Across the Creek: Black Powder Explosions on the Brandywine

In his recently published book, Richard D. Templeton explores the life and times of the more than 200 men, women, and children who perished in black powder explosions at the DuPont powder works in Wilmington during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Dick has generously allowed the Delaware Genealogical Society to host a searchable list of names that are mentioned in the book to make your research easier. The book itself is available from the Hagley Museum Store; the author’s website, www.bluerockpublishing.com; and Delaware libraries.

The Book

An excellent summary of Across the Creek: Black Powder Explosions on the Brandywine, was published in the March 2022 issue of the First State Genealogist newsletter. A copy of the article is available here.


The Author

Richard Templeton’s past includes teaching English in Japan, traveling around the world, serving as a police officer, firefighter/EMT, telecommunications analyst, college administrator, and radio announcer. In retirement, he’s a pyrotechnician, a tour guide at the Hagley Museum (site of the original DuPont gunpowder mills), a writer, and a publisher.

Dick is collecting data regarding other DuPont blue-collar workers in anticipation of writing another book about this elite group of people. He would live to hear from present-day descendants of workers who worked at the mills during the period 1836-1921, especially those descendants of who signed a 1902 encomium to the DuPont family during the company’s 100th anniversary.

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About this Name Index

The table below is a list of names with the page numbers on which they appear in Across the Creek. To learn more about the people, refer to the book which is available from the Hagley Museum store, www.bluerockpublishing.com, , and Delaware libraries.


Searchable Name Index

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