Grandchildren Esther D. du Pont Parents Alfred V. du Pont | Spouse Mary Belin Name Lammot Pont | |
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Resting place Du Pont De Nemours Cemetery Employer E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Relatives Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, grandfather Died March 29, 1884, Gibbstown, Greenwich Township, New Jersey, United States Children Pierre S. du Pont, Lammot du Pont II, Irenee du Pont Similar People Pierre S du Pont, Irenee du Pont, Eleuthere Irenee du Pont | ||
Lammot du Pont I (April 13, 1831 – March 29, 1884) was a chemist and a key member of the du Pont family and its company in the mid-19th century.
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Life and career
du Pont was born in 1831 in New Castle County, Delaware, the son of Margaretta Elizabeth (Lammot) and Alfred V. du Pont, and grandson of French-born Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours, the founder of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Lammot was born at Nemours, the family home built in 1824 and named in honor of the full family name.
Lammot studied chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, and obtained a bachelor of arts degree in 1849. He entered into the family business, and used his chemistry knowledge to patent B blasting powder in 1857. His invention used an inexpensive Peruvian and Chilean sodium nitrate, which he had discovered in 1858 could be used to manufacture black powder more cheaply than potassium nitrate.
In the Civil War, du Pont enlisted in 1862 and was commissioned captain of Company B, 5th Delaware Volunteer Infantry that served at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island.
In 1880, du Pont convinced his family that a new explosive, dynamite, would eventually make gunpowder obsolete. His vision eventually made the company a major force in the blasting powder industry. Later, he founded the Repauno Chemical Company and helped his family's company enter the high explosives business.
He died in a nitroglycerin explosion on March 29, 1884, in Gibbstown, New Jersey.
Legacy
The Lammot du Pont Laboratory at the University of Delaware is named in his honor. The 34,000 square feet (3,200 m2)-building houses laboratories of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the College of Marine Studies.
Family
Lammot du Pont married Mary Belin (1839–1913) and had 11 children: