Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Help support true facts by becoming a member. In each case, the strife ended in a battle that Vanderbilt won. According to the video, “Vanderbilt was the undisputed King of_____”.10. Source There are … After working as a steamship captain, Vanderbilt went into business for himself in the late 1820s, and eventually became one … After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into leadership positions in the inland water trade and invested in the rapidly growing railroad industry. In the 1840s, he launched a campaign to take over the most attractive of these lines, the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad, popularly known as the Stonington. Gibbons launched his steamboat venture because of a personal dispute with Ogden, whom he hoped to drive into bankruptcy. For other people named Cornelius Vanderbilt, see, New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFRobinsNew_York_Transit_Museum2013 (, ferry between Staten Island and Manhattan, History of Grand Central Terminal § Grand Central Depot, Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, "Cornelius Vanderbilt. [16]:391â442, In 1868, Vanderbilt fell into a dispute with Daniel Drew, who had become treasurer of the Erie Railway. what was america's fastest growing city at this time? Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794, the four… The depot was replaced by Grand Central Terminal in 1913. He gave Corneel an extra $200,000 in cash and a trust fund of $400,000. Time and money be damned. A common nickname for important steamboat entrepreneurs, by the end of the 1840s it was applied only to Vanderbilt. what route was the most valuable rail line in the world at this time? American industrialist and philanthropist [1794â1877]. A "spirit," during this session, came in the form of William's deceased mother, Sophia. [16]:72, 84â87, On November 8, 1833, Vanderbilt was nearly killed in the Hightstown rail accident on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey. Following his wife Sophia's death in 1868, Vanderbilt went to Canada. He moved with his family to New Brunswick, New Jersey, a stop on Gibbons' line between New York and Philadelphia. One of Vanderbilt's great-great-granddaughters, Gloria Vanderbilt, was a renowned fashion designer, and her youngest son, Anderson Cooper, is a television news anchor. He sank the tracks on 4th Avenue in a cut that later became a tunnel, and 4th Avenue became Park Avenue. He began his business by ferrying freight and passengers on a ferry between Staten Island and Manhattan. But like Frankenstein’s monster, he turns against his creator and makes deals to undercut the Commodore. Like his late mentor Thomas Gibbons, he often acted out of a sense of self-righteous outrage, but always in ways that suited his material interests. Edmund Randolph, a close friend of Walker, coerced the Accessory Transit's San Francisco agent, Cornelius K. Garrison, into opposing Vanderbilt. As a boy, he worked with his father, who operated a boat that ferried cargo between Staten Island, New York, where they lived, and Manhattan. When the Confederate ironclad Virginia (popularly known in the North as the Merrimack) wrought havoc with the Union blockading squadron at Hampton Roads, Virginia, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and President Abraham Lincoln called on Vanderbilt for help. Vanderbilt eventually drove the Collins Line into extinction. [2] He began working on his father's ferry in New York Harbor as a boy, quitting school at the age of 11. By contrast, Vanderbilt befriended his other foes after their fights ended, including Drew and Cornelius Garrison. There his wife Sophia operated a very profitable inn, using the proceeds to feed, clothe and educate their children. Some of the first railroads in the United States were built from Boston to Long Island Sound, to connect with steamboats that ran to New York. Billy had had a nervous breakdown early in life, and his father had sent him to a farm on Staten Island. From Manhattan it ran up to Chatham Four Corners, New York, where it had a connection to the railroads running east and west. 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. The mansion contains 178,926 square feet (16,622.8 square meters) of total floor space and originally sat on 125,000 acres (50,600 hectares) of land. He received little formal schooling. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest along with the intermediate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Syracuse. Rail transportation in the United States consists primarily of freight shipments, with a well integrated network of standard gauge private freight railroads extending into Canada and Mexico. The New York Central Railroad (reporting mark NYC) was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Nicknamed "The Commodore", he is known for owning the New York Central Railroad. [9], While many Vanderbilt family members had joined the Episcopal Church,[10] Cornelius Vanderbilt remained a member of the Moravian Church to his death. After these acquisitions, Vanderbilt spent large sums of money improving the lines' efficiency and then watered the stock and paid large dividends. Also on the train was former president John Quincy Adams. Here is a look at her family's famous fortune, and how they largely squandered it. But the new Nicaraguan government refused to allow Vanderbilt to restart the transit business, so he started a line by way of Panama, eventually developing a monopoly on the California steamship business. [17] During the 1850s, Vanderbilt also bought control of a major shipyard and the Allaire Iron Works, a leading manufacturer of marine steam engines, in Manhattan. He bought large amounts of real estate in Manhattan and Staten Island, and took over the Staten Island Ferry in 1838. Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt was childless when he committed suicide, in 1882, and George Washington Vanderbilt died during the Civil War, before having any children. Locomotive #2873, a class L2c Mohawk with 69" drivers and He had accumulated the largest fortune in the U.S. at the time of his death, in 1877. That same year, the American military adventurer, William Walker, led an expedition to Nicaragua and briefly took control of the government. This time he succeeded in donating the Vanderbilt to the Union navy, equipping it with a ram and staffing it with handpicked officers. This would make him the second-wealthiest person in United States history, after Standard Oil co-founder John Davison Rockefeller (1839â1937). American customer satisfaction index for Delta Air Lines U.S. 1995-2020 Leading business travel attributes of Delta Air Lines in the U.S. 2020 Cancellation fees of leading U.S. airlines 2019 The early life and childhood of Cornelius Vanderbilt is not particularly noteworthy. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Commodore had lived in relative modesty considering his nearly unlimited means, splurging only on race horses. Chinese camp and construction train in Nevada when building of the first transcontinental railroad was being speeded across the state by the Central Pacific. Shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) was a self-made multi-millionaire who became one of the wealthiest Americans of the 19th century. [9] However, according to the first account of his life, published in 1853, the periauger belonged to his father and the younger Vanderbilt received half the profit. A considerable number recalled how the weapon they used during basic and advanced individual training was the older M-14, but that the M-16 was issued on their arrival in Vietnam. In 1992, he made a … ; A Long And Useful Life Ended. He bought control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, the New York Central Railroad in 1867, and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway in 1869. [23], In his will, he left 95% of his $105 million estate to his son William (Billy) and four grandsons through him. Vanderbilt also proved a quick study in legal matters, representing Gibbons in meetings with lawyers. In 1864, the Commodore sold his last ships, in order to concentrate on the railroads. [11][12] Along with other members of the Vanderbilt family, he helped erect a local Moravian parish church in his city.[13]. The case is still considered a landmark ruling. Impressed, Vanderbilt became a secret partner with Drew for the next thirty years, so that the two men would have an incentive to avoid competing with each other. The 18 private rail cars that heaved into the Burlington rail yard arrived an hour behind schedule. Members of the Vanderbilt family were permitted to use the third floor of the mansion as their own residence up until January 2018. If interested in a complete biography of Vanderbilt please consider a copy of T.J. Stiles' "The First Tycoon: The Epic Life Of Cornelius Vanderbilt." While he was away, White conspired with Charles Morgan, Vanderbilt's erstwhile ally, to betray him, and deny him money he was owed by the Accessory Transit Company. This means that if you cut off a foot of main line track, it will probably weigh over 40 lbs. The 1860s also witnessed a prolonged battle for control of the company; in the so-called "Erie War" of 1867, sparked by Cornelius Vanderbilt of the New York Central, the Commodore fought with Daniel Drew, Jay Gould, and Jim Fisk for stakes in the railroad. When Vanderbilt returned from Europe, he retaliated by developing a rival steamship line to California, cutting prices until he forced Morgan and White to pay him off. [16]:268â327, When the Civil War began in 1861, Vanderbilt attempted to donate his largest steamship, the Vanderbilt, to the Union Navy. Cornelius Vanderbilt died on January 4, 1877, at his residence, â 10 Washington Place, after having been confined to his rooms for about eight months. All of the Vanderbilt multimillionaires descend through the oldest son Billy and his wife. To get revenge, he tried to corner Erie stock, which led to the so-called Erie War. Editor’s note: Gloria Vanderbilt died on June 17, 2019, at the age of 95. Vanderbilt sent a man to Costa Rica who led a raid that captured the steamboats on the San Juan River, cutting Walker off from his reinforcements from insurgent groups in the United States. (The Panama Railroad was soon built to provide a faster crossing.) They moved into a boarding house on Broad Street in Manhattan. Walker was forced to give up, and was conducted out of the country by a U.S. Navy officer. Many of the migrants to California, and almost all of the gold returning to the East Coast, went by steamship