 1803-34.

All of E. I. du Pont's children were keenly interested in natural history. Each child kept a flower garden where he "raised both field flowers 56 and iraore cultivated varieties." The young ladies remained particularly devoted to horticultural pursuits so that when they reached the age of courtship any intelligent suitor capitalized on this interest. J. S. Phillips, for example, always came with some appropriate gift for the garden, as he did one

Saturday when he arrived "from Rocdale _/sic/ bearing the Thunbergia alatta as an offering to Mrs. Bauduy /Victorine/ and a beautiful bunch of feather flowers made 'out of a featherbed' by Miss Emmeline Phillips, also a machine invented by himself for smoking plants."" -25-

The wildlife in the nearby woods provided hours of entertainment for the boys at Eleutherian Mills. Favorite occupations included collecting butterflies, capturing a catpaw snake, preserving toads, and frog-hunting.

Girls were not completely left out of the devotion to animals; their in­ terest was satisfied not only by the wild animals but by the domesticated farm animals on the property. "... The only piece of news I have to give you is that Eleuthera has a pet flying squirrel, which she keeps in the baby house -- it makes quite as much noise at nights as your vassals were 58 wont to do on gala occasions." The children also kept pet cats, dogs, doves, mocking birds, chickens, and pet deer, which proved to be a great exhibition piece. The menagerie of pets was in complete charge of the young people, who not only gave appropriate names to the animals but tended to their daily feedings.

All the children contributed to their community shell collection, but Alfred's mineral collection was his private property. He did accept specimens gathered by his father and such eminent persons as "Mr. William

Trego, a chymist from Baltimore who came to see the Mills, and left Alfred 59 some minerals."

The varieties of pastime derived from their interest in natural history were partly inspired by the surrounding environment of the Brandy­ wine countryside; but their interest was also an extension of their father's hobbies and concerns. E. I. du Pont had prepared to be botanist for the

Compagnie d'Amerique, a land speculation plan projected by the du Ponts before their arrival in the United States; and although his knowledge was never employed professionally, he remained an avid amateur botanist, pro­ viding information about American plants both here and abroad and establishing orchards and gardens at Eleutherian Mills. The strength of his interest and the seriousness with which he pursued it are indicated by the plans and ef- -26-

forts he made for exchanging botanical specimens soon after his settlement

on the Brandywine.

"However it may turn out I intend on my own authority to consti­ tute myself the agent for the Republique in this matter, and by sending plants and seeds every year to do my best to replace the National Gardens that are to be destroyed. My position in the midst of the forests will make it an easy task and perhaps a val­ uable one. Some of the seeds will not be wasted and by these ship­ ments and some successful work with plants and trees I may make for myself a/position in France and some day in the future se­ cure a place in the Administration of Forestry."^

Not all of the interests stimulated by their immediate environment

were adopted by the du Ponts on a plane of such dedicated seriousness as were

the studies and collections in natural history. Nature provided opportuni­

ties for fun-loving Americans to enjoy group outdoor activities, and the

du Ponts took advantage of being on the Brandywine to participate in these

sports. "In winter, the nearby streams furnished splendid skating.places ...."

A particularly popular spot on the Brandywine for skating and sliding was

at the old Barley Mill.

"A dangerous sport practiced here in those days by the younger class was riding on a whirligig. A post was secured in the ice, with a hole in the top, through which a long pole was passed; a sled was attached to each end by a rope; on these the riders were seat­ ed; four or six men holding the middle of the pole, forced it round with such rapidity that a dense mist enveloped the whole circle."62

Summertime amusements, swimming, bathing, and fishing among the rocks, may

seem at first to offer less excitement than the wintertime pleasures, but

"young people, in skipping the rocks heedlessly, have unexpectedly taken a plunging bath, to their great/ annoyance and the merriment of their com- 63 panions.. . ."

For those disinclined to such strenuous exercise or for those who were not fond of water sports, riding and hunting were popular sports at Eleu­

therian Mills. Mr. du Pont, however, often had to deny himself these fav­ orite pleasures. "I am extremely thankful to you for the kind offer that -27-

you are so kind to do me of your fine pointer bitch; I have indeed been very found/sic/ of shooting, but I am so close confined now by bussiness/sic/ that I have hardly touched my gun since five year, and I have so little time to dispose of that it would be a pity that a good dog should be spoiled 64 for want of exercise...." As did other American businessmen of the early nineteenth century, Mr. du Pont devoted most of his time and energy to industry.

The pastimes and interests of the family show the influence of urban society when we move indoors at Eleutherian Mills. "City society placed greater emphasis on such diversions as balls, sleigh rides, picnics, par­ lour games, and theatre parties....In both city and country by far the most popular of all recreations was dancing...."65 Sometimes there was dancing in the home to the accompaniment of the piano. Members of the du

Pont family took dancing lessons from a professional master in 1819 and 66

1820. The lessons undoubtedly prepared the young ladies for such grand occasions as a ball given in honor of Lafayette in Philadelphia, but it is clear that these were considered an extravagance. "I should like Eleu- thera to have the pleasure of seeing so beautiful a fete, and as I can ar­ range her costume without great expense, I think she ought to have what at 67 her age will be a delightful experience." The dancing lessons may also have prepared the girls for local gatherings, such as Wilmington's dancing societies which "met usually at six o'clock and at the latest seven o'clock"; , 68 lemonade and cake were the refreshments served to the young people.

