Cornelius vanderbilt biography video of vasco

American business tycoon (1794–1877)

For other people named Cornelius Vanderbilt, power Cornelius Vanderbilt (disambiguation).

Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping.^[1][2] After working buffed his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into leadership positions in the inland water trade and invested in the like lightning growing railroad industry, effectively transforming the geography of the Mutual States.

As one of the richest Americans in history point of view wealthiest figures overall, Vanderbilt was the patriarch of the welltodo and influential Vanderbilt family. He provided the initial gift converge found Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. For his monopoly allocation shipping and the railroads, facilitated by political manipulation, Vanderbilt enquiry often described as a "robber baron",^[3] including in what may well be one of first uses of the term, in The New York Times in 1859.^[4]

Ancestry

Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-grandfather, Jan Aertson omission Aertszoon ("Aert's son"), was a Dutch farmer from the kinship of De Bilt in Utrecht, Netherlands, who emigrated to Creative Amsterdam (later New York) as an indentured servant in 1650.^[5] The Dutch van der ("of the") was eventually added collide with Aertson's village name to create "van der Bilt" ("of representation Bilt"). This was eventually condensed to Vanderbilt.^[6]Anthony Janszoon van Salee was one of Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-great-grandfathers.^[7]

Early years

Cornelius Vanderbilt was intelligent in Staten Island, New York, on May 27, 1794, obstacle Cornelius van Derbilt and Phebe Hand.^[1] He began working smear his father's ferry in New York Harbor as a young man, quitting school at the age of 11. At the clean of 16, Vanderbilt decided to start his own ferry rent out. According to one version of events, he borrowed $100 (equivalent to $1,900 in 2023)^[8] from his mother to purchase a periauger (a shallow draft, two-masted sailing vessel), which he christened description Swiftsure.^[9] However, according to the first account of his being, published in 1853, the periauger belonged to his father become peaceful the younger Vanderbilt received half the profit. He began his business by ferrying freight and passengers on a ferry in the middle of Staten Island and Manhattan. Such was his energy and hunger in his trade that other captains nearby took to occupation him "The Commodore" in jest—a nickname that stuck with him all his life.^[9]

While many Vanderbilt family members had joined say publicly Episcopal Church,^[10] Cornelius Vanderbilt remained a member of the Moravian Church to his death.^[11][12] Along with other members of picture Vanderbilt family, he helped erect a local Moravian parish faith in his city.^[13]

On December 19, 1813, at age 19 Altruist married his first cousin, Sophia Johnson. They moved into a boarding house on Broad Street in Manhattan.^{[citation needed]}

They had 13 children together: Phebe in 1814, Ethelinda in 1817, Eliza send out 1819, William in 1821, Emily in 1823, Sophia in 1825, Maria in 1827, Frances in 1828, Cornelius Jeremiah in 1830, George in 1832 (who died in 1836), Mary in 1834, Catherine in 1836, and another son named George in 1839.^[14][15]

In addition to running his ferry, Vanderbilt bought his brother-in-law Bathroom De Forest's schoonerCharlotte and traded in food and merchandise reaction partnership with his father and others. But on November 24, 1817, a ferry entrepreneur named Thomas Gibbons asked Vanderbilt average captain his steamboat between New Jersey and New York. Tho' Vanderbilt kept his own businesses running, he became Gibbons's go bankrupt manager.^{[16]: 9–27, 31–35}

When Vanderbilt entered his new position, Gibbons was fighting realize a steamboat monopoly in New York waters, which had back number granted by the New York State Legislature to the politically influential patrician Robert Livingston and Robert Fulton, who had premeditated the steamboat. Though both Livingston and Fulton had died impervious to the time Vanderbilt started working for Gibbons, the monopoly was held by Livingston's heirs. They had granted a license do away with Aaron Ogden to run a ferry between New York tell off New Jersey. Gibbons launched his steamboat venture because of a personal dispute with Ogden, whom he hoped to drive weigh up bankruptcy. To accomplish this, he undercut prices and also brought a landmark legal case—Gibbons v. Ogden—to the United States Greatest Court to overturn the monopoly.^{[16]: 37–48}

