Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. issued to and signed by Wm. du Pont - Autograph Stock Certificate
Inv# AG2313 StockStock issued to and signed on back by Wm. du Pont.
William du Pont (August 21, 1855 – January 20, 1928) was a member of the Delaware Du Pont family. He was the youngest son of General Henry du Pont (1812-1889) and Louisa Gerhard du Pont (1816-1900).
Du Pont married twice, first in 1878 to his cousin May Lammot du Pont (1854-1927), the daughter of Victor du Pont (1828-1888) and Alice Hounsfield du Pont (1833-1904). William and May divorced in 1892. In June of that year, he married Annie Rogers Zinn, the daughter of the locomotive maker Theodore Rogers (d. November 18, 1871) and Mary Andrews Rogers (d. March 11, 1918); Annie was the divorced wife of George Zinn. William and Annie had two children, William du Pont, Jr. and Marion duPont Scott.
In 1878, at age 17, du Pont became a member of the Wilmington and Northern Railroad Company and was put in charge of all the farms that belonged to the company. He also served as secretary and treasurer of Repauno Chemical Company, of which Lammot du Pont I was president before his accidental death by a nitroglycerine explosion in 1884. After his death, du Pont became president of both Repauno Chemical Company and Hercules Powder Company, which was owned by the Du Pont Company.
A stock certificate is issued by businesses, usually companies. A stock is part of the permanent finance of a business. Normally, they are never repaid, and the investor can recover his/her money only by selling to another investor. Most stocks, or also called shares, earn dividends, at the business's discretion, depending on how well it has traded. A stockholder or shareholder is a part-owner of the business that issued the stock certificates.
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