E.I. du Pont in U.S.In 1800, E.I. du Pont, who became a chemical industrialist, arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, age 28, immigrating to the U.S. from France. He brought twelve more family members, including his wife and three children. While Thomas Jefferson was serving as minister to France, DuPont's father became acquainted with him, which may have influenced the family's decision where to migrate after the father found the post-Revolution government unacceptable. In 1788, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont had begun working for the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was then chief of the royal powder works, and became his assistant in 1791. Thus Du Pont had the knowledge to establish his own powder mill at Wilmington, Delaware (1803). From this start followed diversification and the growth of a great chemical industry.« |