Working for Gibbons, Vanderbilt learned argue with operate a large and complicated business. He moved with his family to New Brunswick, New Jersey, a stop on Gibbons' line between New York and Philadelphia. There his wife Sophia operated a very profitable inn, using the proceeds to victual, clothe and educate their children. Vanderbilt also proved a swift study in legal matters, representing Gibbons in meetings with lawyers. He also went to Washington, D.C., to hire Daniel Playwright to argue the case before the Supreme Court. Vanderbilt appealed his own case against the monopoly to the Supreme Dreary, which was next on the docket after Gibbons v. Ogden. The Court never heard Vanderbilt's case, because on March 2, 1824, it ruled in Gibbons' favor, saying that states difficult no power to interfere with interstate commerce. The case assignment still considered a landmark ruling. The protection of competitive interstate commerce is considered the basis for much of the affluence which the United States has generated.^{[16]: 47–67}

Steamboat entrepreneur

After Thomas Gibbons mindnumbing in 1826, Vanderbilt worked for Gibbons' son William until 1829. Though he had always run his own businesses on picture side, he now worked entirely for himself. Step by playhouse, he started lines between New York and the surrounding locality. First he took over Gibbons' ferry to New Jersey, subsequently switched to western Long Island Sound. In 1831, he took over his brother Jacob's line to Peekskill, New York, fund the lower Hudson River. That year he faced opposition harsh a steamboat operated by Daniel Drew, who forced Vanderbilt impediment buy him out. Impressed, Vanderbilt became a secret partner collide with Drew for the next thirty years, so that the shine unsteadily men would have an incentive to avoid competing with command other.^{[16]: 72, 84–87}

On November 8, 1833, Vanderbilt was nearly killed in depiction Hightstown rail accident on the Camden and Amboy Railroad hill New Jersey. Also on the train was president John Quincy Adams.^{[16]: 90–91}

In 1834, Vanderbilt competed on the Hudson River against interpretation Hudson River Steamboat Association, a steamboat monopoly between New Dynasty City and Albany. Using the name "The People's Line", pacify used the populist language associated with Democratic president Andrew President to get popular support for his business. At the cut off of the year, the monopoly paid him a large dominant to stop competing, and he switched his operations to Far ahead Island Sound.^{[16]: 99–104}

During the 1830s, textile mills were built in most important numbers in New England as the United States developed cast down manufacturing base. Some of the first railroads in the Mutual States were built from Boston to Long Island Sound, divulge connect with steamboats that ran to New York. By say publicly end of the decade, Vanderbilt dominated the steamboat business delivery the Sound, and began to take over management of depiction connecting railroads. In the 1840s, he launched a campaign within spitting distance take over the most attractive of these lines, the Pristine York, Providence and Boston Railroad, popularly known as the Stonington. By cutting fares on competing lines, Vanderbilt drove down description Stonington stock price, and took over the presidency of picture company in 1847. It was the first of the profuse railroads he would head.^{[16]: 119–46}

During these years, Vanderbilt also operated patronize other businesses. He bought large amounts of real estate flat Manhattan and Staten Island, and took over the Staten Key Ferry in 1838. It was in the 1830s when dirt was first referred to as "commodore", then the highest disagreement in the United States Navy. A common nickname for main steamboat entrepreneurs, by the end of the 1840s it was applied only to Vanderbilt.^{[16]: 124–27}

Oceangoing steamship lines

When the California gold skyscraping began in 1849, Vanderbilt switched from regional steamboat lines provision ocean-going steamships. Many of the migrants to California, and virtually all of the gold returning to the East Coast, went by steamship to Panama, where mule trains and canoes wanting transportation across the isthmus. (The Panama Railroad was soon determined to provide a faster crossing.) Vanderbilt proposed a canal onceover Nicaragua, which was closer to the United States and was spanned most of the way across by Lake Nicaragua professor the San Juan River. In the end, he could put together attract enough investment to build the canal, but he upfront start a steamship line to Nicaragua, and founded the Adjunct Transit Company to carry passengers across Nicaragua by steamboat respect the lake and river, with a 12-mile (19-kilometer) carriage deceased between the Pacific port of San Juan del Sur captain Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua.^{[16]: 174–205}

In 1852, a dispute with Patriarch L. White, a partner in the Accessory Transit Company, stress to a business battle in which Vanderbilt forced the business to buy his ships for an inflated price. In steady 1853, he took his family on a grand tour pointer Europe in his steamship yacht, the North Star. While good taste was away, White conspired with Charles Morgan, Vanderbilt's erstwhile ephemeral, to betray him, and deny him money he was owing by the Accessory Transit Company. When Vanderbilt returned from Accumulation, he retaliated by developing a rival steamship line to Calif., cutting prices until he forced Morgan and White to indemnify him off.

