Introduction
Louis Charles DeLisle (right) with a family member and grandchild on the stoop of his home at 108 North 7th Street, Camden.
LOUIS CHARLES DELISLE (pronounced duh-LEEL) was born on March 25, 1858, in Paris, France. After working as a sailmaker in the French navy, busboy, apprentice pastry chef, and chef on an English passenger ship, he immigrated first to Canada and later to the United States, refining his culinary skills with each move. He served as private chef to General E. Burd Grubb, a diplomat and millionaire, and in 1887 began working at the Franco-American Company in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he also became a U.S. citizen.
In 1902, DeLisle became the first chief chef at the Joseph Campbell Preserve Company—renamed the Campbell Soup Company in 1922—where he worked closely with President Dr. John T. Dorrance on preparation methods and recipes, including the formula for Campbell’s flagship Tomato Soup, which DeLisle called his “godchild.” He retired in 1929, named Chef Emeritus. That November, the French Ministry of Agriculture awarded him the Cross of the Chevalier du Mérite, Agricole for his contributions to promoting French cooking worldwide.
DeLisle married Mary Murphy in 1886; they had three daughters and four sons and were married for nearly seven decades. He spent his retirement at his home at 108 North Seventh Street in Camden, preparing food for friends and family well into his 90s. On March 15, 1956, just shy of his 98th birthday, DeLisle died at his longtime Camden home.
Family at 108 North 7th Street
DeLisle with family at his home at 108 North 7th Street, 1945.
DeLisle family portrait at 108 North 7th Street.
With Grandchildren
DeLisle with grandchildren.
Burglar at 1028 Cooper Street
CAMDEN, N.J., Jan. 1.—A tug at his left hand awoke Louis C. De Lisle, from sleep at his home, 1028 Cooper Street, early this morning. Opening his eyes, he saw a negro burglar kneeling beside his bed, brandishing a large knife and trying to get a heavy Masonic gold ring from his finger. The negro ordered De Lisle to lie still, and resumed his efforts to remove the ring.
To expedite matters, the intruder drew a sharp knife across De Lisle’s fingers, whereupon he sprang out of the bed and began a desperate battle with the burglar, who finally broke away and ran out of a back door. De Lisle pursued the man to Ninth and Cooper Streets, where De Lisle was halted by a bullet Edward Rice of 1,020 Cooper Street had fired at the fleeing burglar, and the negro escaped.
De Lisle subsequently found that $37 had been taken from his coat pocket and $2 from a pocketbook belonging to Mrs. De Lisle.
Dishing Out History
Campbell Today —
In 2010, Campbell Today magazine profiled DeLisle through the story of his great-great-granddaughter Michelene Hearey, a Saint Joseph’s University junior interning in Campbell’s General Accounting department. The article traces DeLisle’s career and his family’s enduring connection to the company he helped build.