by Ethel Ashe-Frear

Created on: January 16, 2009   Last Updated: January 23, 2009

The Powderman - E. I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company

Mom's grandfather blew up in the powder mill. The powderman . . . this is what Albert I. du Pont called Samuel, my great-grandfather and a proud title it was. Samuel Buchanan worked for more than twenty years in one of the largest gunpowder manufacturing companies in the world.

Mom said her grandfather was a handsome man and would brag secretly to the other ladies that he had the build of a wrestler. Samuel towered over most men at six feet three inches tall; he was muscular and able to break a man's jaw with a single punch. As a sign of the times, he grew a large mustache that would dance when sipping soup. He was thought to be an intelligent man, with a thirst for knowledge and an avid reader, which he encouraged in all his children.

Mom lived 10 miles from the Hadley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware and at age 75, this was her first visit. We spent half-a-day researching her grandfather's background and found the information on the numbered house where her mother grew up as a girl.

Hadley was the name of the property when the du Pont's purchased it and they decided to retain the original name.

After a tour of the grounds, we visited the local library in search of more information. Mom never had a library card. I found a book on the shelves about the du Pont's which made reference to her grandfather. Albert I. du Pont and Samuel Buchanan were close friends. The book was lengthy and a good reference for my research. I applied for Mom to receive her first library card; this enabled me to read it more extensively. She later commented, half jokingly, this would probably be only book she would ever check out at a library.

It is recorded that working in the powder mill 60 hours a week from sun up until sun down six days a week was a backbreaking schedule for any family. Samuel's muscles grew taunt each day as the workload increased. His only weakness was that he thought himself not a very smart person. Sometimes he would get into a fight with the other men who also needed an outlet for their frustrations. Fighting and rolling on the ground one minute, laughing, and drinking beer with his buddies the next.

As a young man, his toughness was a legend in the surrounding communities, and his leadership was no match for anyone in the du Pont Company. Sometimes wild and aggressive, as well as kind and thoughtful, he was respected by everyone and earned that reputation as a hard working employee.

"Hey Sam, tell us some more

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