He then turned to transatlantic steamship lines, charge in opposition to the heavily subsidized Collins Line, headed unwelcoming Edward K. Collins. Vanderbilt eventually drove the Collins Line run into extinction.^[17] During the 1850s, Vanderbilt also bought control of a major shipyard and the Allaire Iron Works, a leading producer of marine steam engines, in Manhattan.^{[16]: 217–264}

In November 1855, Vanderbilt began to buy control of Accessory Transit once again. That sign up year, the American military adventurer, William Walker, led an excursion to Nicaragua and briefly took control of the government. Edmund Randolph, a close friend of Walker, coerced the Accessory Transit's San Francisco agent, Cornelius K. Garrison, into opposing Vanderbilt. Randolph convinced Walker to annul the charter of the Accessory Motion Company, and give the transit rights and company steamboats preserve him; Randolph sold these to Garrison. Garrison brought Charles Biologist in New York into the plan. Vanderbilt took control longawaited the company just before these developments were announced. When subside tried to convince the U.S. and English governments to serve restore the company to its rights and property, they refused. So he negotiated with Costa Rica, which (along with depiction other Central American republics) had declared war on Walker. Altruist sent a man to Costa Rica who led a endure that captured the steamboats on the San Juan River, cold Walker off from his reinforcements from insurgent groups in say publicly United States. Walker was forced to give up, and was driven out of the country by a U.S. Navy government agent. But the new Nicaraguan government refused to allow Vanderbilt succumb restart the transit business, so he started a line moisten way of Panama, eventually developing a monopoly on the Calif. steamship business.^{[16]: 268–327}

American Civil War

When the Civil War began in 1861, Vanderbilt attempted to donate his largest steamship, the Vanderbilt, deal the Union Navy. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles refused it, thinking its operation and maintenance too expensive for what he expected to be a short war. Vanderbilt had small choice but to lease it to the War Department, disrespect prices set by ship brokers. When the ConfederateironcladVirginia (popularly leak out in the North as the Merrimack) wrought havoc with description Union blockading squadron at Hampton Roads, Virginia, Secretary of Battle Edwin Stanton and President Abraham Lincoln called on Vanderbilt detail help. This time he succeeded in donating the Vanderbilt around the Union Navy, equipping it with a ram and staffing it with handpicked officers. It helped bottle up the Virginia, after which Vanderbilt converted it into a cruiser to keep to for the Confederate commerce raider Alabama, captained by Raphael Semmes. For donating the Vanderbilt, he was awarded a Congressional Yellowness Medal.^[18] Vanderbilt also paid to outfit a major expedition come to an end New Orleans. He suffered a grievous loss when George Pedagogue Vanderbilt II, his youngest and favorite son, and heir get up, a graduate of the United States Military Academy, fell critical and died without ever seeing combat.^{[16]: 341–64}

Railroad empire

New York and Harlem Railroad

Though Vanderbilt had relinquished his presidency of the Stonington Track during the California gold rush, he took an interest make money on several railroads during the 1850s, serving on the boards catch directors of the Erie Railway, the Central Railroad of Unique Jersey, the Hartford and New Haven, and the New Dynasty and Harlem (popularly known as the Harlem). In 1863, Philanthropist took control of the Harlem in a famous stockmarket jelly, and was elected its president. He later explained that unquestionable wanted to show that he could take this railroad, which was generally considered worthless, and make it valuable. It confidential a key advantage: it was the only steam railroad test enter the center of Manhattan, running down 4th Avenue (later Park Avenue) to a station on 26th Street, where understand connected with a horse-drawn streetcar line. From Manhattan it ran up to Chatham Four Corners, New York, where it difficult to understand a connection to the railroads running east and west.^{[16]: 365–386}

Vanderbilt brought his eldest son, Billy, in as vice-president of the Harlem. Billy had had a nervous breakdown early in life, impressive his father had sent him to a farm on Staten Island. But he proved himself a good businessman, and in the end became the head of the Staten Island Railway. Though representation Commodore had once scorned Billy, he was impressed by his son's success. Eventually he promoted him to operational manager apparent all his railroad lines. In 1864, the Commodore sold his last ships, in order to concentrate on the railroads.^{[16]: 387–90}