At home on the Brandywine the young ladies could exhibit their musical accomplishments for gentlemen callers in the parlor. In 1823, Mr. du Pont purchased a piano for his family; the girls accompanied each other as they sang airs of the day as "How shall he his pain discover." Sometimes the music provided relief from the hum-drum tasks the girls were completing at their little work tables where they sewed and embroidered for themselves and the rest of the family. A game of chess would also be a pleasant diversion 71 from routine tasks.

Were we to stop here with our picture, we could imagine the du Pont girls as the most genteel young ladies of polite nineteenth century society; but actually they were sheltered neither from the hard work in a rural home nor from involvement in business matters. On at least one occasion "Miss

E. du Pont was unfortunately in the kitchen, in culinary preparations..." 72 when a caller arrived. Furthermore, the young ladies were assigned tasks, appropriate to their femininity, to complete for the black powder business.

Victorine, the eldest, was assigned the most responsible secretarial duties; she copied her father's incoming and outgoing letters, opened his corres­ pondence when he was away, and reported the contents to him. These were time-consuming as well as difficult assignments. "I will also send with this another copy of our inventory for 1809. Victorine has made 7 or 8 73 copies of it...." Victorine herself testified to the length of her work 74 when she wrote that "last night I sat up till 12 writing for papa."

The young ladies always "cut the labels for the gunpowder canisters to the sizes needed for the different assortments of gunpowder in the orders" and they "made the bags into which gunpowder was poured and carried on the workmen's shoulders from the Graining Mill to the other Mills." The bags were sewed together by hand and strings for tightly closing the filled bag were attached.^ The family's pastimes were nearly as closely governed by business demands as were those of Mr. du Pont himself! -29-

Whenever the men had time for parlor games at Eleutherian Mills they might enjoy a game of billiards or cards, but they had even less opportuni­

ty to take advantage of the latest cultural developments from the city than 76

did the young ladies in the early nineteenth century.

It is not only the pressing concerns of business, however, which cause us to modify any romantic picture we may have of the pleasurable life of an early nineteenth century American rural or urban family. Even the na­

tion's capital presented a dismal picture during our period. "Washington... was a raw, half-finished city in the fever-ridden swamp. The real estate boom-and-bust had left some crumbling relics of houses near Pennsylvania

Avenue, which in 1801 was not much more than a cause-way across an alder

swamp and Tiber Creek. The single wing of the Capitol faced seven or eight boardinghouses, and a mile away, near the President's house, was a cluster 77 of residences and shops." Not only were early nineteenth century Ameri­

cans deprived of technological developments which make day-to-day living

comfortable, but their living conditions were hazardous for they had no satisfactory means of controlling floods, wind, or fire nor of preventing and curing human disease. "An epidemic of influenza swept over the coun- 78 try in 1813, and/ resulted in great fatality." The fear of fire, so aptly described by Victorine du Pont in the following letter, is typical of the emotional tensions provoked by the physical conditions of life in

America, 1803-34. "The charcoal house took fire last night and burnt down to the ground; you will easily imagine our fright and the uproar which this event has occasioned. Most happily there was scarcely any wind, which directed the fire in a way opposite to the fac­ tory; had it been otherwise the calmness of the night would have availed us nothing since the fire blew much further than the barn. It was with the utmost difficulty that the willow house was saved. -30-

You see our danger was great. Papa was not at home, but Bro­ ther, Charles and all the gentlemen exerted themselves and did all that was to be done. Some one fortunately thought in time of up­ setting all the tar barrels so that they might not catch; accord­ ingly it rolled down the hill in torrents and overflowed the road as far as the granary; all the gentlemen were filled with it up to their knees, but we had great difficulty to procure water, the pumps of the factory were soon dry, they came to ours & finally established a line to the creek. All the neighbors & workmen of the different factories came in great numbers but they had very few buckets and very little presence of mind. Upon the whole, however, everything was carried on with great good luck, no per­ son was dangerously hurt, though there were many scratches & bruises. Charles & Mr.Saxrisit had a narrow escape when the chimney tumbled down. Brother sat up all night to watch the re­ mains of the fire, and none of us rested well as you may imagine. The fire began at 9 o'clock and.lasted until 12 o'clock; our anxiety was great during most all that time.

The American families who worked and lived under such conditions of hardship not only escaped its pressures in the simple rural pastimes and the most ornamental urban amusements, but they deeply concerned themselves with helping to better the lot of human beings worse off than they were and with exercising the right to participate in politics at the local, state, national and even international levels. Some reading, to be sure, was done for sheer pleasure or for advancing one's own particular knowledge; but families also read so that they could understand the workings of government and could assume an active role in the formulation of policies and their execution. The pastimes of the American of the early nineteenth century reveal his ability to retain a broad perspective on life at the same time that he dealt effectively with the most immediate difficulties of exist­ ing in a new country.

The du Ponts, for example, brought with them from France an extensive library, but their reading habits did not cease with their settlement on

on the Brandywine. Records show that they continued to purchase books, many of which were in English now, and that they also subscribed to periodicals and newspapers. At first it was difficult for Mr. du Pont to get the in- -31-

formation he wanted. "Thank her /Maman/ for the newspapers she has been so

81

good as to send me; in our backwoods they are wonderfully interesting."

