Alfred I. du Pont

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Alfred Irénée du Pont (May 12, 1864 – April 28, 1935) along with his cousins engineered the 1902 rescue of the DuPont business. Orphaned son of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, II, Alfred attended MIT, becoming a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and graduated in 1885. He then worked at the family's manufacturing powder plant in the Brandywine. He became a partner in the company and was sent to Europe as the U.S. Army's Chief of Ordnance. He was also assistant superintendent of the Hagley and Lower Yards. Alfred became a director in 1899.

With the looming threat of the DuPont business being sold to competitor Laflin & Rand, Alfred and his cousins T. Coleman du Pont and Pierre S. du Pont formed a partnership to buy the company. Alfred served as vice president of the new corporation and took over the black powder manufacture and sat on the Executive Committee. Alfred helped create a research program. Following a divorce and the formation of the DuPont Securities Company by his cousins, Alfred sued them, but failed to gain support from DuPont shareholders. He was forced to resign from DuPont and left the business to a variety of business ventures in Delaware and Florida. He and his wife, Jessie Ball, retired to their Jacksonville, Florida estate, Epping Forest, in 1926.

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[edit] Marriages

He was married three times:

  • Jessie D. Ball (1884-1970) was his third wife whom he married in 1921 and with whom he had no children. Jessie Ball du Pont, however, accepted a child from Alfred I. du Pont's second marriage as her own. Her name was Adelaide Camille Denise (Denise duPont Zapffe after her marriage to Dr. Carl A. Zapffe)[1] [2]

[edit] Death

He died in 1935 in Jacksonville, Florida.[3]

[edit] Legacy

His fortune was left in testamentary trust and administered by his brother-in-law Edward Ball (1888-1979).[4]

This grew into what is now the St. Joe Company NYSE: JOE and Florida East Coast Industries (in 2007 FECI was acquired by the Fortress Investment Group NYSE: FIG), although the trust has now divested itself to own less than 5% of these assets. In 2006, the trust was valued at US$4 billion. The trust's primary beneficiary is the Nemours Foundation, which runs children's medical facilities in Delaware and Florida.

A middle school in Jacksonville, FL is named after him. The Alfred I. duPont Middle School is located at 2710 Dupont Avenue in the Southside neighborhood of Jacksonville.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Mrs. Alfred du Pont is Dead.", New York Times, September 27, 1970, Sunday. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. "Mrs. Jessie D. Ball du Pont, third wife of Alfred I. du Pont, died today at her family estate near here at the age of 86." 
  2. ^ "Powder Manufacturer's Wedding to Member of Old Virginia Family Is His Third.", New York Times, January 23, 1921, Sunday. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. "A wedding of wide interest was celebrated this morning in Los Angeles, when Alfred I. du Pont of the Famous Du Pont-de Nemours Powder Company and whose fortune is estimated at many millions." 
  3. ^ "Alfred I. du Pont Dies in Florida; End Comes Suddenly to the Founder and Former Head of Explosives Company.", New York Times, April 29, 1935. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. 
  4. ^ "Ed Ball at 91: Embattled, Implacable; The Millionaire Du Pont Trustee Faces Law Suits", New York Times, March 11, 1979, Sunday. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. ""I suppose some people might call me tight with a dollar," Edward Ball was saying the other day as the late winter sun cut through the blinds on his office windows and fell in warm rails on a lush oriental rug beneath his feet." 

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