A. Cardon de Sandrans ?2000 



Ch. Dalmas 2000 



Ant. Bidermann 2000 



J6000 



Dalmas was "a sleeping partner" with the management of the 

 business left to Cardon and Bidermann.^"'- Within a year Bider- 

 mann's ever-growing responsibilities in the powder business 

 required most of his time; thus, very early, the operation of the 

 tannery became Cardon's responsibility. It is interesting to 

 note that of the initial capital of $6000, E. I. du Pont advanced 

 $3700— $2000 for Dalmas and $1750 for Bidermann— and that 

 during the first year of business the du Pont Company met most 

 of the firm's obligations. ^^■^ 



Counting the gunpowder, cotton, and woolen mills previously 

 built with du Pont energy and capital, du Pont de Nemours called 

 the tannery the "fourth mill established on our stream." ^^* This 

 newest venture was located "on a piece of ground and in buildings 

 which belonged to our second powder mill, around a quarter of a 

 league away" from Eleutherian Mills — the site of du Pont's first 

 powder mill (see fig. 22).^''^ For the "Rent of Tann yard. Bark 

 Mill & Dwelling House" to December 31, 1818, Cardon had paid 

 E. I. du Pont $400; in the years following, du Pont received $200 

 annually for the yard and $100 for Cardon's quarters.^''*' 



The business went well. By the end of 1816, the first leather 

 was produced by the new company,^^' "but every beginning is dif- 

 ficult." ^'"^ Just as the first leather was to be taken out of the vats, 

 Chenou, having "taught the secrets of the tannery to Sandran and 

 Bidermann," departed for New Orleans. ^^^ At the time, du Pont 

 de Nemours wrote: 



'^2 See "Statement written by Bidermann," in B. G. du Pont, vol. 11, p. 252. Charles Dalmas 

 (1777-1859) was E. I. du Pont's brother-in-law, and had accompanied the du Pont family to America 

 in 1799. Like Bidermann, Dalmas was associated with the gunpowder company and had little to do 

 with the tannery. 



1S3 Day book, December 31, 1815, et passim. 



^'^* du Pont de Nemours to wife, letter no. 87, May 3, 1817, Longwood MSS, access. 47. 



155 (jy Pont de Nemours to wife, letter no. 65, October 9, 1816. Eleutherian Mills had been pur- 

 chased by E. I. du Pont in 1802. Hagley, a strip of land immediately adjoining the first site, had 

 been purchased in 1813. 



1.56 Pay book. May 31, 1819, et passim. 



1" Day book, October 1816. 



158 (jy Pont de Nemours to wife, letter no. 88, May 16, 1817, Longwood MSS, access. 47. 



159 du Pont de Nemours to wife, letter no. 87, May 3, 1817. 



59 