Later, when it was easier for Mr. du Pont to read and understand English

and when the circulation of newspapers had increased sufficiently to meet

the demands of a growing population, the family had access to a variety of

papers published in the middle Atlantic states.

Mr. du Pont's interest in politics extended beyond an attempt to under­

stand the workings of the local, state, and national governments. A letter

of 1824 from Henry Clay indicates that E. I. du Pont attempted to influence

the formulation of national policies. "I have duly received your letter of the 13th instant with the ob­ servations enclosed with which you favored me on the pending Tar­ iff. I recollect, with high satisfaction, the advantage I dereived in 1816 from your judicious views communicated to me in respect to the important interest of American Manufactures, and I shall give to these new ones a consideration corresponding with my high opinion of the intelligent source whence they have emanated. We have great difficulties to encounter....Whatever may be the final result, I am sure we shall find in you a liberal & consi­ derate judge of our labors."82 Although the more romantically inclined young ladies at Eleutherian

Mills became bored with the incessant political discussions among E. I. 83

du Pont and his guests, even they could become involved in topics of

political interest. "The news of the Turkish outrages in Greece brought

a wave of sympathy and an effort was made to relieve the distress and mi­

sery of the suffering people. A committee was appointed at a Town Meet­

ing held January 3, 1824. They were to receive contributions limited to 84

a dollar from each." Mr. du Pont was a member of the Committee, and he

had inspired enough interest at home that as late as 1831 the girls expressed

regret that they were not able to hear the experiences of Dr. Howe of Boston 85 who had lived and fought with the Greeks. -32-

The young ladies' usual distaste for politics was typical not only of women but of some men during our period. "Romantics, fleeing from utili­ tarianism and the culture of nascent industrialism, often found shelter in medievalism, chivalry, Gothic tales, and the idealization of primitive peo

86 pies like the Indians." Washington Irving's "Pilgrim of Love" in Tales 87 of the Alhambra satisfied the romantic bent of the girls. When we recal the limited education and the role of mature women in society, it is not surprising to find that the girls' reading habits and intellectual needs were shallow. "For woman was prescribed strong doses of reading, mostly religious books; but she could read the Rambler, the Idler, and the Spectator. Shakespeare was too coarse but selections from him were admissi­ ble. Byron_was taboo, but Young, Thomson,; Milton, Cowper, and Goldsmith /as well as Burns/ afforded desirable reading. Moral essays were regarded as her best pabulum. She was encouraged to read American History but was warned against novels, though The Vicar of Wakefield, Don Quixote, and a few others escaped the ban."88

The young man at Eleutherian Mills could turn to the American Revolu­ tion or a History of Egypt for pleasurable reading, but he was just as likely to be found buried in a more utilitarian book such as Practical 89

Surveying.

The family's interest in reading did not cease with the collection of a library for their personal use, however. Like other Americans of the period, Mr. du Pont was concerned about providing education for all citi­ zens, and particularly for those who were in some way underprivileged. He worked on a committee to get a Free School law passed in Delaware, and he supported an institution established to provide education for the blind.

The interest closest to home and involving all the family members was the Brandywine Manufacturer's Sunday School which held its first sessions on -33-

the top floor of the Henry Clay factory in June of 1816. Victorine, who

later became superintendent of the school, taught some of the classes there, and since the monitor system was employed (i.e. older children guided the

lessons of younger ones), Eleuthera who was only ten-years-old also helped at the school. In 1817, a new building specifically for the use of the

Sunday School was opened on the du Pont property, and Mr. du Pont finished 90 it at his own expense because the original subscription was insufficient.

The school provided "primary" education for workers in the powder mills, and in neighboring mills along the Brandywine, who were illiterate, or for their children. "The Brandywine Manufacturer's Sunday School schedule was care­ fully defined. The school opened at eight in the morning in summer and at nine in winter with a prayer and the reading of a verse of the Bible. Then followed the routine which was typical of so many schools of the period. First, the writing lesson was given, one deemed necessary since most of the students received no such in­ struction at any other time. Although slates were used by most of the students, the older and more advanced/ students were allowed the privilege of writing on paper. The lesson in writing was fol­ lowed by one in reading, with two chapters of the Old and two of the New Testament serving as the text. Next a period of recitation was held. During this period, the student body of the school was broken up into sections so that each could pursue the teachings of the religious denomination of his choice. The last subject of the day was spelling, after which the school closed at 12:30 p.m. with another prayer and a Bible reading."^l

One further aspect of the pastimes and interests common to American families in the early nineteenth century deserves mentioning. All families developed customs and established traditions which were peculiar to their life together. Of particular interest to us at Eleutherian Mills was the retention of the French custom of celebrating New Year's Day with a fami- 92 ly gathering and the exchange of gifts. The merriment which ensued on such an occasion was the most common form of entertainment which all fami­ lies enjoyed, because, as we shall see, relatives were commonly very close friends during our period. -34-

The interests and pastimes at Eleutherian Mills are illustrative of

the kinds of pleasureable as well as intellectual activity found in all

homes of early nineteenth century America. However, the situation there

is unusual because it provides insight into the social life of both coun­

try and city people during our period. Furthermore, the family life at

Eleutherian Mills shows how business occupations and family pastimes coin­

cided, and how business interests sometimes intruded upon the private pleasures of the industrialist. Finally, interests pursued by the du

Ponts reveal how Americans struggling under difficult conditions managed

to develop a We 11anschauung and to act outside the sphere of their immedi­

ately personal environment.