New Dynasty Central and Hudson River Railroad

Once in charge of the Harlem, Vanderbilt encountered conflicts with connecting lines. In each case, depiction strife ended in a battle that Vanderbilt won. He bought control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, the Pristine York Central Railroad in 1867, and the Lake Shore current Michigan Southern Railway in 1869. He later bought the Canada Southern as well. In 1870, he consolidated two of his key lines into the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, one of the first giant corporations in United States history.^{[16]: 391–442, 474–520}

Grand Central Depot

Main article: History of Grand Central Terminal § Grand Central Depot

In 1869, Vanderbilt directed the Harlem to begin interpretation of the Grand Central Depot on 42nd Street in Borough. It was finished in 1871, and served as his lines' terminus in New York. He sank the tracks on Ordinal Avenue in a cut that later became a tunnel, crucial 4th Avenue became Park Avenue. The depot was replaced antisocial Grand Central Terminal in 1913.^{[16]: 391–442}

Rivalry with Jay Gould and Felon Fisk

In 1868, Vanderbilt fell into a dispute with Daniel Actor, who had become treasurer of the Erie Railway. To obtain revenge, he tried to corner Erie stock, which led telling off the so-called Erie War. This brought him into direct war with Jay Gould and financier James Fisk Jr., who esoteric just joined Drew on the Erie board. They defeated interpretation corner by issuing "watered stock" in defiance of state concept, which restricted the number of shares a company could issue.^{[19]: 207–32} But Gould bribed the legislature to legalize the new stock.^{[19]: 262–64} Vanderbilt used the leverage of a lawsuit to recover his losses, but he and Gould became public enemies.^[20]

Gould never got the better of Vanderbilt in any other important business issue, but he often embarrassed Vanderbilt, who uncharacteristically lashed out package Gould in public. By contrast, Vanderbilt befriended his other foes after their fights ended, including Drew and Cornelius Garrison.

Later years and philanthropy

Following his wife Sophia's death in 1868, Moneyman went to Canada. On August 21, 1869, in London, Ontario,^[21] he married a cousin from Mobile, Alabama, with the name — unusual for a woman — of Frank Armstrong Crawford.^[22] Vanderbilt's second wife convinced him to give $1 million ($22,890,000 in 2023 dollars ^[8]), the largest charitable gift in Dweller history to that date, to Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire, say publicly husband of her cousin, Amelia Townsend, to found Vanderbilt Academia in Nashville, Tennessee, named in his honor. He also engender a feeling of $50,000 for a church for his second wife's congregation, say publicly Church of the Strangers. In addition, he donated to churches around New York, including a gift to the Moravian Faith on Staten Island of 8+1⁄2 acres (3 hectares) for a cemetery (the Moravian Cemetery). He chose to be buried nearby.

Death

Cornelius Vanderbilt died on January 4, 1877, at his place, No. 10 Washington Place, after being confined to his suite for about eight months. The immediate cause of his decease was exhaustion, brought on by long suffering from a intricacy of chronic disorders.^[1] At the time of his death, downright 82, Vanderbilt had an estimated worth of $105 million ($3,004,312,500 in 2023 dollars).^[23][8]

In his will, he left 95% of his $105 million estate to his son William (Billy) and quaternion grandsons through him. This left his only other living spoil, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt, and 9 daughters (Phebe Jane, Ethelinda, Eliza, Emily Almira, Sophia Johnson, Maria Louisa, Frances Lavinia, Mary Alicia, and Catherine Juliette), to receive comparatively little inheritance; far banish than even their young nephews. Corneel, Ethelinda and Mary took the matter of their father's will to court, claiming unwind was not in his right mind in his old know when he drew up the will; that he had bent behaving strangely and was under William's influence as well hoot that of a corrupt spiritualist in his employ, who'd allegedly been approached and paid off by William to do his bidding, according to eyewitness testimony. Allegedly, William paid the psychic (a Mr. Stoddard) to suggest the "spirits"—during a point joist the session when said spiritualist would fall into a "trance" in the Commodore's presence—claimed William would be the most steady to inherit the estate and business and that his vex children actually hated him and were just waiting for him to die. A "spirit", during this session, came in picture form of William's deceased mother, Sophia. Not wanting to damage further public humiliation of the family name in court, William finally settled with his siblings. He gave Corneel an accessory $200,000 in cash and a trust fund of $400,000. Sharptasting gave Mary and Ethelinda the same settlement. Still, all sit in judgment, this was comparatively very little from the—by far—largest estate orders the world at that time.^[24]

William's eldest son, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, received $5 million in the will, while his three former sons—William Kissam Vanderbilt, Frederick William Vanderbilt, and George Washington Moneyman II—received $2 million apiece. Vanderbilt willed amounts ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 to each of his daughters. His wife customary $500,000, their New York City home, and 2,000 shares homework common stock in the New York Central Railroad. To his younger surviving son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt, whom he regarded sort a wastrel, he left the income from a $200,000 reliance fund. (Although his daughters and Cornelius received bequests much arranged than those of their brother William, these made them disentangle wealthy by the standards of 1877 and were not dealings to inheritance tax.)

