Charles I. du Pont

Charles Irénée du Pont (March 29, 1797 – January 31, 1869) was an American manufacturer and politician, and an early member of the prominent du Pont family business. He was a nephew of Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, the founder of the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, and a member of the Delaware Senate.

Early life Du Pont was born March 29, 1797, in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest son of French immigrants Victor Marie du Pont de Nemours (born 1767 in Paris) and Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (born 1770 in Stenay). He lived with his parents in New York City until they established themselves in the wool-manufacturing business across from the Brandywine Creek from the Eleutherian Mills near Greenville, Delaware.

He was educated at Mount Airy College in Germantown, Philadelphia, from 1809 to 1813, when he left school to work with his father in Delaware.

Professional career

In 1815, the textile manufacturing company of Du Pont, Bauduy & Co. ended acrimoniously. , a Frenchman who had invested in the business in 1803, eventually sued the du Ponts over various disagreements. (The lawsuit was decided in the du Pont's favor in 1924. )

After de Bauduy's departure, Charles and his father formed the partnership of Victor & Charles I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. After Victor's death in 1827, the firm continued to operate as Charles I. du Pont & Co., with the U.S. Army as a major client for its cloth. Charlies retired in 1856, at which point E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co. purchased his company. They had three children: Victor, Mary Van Dyke and Charles Jr.

After Dorcas' death in 1838, he married Ann Ridgely (born 1815). Like his first wife, Ridgely was the daughter of a U.S. Senator and Representative from Delaware, Henry M. Ridgely. They had two children: Amélia Elizabeth (who married her cousin Eugene du Pont) and Henry Ridgely.

Du Pont died January 31, 1869, at Louviers, his family estate, and is buried at the Du Pont de Nemours Cemetery at Winterthur, near Greenville.