FAMILY FRIENDS AND VISITORS

The life of the family, while private in many respects, touched the

larger community at various points. For example, when the du Pont chil­

dren started school, in Wilmington or in Germantown or in New Haven, they began to associate with persons outside the immediate environment of their

home at Eleutherian Mills. Most families during our period were intimately

involved in the community of a church. But whatever the place of contact with the larger community might be, the strength of the bonds drawing fami­

ly members into the wider spheres of American society and holding them there was dependent upon mutual interest. The general patterns of American social

life, 1803-34, begin to be visible when we examine the family's closest con­

tact with the community, the personal contact established in friendships with people outside the immediate group. With whom did the family become

friendly, and what forms did the friendships take? -35-

The kinds of friends American families had during the early nineteenth century, like those of the du Ponts, fall into three general classes. First,

families from 1803-34 were very friendly with their relatives; secondly, business

friendships were likely to develop between/acquaintances; and finally, any mutual interest might form the basis of a friendship,just as it does today.

The most frequent visitors at the Eleutherian Mills residence were rela­ tives of E. I. du Pont who were not members of the immediate household.

"Familism was a marked element in early American affairs.... In the first half of the nineteenth century occur numerous hints of kinship solidarity.

One hundred years ago the family 'was still the microcosm of the state' and 93 accepted responsibility toward poor and incapacitated members." The ties between the two branches of the du Pont family in the United States became especially strong because both sides of the family were active in business affairs, because they were located close to one another geographically, and because their personalities were compatible. Victor du Pont, Eleuthere

Irenee's older and only brother, came with his family to live on the Brandy­ wine in 1809. He had had a series of business failures following the ar­ rival of the family from France in 1801, and Eleuthere Irenee had been urg­ ing him to join the enterprise at Eleutherian Mills. As Victor's wife later described the feelings which bound the brothers together, "...not only was the most perfect integrity shown deep in their hearts, but ... the family

feeling was so fine that the best or worst lot in the eyes of each one was only a matter of circumstances. A little later still who will prove it better 94 , than Irenee du Pont!" Irenee du Pont gradually drew his unsuccessful brother into his business by establishing a woolen factory for processing -36-

the fleece of the Merino sheep he had been growing on his farm; he not only made Victor the director of the new enterprise but built him a home across

the Creek.

Family ties were made fast not only by the geographical proximity of the

two men (one had only to jump into the candle-box boat, pull the rope, and he had reached the opposite side of the Brandywine), but their personali­ ties were complementary. While Eleuthere Irenee tended to be reticent and

introverted as well as cautious, his brother was self-confident in society and inclined to be rash in decision-making. As Victor analyzed the two,

"I have the fortunate ability to fill my place / without much trou­ ble under trying circumstances, but it is partly because I am lazy and dislike considering, calculating, thinking, and re­ considering what should best be done; therefore I often need to be guided by a wise counsellor and you are an excellent one, for you decide slowly -- you look at both sides and most care­ fully at the worst side of everything."95

The next generation of du Ponts also developed close friendships. It was natural for the cousins to become playmates because they were neighbors and their age levels were close enough to create mutual interests. Alfred

Victor and Charles Irenee, who were only a year apart, went away to school at Mr. Constant's together; and at least one marriage, that of Samuel

Francis, Victor's second son, and Sophie Madeleine, E. I. du Pont's daughter, resulted from the early friendships of the cousins. As the children of both

Eleuthere Irenee and Victor married they tended to settle on the Brandywine;

the two branches of the family were always within walking distance, and usual within sight, of one another during E. I. du Pont's lifetime. The ties holdi

the du Ponts together --natural compatibility, geographical proximity, and mutual business interests -- were typical of those which account for the

closeness among relatives in many American families of the early nineteenth

century. -37-

Aside from relatives, the most frequent visitors in the du Pont resi­ dence were persons who came to see the manufacturing and farming operations on the Brandywine or who came to discuss business with Mr. du Pont. Callers who had come to Eleutherian Mills on business usually paid a brief social visit to the ladies as well. Commonly, the children's closest friends had first been introduced through the manufacturing interests of their father.

The A. C. Cazenoves of Alexandria, Virginia, were perhaps the closest friends the family had. Mr. Cazenove served as an agent for the powder manufactory and later he and Mr. du Pont were Directors of the Bank of the United States together. The two men developed a close friendship, and eventually the entire families of each were corresponding and visiting one another. In 1813 Mr. Cazenove wrote Mr. du Pont, "You see that, one after the other, my children are over- 96 joyed to accept your kind invitation to spend their vacations with you."

In 1831 the families were still exchanging visits. "It is lucky that he/William/ 97 is the last, for otherwise you would have to build an addition to your house."

The most frequent opportunities for developing such patterns of social exchange naturally came through the business because Mr. du Pont was making daily contacts with people whose mutual interest was industry. But he also entertained his political friends, too often to satisfy the young ladies.

