Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/367

 DU PONT

DURAXD

batteries for coast defence, which was republished and is quoted from by Sir Howard Douglas in his authoritative " Treatise on Naval Gunnery. " He married (1833) his cousin, Sophie Madeleine Du Pont, daughter of Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont de Nemours. "Du Pont Cn-cle " in Washington was named for him (18S".i) and a bronze statue to his memory was erected there in 1884. Fort Du Pont, Delaware City, was named in his honor in 1899. He died at Philadelphia, Pa.. June 23, 1865.

DU PONT, Victor, lawyer, was born at Lou- viers, Del., May 11, 1838; son of Charles Irenee Du Pont by his first wife, Dorcas Montgomery Van Dike, and grandson of Victor Marie Du Pont de Nemours. He was graduated at Delaware college A.B. in 1845, and A.M. in 1848. He entered Harvard in 1845 and graduated there A.B. in 1846. In 1849 he was admitted to the bar and es- tablished himself in Wilmington. Del., where he soon took a leading position in the community and in the practice of his profession. Although he could have commanded any political prefer- ment in the gift of his native state, he refused to hold any office except that of presidential elector, to which he was elected in 1864. He was for many. years president of the Union national bank of Wilmington, and of the Farmers' mu- tual fire insurance company of the same city. He was married in 1851 to Alice Hounsfield. He died in Wilmington, Del., May 13. 1888.

DU PONT DE NEMOURS, Victor Marie, dip- lomat and manufacturer, was born in Paris, France, Oct. 1, 1707; eldest .son of Pierre .Samuel Du Pont de Nemours. At the age of sixteen he was employed in the Ministry of Finance and from 1785 to 1787 travelled over a large portion of the kingdom, collecting statistics in regard to French agriculture, commerce and manufactures. In 1787 he was appointed attache to the French legation in the United States but went back to France at the outbreak of the Revolution, becom- ing aide-de-camp to Lafa3-ette when the latter was in comuiand of the National guard. In 1791 he returned to America as second secretary of lega- tion and in 1793 was ordered to France by Min- ister Ternant to demand fuller instructions from the committee of public safety. M. Genet, how- ever, had sailed for America as French minister in Ternant's place when Victor Du Pont reached Paris, and the latter remained without employ- ment until the close of 1794, when he was assigned to duty in the ministry of foreign affairs. In 1795 he was made first secretary of legation and came to the United States for the third time. The deplorable condition of French interests in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia induced Minister Adet to appoint him in the following July acting French consul for those states and his appointment was confirmed by the Directory.

Next year he was made French consul at Charles- ton, where he gave so much satisfaction to his superiors that in the beginning of 1798 he was appointed consul-general of France at Philadel- phia. President Adams having refused him an exequatur on account of the grave difficulties then existing between the Frencli republic and the United States, Victor Du Pont returned to Europe with his family. Finding that his father and brother had decided to emigi-ate to America he left the diplomatic service and sailed with them for the New World in September, 1799, arriving at Newport, R.L, Jan. 1, 1800. In connection with other members of his family he established and directed the business house of Du Pont de Nemours, Fils et Cie, at New York,recrossing the ocean in 1801 and visiting France and Spain in the interests of the firm. The business was very successful tmtil 1805, when the house failed on account of heavy advances made to refit a French squadron which had put into New York in a dis- abled condition, and to purchase subsistence stores for the French troops at San Domingo, payment of the drafts on the French treasury to make good the loans being refused by the personal order of Napoleon, who thus manifested his animosity against Du Pont de Nemours. The zes.l of the members of the firm for the interests of their native land having thus brought about its finan- cial ruin, Victor Du Pont retired with his family in 1806 to Angelica, Genesee county, N.Y., and three years later lie joined his younger brother, Irenee Du Pont, in Delaware, where he established a cloth manufactory at Louviers near Wilming- ton. During the war of 1812 he served as captain of a company of Delaware volunteers. He was a member of the Delaware legislature and a director of the United States bank. He was married in 1794 to Gabriel le Josephine de la Fife de Pelleport. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 30, 1827.

DURAND, Asher Brown, artist, was born in Jefferson, N.J., Aug. 21, 1796; a younger brother of Cyrus Durand, the banknote engraver. He learned to engrave on metal in his father's jew- elry shop. He then made copper plates bj- rolling out coins and with gravers of his own manufact- ure made his first copper prints. In 1812 he was apprenticed to Peter Maverick, an engraver in New York city, and became his partner in 1817. His first original work was The Begrjar, after a painting by Samuel Waldo. This was followed by The Dedaralion of Indppendence, after Trum- bulTs painting, which consumed three years' time to complete; Mn.tidom (1825), General Jack- son (1828) and a large number of subjects for the Annuals, for the American Portrait Gallery and for other publications. In 1836 he took up paint- ing in oils of American landscapes and American historical characters. Besides portraits of emi-