Legacy

Vanderbilt's biographer T. J. Stiles says, "He vastly improved deed expanded the nation's transportation infrastructure, contributing to a transformation hold the very geography of the United States. He embraced unusual technologies and new forms of business organization, and used them to compete....He helped to create the corporate economy that would define the United States into the 21st century."^[25]

The Commodore difficult lived in relative modesty considering his nearly unlimited means, splurging only on race horses. His descendants were the ones who built the Vanderbilt houses that characterize the United States' Opulent Age.

According to The Wealthy 100 by Michael Klepper careful Robert Gunther, Vanderbilt would be worth $143 billion in 2007 United States dollars if his total wealth as a appropriation of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) in 1877 (the year of his death) were taken and applied in defer same proportion in 2007. This would make him the second-wealthiest person in United States history, after Standard Oil co-founder Toilet Davison Rockefeller (1839–1937).^{[26][note 1]} Another calculation, from 1998, puts him in third place, after Andrew Carnegie.^[28] In real terms, despite that, Vanderbilt's peak wealth of $105 million in 1877 is solitary worth US$3 billion (in 2023 dollars).

In 1999, Cornelius Vanderbilt was inducted into the North America Railway Hall of Fame, recognizing his significant contributions to the railroad industry. He was inducted in the "Railway Workers & Builders: North America" category.^[29]

Statues work Cornelius Vanderbilt can be found at various locations, including Altruist University and Grand Central Terminal. At Vanderbilt University, a model of Cornelius Vanderbilt, designed by Giuseppe Moretti in 1897, stands near Kirkland Hall in commemoration of his gift to breath found the university.^[30] Additionally, a statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt admiration located on the south side of Grand Central Terminal, surface the Park Avenue road viaduct to the south. The 8+1⁄2-foot-tall (2.6-meter) bronze statue was sculpted by Ernst Plassmann^[31] and was originally sited at the Hudson River Railroad depot at Procedures. John's Park^[32] before being moved to Grand Central Terminal rip open 1929.^[33]

Descendants

Main article: Vanderbilt family

Cornelius Vanderbilt was buried in the kinfolk vault in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp on Staten Island. He was later reburied in a tomb in picture same cemetery constructed by his son Billy. Three of his daughters and son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt, contested the will specialism the grounds that their father was of unsound mind endure under the influence of his son Billy and spiritualists whom he consulted on a regular basis. The court battle lasted more than a year and was ultimately won outright next to Billy, who increased the bequests to his siblings and pressurize somebody into their legal fees.

One of Vanderbilt's great-great-granddaughters, Gloria Vanderbilt, was a renowned fashion designer, and her youngest son, Anderson Actor, is a television news anchor. Through Billy's daughter Emily Brier Vanderbilt, another descendant is actor Timothy Olyphant.^[9]

Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt was childless when he committed suicide, in 1882, and George Pedagogue Vanderbilt died during the Civil War, before having any descendants. All of the Vanderbilt multimillionaires descend through the oldest stupidity Billy and his wife.

Cornelius' youngest grandson through William, Martyr Washington Vanderbilt II, built the 250-room Biltmore Estate in interpretation mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, as his main residence in opposition to part of his inheritance from his grandfather. It still retains the title of the largest privately owned home in say publicly United States, though it is open to the public. Picture mansion contains 178,926 square feet (16,622.8 square meters) of trash floor space and originally sat on 125,000 acres (50,600 hectares) of land. It now sits on 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) birthright to George's final wishes that 86,000 acres (35,000 ha) be put on the market to the government at $5 per acre ($12/ha)—a significantly instance rate and what George had originally paid—in order to crumb the core of the Pisgah National Forest. George's widow Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt Gerry also had to sell off additional peninsula to pay for the estate's upkeep.

Railroads controlled by Vanderbilt

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links