For example, on May 13, 1830, they endured the visit of "our illustrious governor to dinner; (David Hazzard Esq) & the secretary of state Mr Harrington who was announced to us...as a very intelligent and agreable young man; of this we could not judge but he was as yellow as a marygold/_sic_/ & his appear- — — 98 ance rather unprepossing J_sic_/." The girls were similarly bored with

Mr. du Pont's fellow Free School Commissioners but they were usually inter­ ested when discussion centered about Mr. du Pont's concern for the blind. -38-

It was unusual for individual friends to visit the family; the common pattern of social exchange in the early nineteenth century was for a whole family, or all the children in the family, or a husband and wife to visit another group together. All of the family friends had some strong bond of mutual interest, whether it was business or politics or a hobby. Like other families of the period, the du Ponts were closest bo their relatives, and although many of their friends were of French extraction it was their mutual interests rather than their expatriotism which bound them together.

THE FAMILY'S POSITION IN THE COMMUNITY

Although the du Ponts did not deliberately choose their friends from the French group living in America, the character of their contact with the larger community was to a large extent determined by the fact that they had originally come from France. The discrimination against the immigrant family in early nineteenth century American society reveals not only the reasons for the immigrants' early distrust of Americans. It shows also how the immigrant family gained acceptance in the United States and how attitudes towards the country of adoption gradually changed in the process.

Finally, it reveals the social structure of the new nation as it actually operated; the democratic principles set out in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution were not necessarily the words that men lived by.

"In spite of the equality, the rights of liberty, and the excellent government of this country, we foreigners are always in a position inferior to that of other citizens; we are not, as you say, among our equals; that is a truth that I have learned from daily con­ tact with Americans. This suggestion of inferiority -- this preju­ dice dice of which one often feels the influence -- offsets to my mind many of the advantages of America and makes me believe that if we could be free from debt we would all be happier in France..../ -39-

...Here success in business -- greed for wealth -- take the place of affection, genius, goodness. Worth has little to do with posi­ tion; the only reputation is founded on the extent of one's cre­ dit at the bank. A foreigner counts for nothing unless he is very rich and even then his position is beneath that of any New York or Philadelphia merchant of equal fortune.

Mr. du Pont1s early analysis of his situation as a foreigner in the Uni­ ted States was fairly accurate, and it was typical of the view other immi­ grants had as they took note of their position in the American social struc­ ture. "If I had an American father, brothers, cousins -- I would be pro-/ 100 tected but I am French and everyone is free to injure me."

Part of the hostility the immigrant family was likely to detect in Ameri­ can society was due to a lack of understanding the situation however. In the first place, E. I. du Pont was a new person to the community, and his business interests made it necessary for him to be particularly concerned about his credit at the bank. French or not, he would have found that his reputation was likely to be "founded on the extent of one's credit at the bank." Secondly, a certain distrust of Americans was engendered by the lack of facility in the English language. In their first years here the immigrant family had to depend on the interpretation of others in reaching business and social understandings with the larger community. The frus­ tration of not being able to speak and to make oneself understood was likely to make the immigrant feel he was being taken advantage of, or cheated in business dealings. Finally, it took awhile for the immigrant family to understand the customs and traditions of the United States, customs which were so foreign to those in which their background of experiences rested.

For example, E. I. du Pont misunderstood the legal terms and customs of Ameri­ can forms of business organization. "Here is what I think frankly of this affair, my friend. You were wrong in the beginning in trying to avoid the admis­ sion that Bauduy was a partner and not an employee. That was -40-

not from any injustice on your part nor was it concealment, but the result of your education and your French prejudices. There exists in France a kind of sleeping partner of which there is no idea in the American mind. Here men are partners and equals, or clerks and masters. Of course, one partner is often a man of ability and intellect who does all the work, and the other a fool who to the public is all-important, but a cipher in the office. When a partnership is formed the duties are usually divided and there is no further question of them while the firm lasts. Your difficulty is that you considered Bauduy, not an associate or partner, but a sleeping partner, to whom you would give an account­ ing and who/ would have a further share in the profits in return for his industryiUJ-

The immigrant was not only by his very situation susceptible to mis­ understandings; when he first arrived here he had no way of knowing that the inequalities he detected in the American social structure were real, but they were not permanent.

"One must not suppose that in America all classes of society mix in the same drawing-rooms; that is not so. People in the same profession, with the same views and the same education, seek each other out by a sort of instinct and come together to_the exclu­ sion of others. The difference /from French society/ is that no arbitrary inflexible rule prescribes this arrangement. So there is little offensive in it. There is nothing final about it for anybody, and no one can be hurt by it."102

The lack of finality in the social gradation in the American social struc­ ture could only be perceived by experience. "A gentleman was made not only 103 by wealth or birth, but by his merit." The immigrant was offered equal opportunity with native Americans to prove his merit, and particularly in the middle Atlantic states where "society was much more diverse, loose, 0* 104 and cosmpolitan" than in New England.

Several factors were at work to produce the fluidity which character­ ized the early nineteenth century American social structure. In the first place, all men were equal before the law, and secondly, "the abundance of natural resources hampered the designs of such as aspired to establish the prerogatives of aristocracy by means of narrowed holdings of wealth; it re duced the importance of vested riches, and created a social optimism that measured men by their future possibilities rather than by tokens of the pas -41-

The immigrant, making a fresh start in the new nation, perhaps had the greatest opportunity of all to take advantage of the social optimism, but he had first to determine that he wanted to establish a reputation of merit and a modicum of success in the New World. The French emigre was particu­ larly hesitant in deciding to establish a position for himself in American society for the French "refugees had fled before or in the midst of a poli­ tical hurrican, with no considered intention to emigrate, and no plan for existence in exile .... The French had no intention of remaining, ijfc it cou 106 possibly be avoided." But the conditions of exile worked to promote the permanent settlement of such immigrants.

"In the years of exile, some had started in business and in the professions, had attained a modicum of success, had married with­ in or without the refugee group, and were consciously or uncon­ sciously establishing social connections and building up a life for themselves in the New World. It is quite probable that their decision to stay in America was made gradually. Departure was deferred for awhile, and then, with the deepening of New World ties, given up altogether. Until the decision to stay was made, the individual refugee remained a Frenchman living in exile; when the decision was made, he became an American and as an individual was easily absorbed into American society."107

This pattern of a changing attitude toward the United States among immigrant families is apparent in the situation of the du Ponts. In 1803, the decision to stay in the United States had already been made, but it alternated with the ever-burning hope of return to the homeland for many years. "I am sure that we must decide to adopt this country for our home," 108

E. I. du Pont wrote to his father. But it was not until 1809 that Mr. du Pont was serious in his determination to remain. "Perhaps you may re­ member my comparison of the world to a piece of cheese; in your place I should not hesitate to put one of my eggs on the fresh new side of the cheese where we live, rather than keep them all on the rotten side that

is called Europe ."109 -^r^ ^u pont's political and social loyalties were -42-

beginning to be American. By 1814, there was no question of returning to

France. rrThe happy changes that have taken place in France offer to Mau­

rice a much brighter future than he could expect here; but as for me...I

do not see what I could do in France. I have spent my life here building 110

up a very difficult industry...." Two years later the immigrant felt

that "it is possible that within twenty years they may consider me not wholly foreigner,n

In reality Mr. du Pont had already been absorbed into American society

in 1816. His merit as an intellectual person had been recognized by his

election to membership in the American Philosophical Society, January 16,

1807. By 1822 he was appointed a Director of the Bank of the United States, 112

a nomination confirmed by the United States Senate. On the local level

his integration into the life of the community was revealed in his service

as a Director of the Farmer's Bank of Delaware and as a Commissioner for

the Wilmington Fire Insurance Company. The community had grown to know

and understand the man, just as he had come to understand the community.

The immigrant family thus "fitted into all phases of American life -- the

arts, business, the professions, the church, the army and navy, and govern-

113 ment service...." The family was an integral part of the American way

of life; economically, politically, and socially family life at Eleutherian

Mills is part of the American scene. 1803-34. FOOTNOTES

RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE FAMILY

1. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont from Contemporary Correspondence, trans. B. G. du Pont (Newark, Delaware, 1926), vol. VIII, Pierre Samuel to E. I., January, 1802, p. 122.

2. Ibid., vol. Ix, E. I. to Pierre Samuel, August 18, 1814, pp. 264/265.

3. Arthur W. Calhoun, A Social History of the American Family (Cleveland, 1918), vol. II, p. 53.

4. Ibid., p. 54.

5. Ibid., p. 55.

6. Ibid., p. 133.

7. Ibid., p. 54.

8. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. XI, E, I. to Alfred Victor, July 5, 1823, pp. 85/86.

9. Ibid., E. I. to his wife, July 8, 1823, p. 88.

10. Calhoun, A Social History, vol. II, p. 11.

11. Ibid., p. 77.

12. Ibid., p. 54.

13. See Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. XI, E. I. to his wife, March 28, 1823, pp. 72/73.

14. Ibid., vol. VIII, E. I. to Pierre Samuel, November 22, 1809, pp. 228/229.

15. Calhoun, A Social History, vol. II, p. 140.

16. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. X, E. I. to his wife, August 7, 1816, p. 169.

17• Ibid., vol. IX, E. I. to A. C. Cazenove, September 4, 1829, pp. 226/227.

18. Ibid., vol. X, E. I. to his wife, January 1, 1819, p. 313.

MEMBERS OF THE HOUSEHOLD NOT RELATIVES

19. Calhoun, A Social History, vol. II, p. 147.

20. See Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VI, pp. 62/63/64.

21» Ibid., Victor to E. I., October 26, 1802, p. 132. ii

22. John A. Munroe, "The Negro in Delaware", The South Atlantic Quarterly, LVI, 4 (Autumn, 1957), p. 432.

23. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VI, Victor to E. I., November 18, 1802, p. 141.

it 24. Baron Klinkowstrom's America, 1818-20, ed. and trans. Franklin D, Scott (Evanston, 1952), p. 196.

25. See Tancopanican Chronicle, ed. and pub. Louise du P. Crowninshield and Pierre S. du Pont (Wilmington, 1949), Notes.

26. See The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Collection of Manuscripts (here­ inafter cited as the Winterthur Collection), Group 6, Eleuthera (du Pont) Smith papers, Folder 14, Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, Greenville Wilmington 7, Delaware (hereinafter cited as EMHL).

