Henry Francis du Pont

Henry Francis du Pont (May 27, 1880 – April 11, 1969) was an American horticulturist, collector of early American furniture and decorative arts, breeder of Holstein Friesian cattle, and scion of the powerful du Pont family. Converted into a museum in 1951, his estate of Winterthur in Delaware is the world's premier museum of American furniture and decorative arts. Early life and education Henry was born on May 27, 1880, at Winterthur. He was the only son of Henry Algernon du Pont and Mary Pauline Foster to live to maturity; by the time he was born, his parents had already buried five children. Their only other surviving child, Louise E. du Pont Crowninshield, was a historic preservationist and founding trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. A shy and lonely boy who contrasted with his authoritarian father, young du Pont attended boarding school at Groton School in Massachusetts. After graduating from Groton at the bottom of his class of sixteen, du Pont went on to study horticulture at the Bussey Institution at Harvard University, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1903. His best grade at Harvard was a B minus, for a garden study class. His mother, to whom he was close, died shortly before he graduated, which shook him profoundly and deepened his lifelong reticence. His father recalled him home to oversee the estate, a task at which he would excel. Holstein herd Beginning in the 1920s, du Pont began breeding Holstein Friesian cattle, originally bred in the north of the Netherlands and Germany. His father approved of this endeavor, telling him “That’s a splendid idea. It will cost less than maintaining a yacht, and it may result in some good for humanity.” On tax returns, he commonly described as his occupation as "farmer." Du Pont became recognized as one of the premier dairy cattle breeders in the United States, and the Winterthur herd dominated national awards issued by Holstein-Friesian Association from the 1920s through the 1960s. Following his death in 1969, Winterthur sold du Pont's herd.