For those interested in learning more about Alfred's childhood, I'd like to share this excerpt from Brett Anderson: "For all his worldly resources, Alfred had never really had a stable home. The eldest son of Eleuthère-Irénée du Pont II (a partner in E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company) and Charlotte Henderson du Pont, he was raised on Delaware’s Brandywine River, where his ancestor Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, a French emigrant, had envisioned an agrarian utopia. Rather than embrace this peaceful pursuit, Pierre Samuel’s son built a gunpowder mill, which became the basis for the family’s vast wealth. Life at Swamp Hall, Alfred’s childhood home, was as melancholy as the house’s name: His mother, never emotionally strong, experienced a debilitating attack of postpartum depression after giving birth to her fifth child and, when not confined to an asylum, was subject to convulsive fits. In 1877, she died during one of these seizures, and several weeks later, her husband succumbed to tuberculosis, leaving the 13-year-old Alfred and his four siblings at the mercy of their relatives, who determined that they should vacate Swamp Hall. The defiant children, however—armed with a rolling pin, an axe, and a shotgun—managed to dissuade their elders from this course of action and were allowed, with some familial supervision, to remain in the house."
For those interested in learning more about Alfred's childhood, I'd like to share this excerpt from Brett Anderson: "For all his worldly resources, Alfred had never really had a stable home. The eldest son of Eleuthère-Irénée du Pont II (a partner in E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company) and Charlotte Henderson du Pont, he was raised on Delaware’s Brandywine River, where his ancestor Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, a French emigrant, had envisioned an agrarian utopia. Rather than embrace this peaceful pursuit, Pierre Samuel’s son built a gunpowder mill, which became the basis for the family’s vast wealth. Life at Swamp Hall, Alfred’s childhood home, was as melancholy as the house’s name: His mother, never emotionally strong, experienced a debilitating attack of postpartum depression after giving birth to her fifth child and, when not confined to an asylum, was subject to convulsive fits. In 1877, she died during one of these seizures, and several weeks later, her husband succumbed to tuberculosis, leaving the 13-year-old Alfred and his four siblings at the mercy of their relatives, who determined that they should vacate Swamp Hall. The defiant children, however—armed with a rolling pin, an axe, and a shotgun—managed to dissuade their elders from this course of action and were allowed, with some familial supervision, to remain in the house."
So fascinating! You're such a talented writer!
HIGH PRAISE coming from you!! Fascinating subjects do make it quite a bit easier.