27. See "Old Stone Office Building", Appendix B, unpublished research report, EMHL.

THE EDUCATION OF THE FAMILY

28. Calhoun, A Social History, vol. II, p. 51.

29. Du Pont de Nemours, National Education in the United States of America,

trans. B. G. du Pont (Newark, Delaware, 1923), p. 4.

30. Calhoun, A Social History, Vol. II, pp. 59/60.

31. See Mrs. Victor du Pont, "Our Transplantation to America", trans. B. G.

du Pont, unpublished typescript, EMHL.

32. Du Pont de Nemours, National Education, p. 58.

33. Ibid., p. 21.

34. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. XI, E. I. to his wife, May 10, 1819

pp. 13/14.

35. Harvey Wish, Society and Thought in Early America (New York, 1953), p. 289

36. See Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. XI, E. I. to A. C. Cazenove,

February 3, 1829, p. 225.

37. Calhoun, A Social History, vol. II, p. 86.

38» Ibid., pp. 66 and 93.

39. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VII, Madame Rivardi to E. I., October 19, 1805, p. 205. 40. See Ibid., vol. XI, pp. 28/29. iii

THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE FAMILY

41. See Howard Mumford Jones, America and French Culture (Chapel Hill, 1927), p. 93.

42. Joseph Willcox, "Biography of the Reverend Patrick Kenny, A.D. 1763- 1840", Records of the American Catholic Historical Society, VII, 1 (1896), p. 75.

43. See Allan J. Henry, The Life of Alexis Irenee du Pont (Philadelphia, 1945), vol. II, p. 197.

44. See Tancopanican Chronicle, August 4,5,6, 1830, p. 15.

45. Henry, Life of Alexis Irenee du Pont, vol. II, p. 197.

46. Ibid., p. 196.

47. Du Pont de Nemours, National Education, p. 15.

48. Winterthur Collection, Group 4, Miscellaneous Receipted Bills, Box 9, EMHL.

49. The Longwood Manuscripts, Group 2, Mrs. Victor du Pont to Mrs. Manigault, July 10, 1800, EMHL.

50. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. XI, E. I. to Victorine, July 16, 1821, pp. 38/39.

51. Henry, Life of Alexis Irenee du Pont, vol. II, p. 185.

52. Calhoun, A Social History, vol. II, p. 57.

PASTIMES AND INTERESTS OF THE FAMILY

53. Anna T. Lincoln, Wilmington, Delaware -- Three Centuries Under Four Flags (Rutland, Vermont, 1937), p. 196.

54. Russel Blaine Nye, The Cultural Life of the New Nation (New York, 1960), p. 124.

55. Lincoln, Wilmington, Delaware, p. 143; Nye, The Cultural Life, p. 127.

56. J. C. Potter and Nuala M. Drescher, Eleutherian Mills: A Study, unpub­ lished research report, EMHL, p. 47.

57. Tancopanican Chronicle, Saturday 13, 1831, p. 19.

58. Winterthur Collection, Group 6, Box 4, Victorine to Sophia, Folder 1825, EMHL.

59. Tancopanican Chronicle, July 23, 1830, p. 12. iv

60. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VI, E, I. to Pierre Samuel, April 28, 1803, pp. 210/211.

61. Lincoln, Wilmington, Delaware, p. 145.

62. Elizabeth Montgomery, Reminiscences of Wilmington (Wilmington, 1872), p. 31.

63. Ibid., pp. 30/31.

64. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VIII, E. I. to G. Pearce, March 7, 1808, p. 35.

65. Nye, The Cultural Life, p. 144.

66. The Longwood Manuscripts, Group 3, Sophie /Dalmas/ du Pont Household Account Books, Boxes 1 and 11, EMHL.

67. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. XI, Victorine to her mother, September 23, 1824, p. 121.

68. Lincoln, Wilmington, Delaware, p. 156.

69. The Longwood Manuscripts, Group 7, Box 6, Accounts, EMHL.

70. See e.g. Tancopanican Chronicle, January 1, 1832, p. 1.

71. See Ibid., January 7, 1834, p. 11.

72. Ibid., February 25, 1832, p. 12.

73. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VIII, E. I. to Pierre Samuel, January 25, 1811, p. 288.

74. Winterthur Collection, Box 3, Group A, series 6, Folder 1821, Victorine to Eleuthera, March 28, 1821, EMHL.

75. Tancopanican Chronicle, Notes, pp. 112 and 4.

76. The Longwood Manuscripts, Group 3, Box 6, EMHL.

77. Nye, The Cultural Life, p. 128.

78. Lincoln, Wilmington, Delaware, pp. 196/197.

79. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. X, Victorine to Alfred Victor, July 17, 1817, pp. 231/232.

80. See Potter and Drescher, Eleutherian Mills: A Study, Appendices.

81. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VII, E. I. to Pierre Samuel, August 6, 1805, p. 157. 82. Ibid., vol. XI, Henry Clay to E. I., February 15, 1824, p. 104.

