The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739–1817) The son of a Parisian watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian Huguenot family  and descendant of a minor noble family on his mother’s side  he and his sons  Victor Marie du Pont andÉleuthère Irénée du Pont  emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of their Huguenot heritage to found one of the most prominent ofAmerican families  and one of its most successful corporations  E