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A Manufacturer in Wartime: Du Pont, 1860–1865

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2012

Harold B. Hancock  and
Norman B. Wilkinson
Harold B. Hancock
Affiliation:
Professor of History, Ottehbein College
Norman B. Wilkinson
Affiliation:
Research Associate, The Hagley Museum
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Abstract

The problems and experiences of the largest American powder producer form an interesting case study of the effects of the Civil War upon business.

Type
Articles
Information
Business History Review , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , Summer 1966 , pp. 213 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1966

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References

1 One of the oldest continuous enterprises on the American business scene. E. I. du Font de Nemours & Co. has placed its nineteenth century archives, the Old Stone Office Records, in the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, Greenville, Delaware. Other major collections in the same repository that contain du Pont family papers and additional company materials are the Longwood Manuscripts, the Winterthur Collection, Alfred V. du Pont Papers, Lammot du Pont Papers, and the P. S. du Pont Collection. Its long association with the U.S. government can be seen in the numerous Du Font items in a wide range of records groups in the National Archives.

2 The most recent history of the company, with emphasis on the family members, is Carr, William H. A.'s, The du Ponts of Delaware (New York, 1964).Google Scholar Earlier accounts include Dutton, William S., Du Pont: One Hundred and Forty Years (New York, 1942)Google Scholar ; E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Du Pont, the Autobiography of an American Enterprise (Wilmington, 1952)Google Scholar ; du Pont, Bessie G., E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, a History, 1802–1902 (New York, 1920).Google Scholar

3 Du Pont Co., Ledgers B, C, 1857–1860, Old Stone Office Records, hereafter cited OSOR.

4 Andreano, Ralph (ed.), The Economic Impact of the Civil War (Cambridge, Mass., 1962), 186–87Google Scholar, 189; Kennedy, Joseph C. G. (ed.), Preliminary Report of the Eighth Census (Washington, D. C., 1862), 173.Google Scholar

5 Mrs. S. F. du Pont to S. F. du Pont, January 12, 15, 1861; Henry du Pont to H. A. du Pont, January 6, 1861, Winterthur Collection, hereafter cited as Winterthur.

6 Du Pont Co. to W. I. Wisbard, Richmond, Va., November 30, 1860; same to W. F. Wesring, Atlanta, Ga., March 16, 1861, Winterthur.

7 Van Marcus, Columbus, Ga. to Du Pont Co., December 3, 1860; Philip Kotchford, New Orleans, La. to same, February 13, 18, 1861, OSOR.

8 Du Pont Co. to Edwin Wortham and Co., Richmond, Va., April 16, 1861, Bessie G. du Pont, “Notes for History,” hereafter cited as B. G. du Pont, “Notes,” Eleutherian Mills Historical Library.

9 John J. Bogue, Georgetown, D. C. to Du Pont Co., April 18, 1861; A. C. Cazenove & Co., Alexandria, Va-to same, April 29, 1861, OSOR.

10 Nave, McCord & Co., St. Louis, Mo., to Du Pont Co., April 23, May 3, 13, August 3, 1861; F. Mitchell & Co., Hannibal, Mo. to same, July 16, August 26, September 16, 1861, OSOR.

11 Du Pont Co. Inventory No. 7, December 31, 1861, OSOR.

12 D. W. C. Bidwell & Co., Pittsburgh, to Du Pont Co., February 13, March 26, 1863; J. W. Donohue & Co., Cincinnati, to same, March 18, 1863, OSOR.

13 Rodmond Gibbons & Co., San Francisco, to Du Pont Co., October 13, November 21, 1863, OSOR.

14 See Wilkinson, Norman B., “Operation Sabotage,” Civil War Times, 2, no. 3 (June, 1960)Google Scholar ; General J. W. Hipley to Secretary of War, June 26, 1863, Record Group 156, Box 14, National Archives.

15 Contracts, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. with Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, Ledger A, Entry 154, Navy Ordnance, Record Group 74, National Archives.

