■lA.N.M.l..^ ruiVAIl. MLliV AMI LA Hlllt ATi IKV . 



Figure 20. — Management and Labor, 1850. No pictorial record survives for 

 Cardon's tannery. David H. Kennedy's Art of Tanning Leather includes en- 



Cardon de Sandrans that concerned him. Cardon was apparently 

 unhappy in America and as early as July 24, 1815, he was "think- 

 ing of returning to Europe." ^^^ As du Font's secretary, he had 

 been earning only about fifteen dollars a month, and his plans for 

 opening a calico-printing factory had been abortive. ^'^^ 



The arrival of another emigrant eager to succeed in the New 

 World soon changed Cardon's plans. In August, Madame du 



'■" du Pont de Nemours to wife, letter no. 8, July 24, 1815, Longwood MSS, access. 47, Eleutherian 

 Mills Historical Library. 



'■•^ Ibid., June 25, July 24, 1815. Cardon had planned to enter the textile venture with J. A. 

 Bidermann. Young Bidermann, son of a French banker, had come to Delaware in 1814 as a repre- 

 sentative of the du Pont Company's European investors, who were concerned over their American 

 investment. Finding E. I. du Pont an able manager, Bidermann remained in Delaware and, in 1816, 

 married Evelina Gabrielle du Pont. Bidermann played an important role in the powder company, 

 and he soon became E. I. du Pont's most trusted lieutenant. The production of gunpowder and not 

 the leather business occupied most of his time. When du Pont died in 1834, Bidermann became the 

 head of the du^Pont company, serving in this capacity until 1837. After a short visit to France, he 

 returned to Delaware where he made his country seat, Winterthur, one of the best and most productive 

 farms in the state. In 1863, after the death of his wife, Bidermann returned to France to live with 

 his son, James Irenije Bidermann. Bidermann died in Paris in 1865. 



54 