83. See e.g. Tancopanican Chronicle, September 30, 1832.

84. Lincoln, Wilmington, Delaware, p. 197.

85. See Tancopanican Chronicle, July 13, 1831, P. 11.

86. Wish, Society and Thought, p. 299.

87. See Tancopanican Chronicle, July 16, 1832, p. 34.

88. Calhoun, A Social History, vol. II, p. 88.

89. See e.g. Old Stone Office Records, Box 489, Miscellaneous Bills, January-June, 1821, EMHL.

90. Henry, Life of Alexis Irenee du Pont, vol. II, p. 31.

91. Raymond F, Betts, "Eleuthere Irenee du Pont and the Brandywine Sunday School", Delaware History, VIII, 4 (September, 1959), pp. 349/350.

92. Winterthur Collection, Group 6, Eleuthera (du Pont) Smith papers, Folders 2 and 5, EMHL.

FAMILY FRIENDS AND VISITORS

93. Calhoun, A Social History, p. 144.

94. Mrs. Victor du Pont, "Our Transplantation", note to p. 16.

95. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VI, Victor to E. I., October 26, 1802, pp. 128/129.

96• Ibid., vol. IX, A. C. Cazenove to E. I., June 26, 1813, p. 98.

97. Ibid., vol. XI, July 11, 1831, p. 238.

98. Tancopanican Chronicle, May 13, 1830, p. 7.

THE FAMILY'S POSITION IN THE COMMUNITY

99. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VI, E. I. to Pierre Samuel, July 16, 1803, pp. 252/253.

100. Ibid., vol. VII, Victor to E. I., August 15, 1805, p. 162.

101. Ibid., pp. 90/91. vi

102. Alexis de Tocqueville, Journey to America, trans. George Lawrence and ed. J. P. Mayer (London, 1959), p. 259.

103. Nye, The Cultural Life, p. 106.

104. Ibid., p. 112.

105. Calhoun, A Social History, vol. II, p. 26.

106. Frances Sergeant Childs, French Refugee Life in the United States, 1790-1800 (Baltimore, 1940), p. 186.

107. Ibid., p. 190.

108. Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, vol. VI, E. I. to Pierre Samuel, March 25, 1803, p. 192.

109. Ibid., vol. VIII, E. I. to Harmand, January 28, 1809, p. 147.

110• Ibid., vol. IX, E. I. to Madame de Pusy, June 20, 1814, p. 195.

111. Ibid., vol. X, E. I. to his wife, October 1, 1816, p. 176.

112. See Ibid., vol. XI, C. A. Rodney to E. I., December 23, 1822, p. 62.

113. Childs, French Refugee Life, p. 197. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baron Klinkowstrom's America, 1818-20, edited and translated by Franklin D. Scott, Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1952.

Betts, Raymond F., "Eleuthere Irenee du Pont and the Brandywine Sunday School", Delaware History, VIII, 4 (September, 1959), 343-353.

Calhoun, Arthur W., A Social History of the American Family, 3 volumes, Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1918.

Childs, Frances Sergeant, French Refugee Life in the United States, 1790- 1800, Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press, 1940. du Pont, B. G., Lives of Victor and Josephine du Pont, Newark, Delaware: Press of Kells, Inc., 1930. du Pont, Col. Henry Algernon, Henry du Pont, Delaware: Winterthur, 1923.

Du Pont de Nemours, National Education in the United States of America, translated from the second French edition of 1812 by B. G. du Pont, Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware Press, 1923. du Pont, H. A., Rear-Admiral Samuel Francis du Pont, New York: National Americana Society, 1926. du Pont, Mrs. Victor, "Our Transplantation to America", translated by Mrs. B. G. du Pont, unpublished typescript, Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, Greenville, Wilmington 7, Delaware. de Tocqueville, Alexis, Journey to America, translated by George Lawrence and edited by J. P. Mayer, London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1959.

The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Collection of Manuscripts, Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, Greenville, Wilmington 7, Delaware.

Hunt, Gaillard, Life in America One Hundred Years Ago, New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1914.

Jones, Howard Mumford, America and French Culture, Chapel Hill: The Univer­ sity of North Carolina Press, 1927.

Life of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont from Contemporary Correspondence, eleven volumes, translated by B. G. du Pont, Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware Press, 1926.

Lincoln, Anna T., Wilmington,Delaware — Three Centuries Under Four Flags, Rutland, Vermont: The Tuttle Publishing Co., Inc., 1937.

The Longwood Manuscripts, Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, Greenville, Wilmington 7, Delaware.

Montgomery, Elizabeth, Reminiscences of Wilmington, 2nd edition, Wilmington: Johnston and Bogia, 1872. BIBLIOGRAPHY (cont.)

Munroe, John A., "The Negro in Delaware", The South Atlantic Quarterly, LVI, 4 (Autumn, 1957), 428-444.

Nye, Russel Blaine, The Cultural Life of the New Nation, New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, I960.

Old Stone Office Records, Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, Greenville, Wilmington 7, Delaware.

Potter, J. C, and Drescher, Nuala M., Eleutherian Mills: A Study, unpublished research report, Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, Greenville, Wilmington 7, Delaware.

Tancopanican Chronicle (1830-34), edited and published by Louise du P. Crowninshield and Pierre S. du Pont, Wilmington, 1949.

Willcox, Joseph, "Biography of the Reverend Patrick Kenney, A.D. 1763-1840", Records of the American Catholic Historical Society, VII, 1 (1896), 27-79.

Wish, Harvey, Society and Thought in Early America, New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1953.