16 DuPont Co. Inventories, December 31, 1860, December 31, 1864, OSOH.

17 Du Pont Co. to Cabot and Pemberton, Philadelphia, May 6, 1861, B. G. du Pont, “Notes.”

18 See Hancock, Harold B. and Wilkinson, Norman B., “‘The Devil to Pay!’: Saltpeter and the Trent Affair,” Civil War History, 10, no. 1 (March, 1964).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

19 Du Pont Co., Inventories, December 31, 1860, December 31, 1864, OSOR.

20 Hazard Powder Co. to Du Pont Co., April 22, December 11, 1861; Oriental Powder Co. to same, December 16, 1861, OSOR.

21 “Petition to Committee of Ways and Means of the House of Representatives,” March 18, 1862 (printed), Lammot du Pont Papers, Eleutherian Mills Historical Library; Du Pont Co. to Captain J. A. Dahlgren, September 6, 1862, Letters Received, Naval Ordnance Department, National Archives. A summary of prices paid by the government from early 1861 to August, 1864 is in a report, Brig.-Gen'l. George D. Ramsay to Secretary of War Stanton, E. M., August 6, 1864, The War of the Rebellion, Series III, 4, 582.Google Scholar

22 Hazard Powder Co. to Du Pont Co., December 4, 1862, OSOR.

23 “Taxes on Powder in 1863,” OSOR.

24 Du Pont Co., Ledger D, Petit Ledgers O, P, Q, R, S, 1861–1865, OSOR.

25 Du Pont Co., Ledgers C, D, 1861–1865, OSOR.

26 Delaware Gazette, November 18, 1864; Samuel Canby, Diary, December 31, 1864, Historical Society of Delaware.

27 Hansen, Alvin H., “Factors Affecting the Trend of Real Wages,” American Economic Review, 15 (March, 1925).Google Scholar

28 Du Pont Co. to J. W. Ripley, August 25, 1862, Civil War Section, National Archives.

29 T. T. Laidley to Du Pont Co., March 24, November 6, December 2, 9, 1863, Civil War Section, National Archives, and P. S. du Pont Collection, Eleutherian Mills Historical Library.

30 Du Pont Co. to F. L. Kneeland, October 4, 6, 1863; Kneeland to Du Pont Co., October 9, 22, 1863, OSOR.

31 Mrs. S. F. du Pont to S. F. du Pont, June 4, 1862, Winterthur.

32 Lammot du Pont, “History of Mamouth [sic] Powder,” Lammot du Pont Papers; Van Gelder, A. P. and Schlatter, H., History of the Explosives Industry in America (New York, 1927), 23Google Scholar, 194.

33 Patent No. 17,321, May 19, 1857, issued to Lammot du Pont for Improvement in Gunpowder; Patent No. 50,568, October 24, 1865, issued to Lammot du Pont for Improvement in Presses for Pressing Gunpowder, U. S. Patent Office. See also History of Explosives Industry, 193.

34 Du Pont Co. to Commander H. A. Wise, September 22, 1863, Letters Received, U. S. Navy Ordnance Dept. Book 1, National Archives; Ellen du Pont to H. A. du Pont, September 23, 1863, Winterthur.

35 Du Pont Co. to Chief of Bureau of Ordnance, June 30, 1864, Powder Book 4, Navy Branch, National Archives; B. G. du Pont, “Notes,” June 30, August 18, October 26, 1864; Du Pont Co., Ledger C, OSOR.

36 John P. Hilyard, Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue, to Du Pont Co., February 28, 1865, OSOR; Harold B. Hancock (ed.), “Annual Assessment of Incomes, Carriages, and Plate for the Year 1863 in Delaware” (typescript), Historical Society of Delaware.

37 Mrs. Henry du Pont to Mrs. S. F. du Pont, April 12, 1865; Mrs. Eleuthera du Pont Smith to “Amelia,” April 13, 1865; “Lina” du Pont to H. A. du Pont, April 13, 1865, all in Winterthur.

38 Watson, Peter H. to du Pont, Henry, November 17, 1863, The War of the Rebellion, Series III, Vol. 3, 1074–1075.Google Scholar

39 Ashburner & Co. to Du Pont Co., March 22, 1865; Du Pont Co., Inventory, December 31, 1865, OSOR; A. B. Dyer to Du Pont Co., June 24, 1865, Bureau of Army Ordnance, Letters Sent, National Archives.

40 Hazard Powder Co. to Du Pont Co., March 17, 1865; Smith and Rand to same, April 26, 1865; Du Pont Co. to F. L. Kneeland, March 28, 1865; Kneeland to Du Pont Co., December 16, 1867, all in OSOR.

41 George Breck to Du Pont Co., December 1, 1865, OSOR. Other letters from Breck in November and December, 1865, detail his efforts to establish agencies in the southern states.

42 Henry du Pont to H. A. du Pont, December 23, 1865, Winterthur.