to Panama, where mule trains and canoes provided transportation across the isthmus. Cornelius Vanderbilt: Pioneer American Industrialist. All figures for financial year 2012. Cornelius Vanderbilt was buried in the family vault in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp on Staten Island. His descendants were the ones who built the Vanderbilt houses that characterize America's Gilded Age. Such was his energy and eagerness in his trade that other captains nearby took to calling him The Commodore in jest â a nickname that stuck with him all his life. In 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt was the richest man in America. Cornelius Vanderbilt was a famous industrialist who worked in railroads and shipping. Many veteran respondents remained bitter about what they perceived to be a failure to properly train them during the transition from the M-14 to the newer rifle. chicago. Passenger service is mainly mass transit and commuter rail in major cities. They defeated the corner by issuing "watered stock" in defiance of state law, which restricted the number of shares a company could issue. Randolph convinced Walker to annul the charter of the Accessory Transit Company, and give the transit rights and company steamboats to him; Randolph sold these to Garrison. But he proved himself a good businessman, and eventually became the head of the Staten Island Railway. [16]:387â90, Once in charge of the Harlem, Vanderbilt encountered conflicts with connecting lines. In the first 5 years he is said to have cleared $25 million. In addition, he donated to churches around New York, including a gift to the Moravian Church on Staten Island of 8 1⁄2 acres (3 hectares) for a cemetery (the Moravian Cemetery). Gould never got the better of Vanderbilt in any other important business matter, but he often embarrassed Vanderbilt, who uncharacteristically lashed out at Gould in public. The deal gives Vanderbilt exclusive rights to transport Rockefeller’s oil products and allows Rockefeller to rise above his own competitors until he owns 90 percent of America’s oil. He embraced new 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. They had granted a license to Aaron Ogden to run a ferry between New York and New Jersey. [16]:90â91, In 1834, Vanderbilt competed on the Hudson River against the Hudson River Steamboat Association, a steamboat monopoly between New York City and Albany. Corneel, Ethelinda and Mary took the matter of their father's will to court, claiming he was not in his right mind in his old age when he drew up the will; that he had been behaving strangely and was under William's influence as well as 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. [18] Vanderbilt also paid to outfit a major expedition to New Orleans. His biographer T. J. Stiles says, "He vastly improved and expanded the nation's transportation infrastructure, contributing to a transformation of the very geography of the United States. In the end, he could not attract enough investment to build the canal, but he did start a steamship line to Nicaragua, and founded the Accessory Transit Company to carry passengers across Nicaragua by steamboat on the lake and river, with a 12-mile (19-kilometer) carriage road between the Pacific port of San Juan del Sur and Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua.[16]:174â205. He chose to be buried there. But on November 24, 1817, a ferry entrepreneur named Thomas Gibbons asked Vanderbilt to captain his steamboat between New Jersey and New York. He was later reburied in a tomb in the same cemetery constructed by his son Billy. It now sits on 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) due to George's final wishes that 86,000 acres (35,000 ha) be sold to the government at $5 per acre ($12/ha) â a significantly cut rate and what George had originally paid â in order to form the core of the Pisgah National Forest, as well as George's widow, Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt Gerry, being forced to sell off additional land to pay for the Estate's upkeep. By cutting fares on competing lines, Vanderbilt drove down the Stonington stock price, and took over the presidency of the company in 1847. By age 16, he was transporting people and cargo around New York harbor. It was in the 1830s when he was first referred to as "commodore," then the highest rank in the United States Navy. [16]:341â64, Though Vanderbilt had relinquished his presidency of the Stonington Railroad during the California gold rush, he took an interest in several railroads during the 1850s, serving on the boards of directors of the Erie Railway, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Hartford and New Haven, and the New York and Harlem (popularly known as the Harlem). Vanderbilt proposed a canal across Nicaragua, which was closer to the United States and was spanned most of the way across by Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River. So he negotiated with Costa Rica, which (along with the other Central American republics) had declared war on Walker. Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 â January 4, 1877) was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. [16]:391â442, 474â520, In 1869, Vanderbilt directed the Harlem to begin construction of the Grand Central Depot on 42nd Street in Manhattan. Anthony Janszoon van Salee was Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-great-grandfather. That year he faced opposition by a steamboat operated by Daniel Drew, who forced Vanderbilt to buy him out. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. He gave Mary and Ethelinda the same settlement. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. On December 19, 1813, at age 19 Vanderbilt married his first cousin, Sophia Johnson, daughter of Nathaniel Johnson and Elizabeth Hand. In early 1853, he took his family on a grand tour of Europe in his steamship yacht, the North Star. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles refused it, thinking its operation and maintenance too expensive for what he expected to be a short war. [16]:217â264, In November 1855, Vanderbilt began to buy control of Accessory Transit once again. The immediate cause of his death was exhaustion, brought on by long suffering from a complication of chronic disorders. the "Commodore Vanderbilt" prints. He provided the initial gift to found Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Currently, Gloria Vanderbilt is a descendant of Vanderbilt family. [16]:47â67, After Thomas Gibbons died in 1826, Vanderbilt worked for Gibbons' son William until 1829. Buses make about 19,237 t… This brought him into direct conflict with Jay Gould and financier James Fisk Jr., who had just joined Drew on the Erie board. He was inducted in the "Railway Workers & Builders: North America" category. Commodore Vanderbilt willed amounts ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 to each of his daughters. For donating the Vanderbilt, he was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. erie railroad. Not wanting to risk further public humiliation of the family name in court, William finally settled with his siblings. He also went to Washington, D.C., to hire Daniel Webster to argue the case before the Supreme Court. We’re reading as many as we can and answering some of … Cornelius Vanderbilt, byname Commodore Vanderbilt, (born May 27, 1794, Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York, U.S.—died January 4, 1877, New York, New York), American shipping and railroad magnate who acquired a personal fortune of more than $100 million.. [2] At the time of his death, aged 82, Vanderbilt had an estimated worth of $105 million. [8], Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in Staten Island, New York on May 27, 1794 to Cornelius van Derbilt and Phebe Hand. [6] The Dutch van der ("of the") was eventually added to Aertson's village name to create "van der Bilt" ("of the Bilt"). The 8 1⁄2-foot-tall (2.6-meter) bronze statue was sculpted by Ernst Plassmann[29] and was originally sited at the Hudson River Railroad depot at St. John's Park[30] before being moved to Grand Central Terminal in 1929.[31]. Although Vanderbilt kept his own businesses running, he became Gibbons's business manager. [25][note 1] Another calculation, from 1998, puts him in third place, after Andrew Carnegie. he also was a mean drug dealer, and a male hooker. The Renowned Commodore Dies After Eight Months' Illness His Remarkable Career As A Man Of The World His Wealth Estimated At $100,000,000 Particulars Of His Illness And Death", "The Episcopalians: An American Elite With Roots Going Back To Jamestown", "The American Heritage 40; A ranking of the forty wealthiest Americans of all time (Surprise: Only three of them are alive today)", "Grand Central Terminal to Have Vanderbilt Statue", "Railroad History Story: Jackson's Evolution as a Rail Center", The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, Steerage Passage Contract - Le Havre to New York on the clipper ship "Admiral" of the Vanderbilt European Steamship Line 1854, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cornelius_Vanderbilt&oldid=996588159, 19th-century American railroad executives, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Infobox person using certain parameters when dead, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Srpskohrvatski / ÑÑпÑкоÑ
ÑваÑÑки, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 27 December 2020, at 14:27. In 1831, he took over his brother Jacob's line to Peekskill, New York, on the lower Hudson River. [14][15], In addition to running his ferry, Vanderbilt bought his brother-in-law John De Forest's schooner Charlotte and traded in food and merchandise in partnership with his father and others. He also paid $50,000 for a church for his second wife's congregation, the Church of the Strangers. On August 21, 1869, in London, Ontario,[21] he married a cousin from Mobile, Alabama, with the name â unusual for a woman â of Frank Armstrong Crawford.[22]. [16]:119â46, During these years, Vanderbilt also operated many other businesses. The protection of competitive interstate commerce is considered the basis for much of the prosperity which the United States has generated. He suffered a grievous loss when George Washington Vanderbilt II, his youngest and favorite son, and heir apparent, a graduate of the United States Military Academy, fell ill and died without ever seeing combat. Cornelius' youngest grandson through William, George Washington Vanderbilt II, built the 250-room Biltmore Estate in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, as his main residence with part of his inheritance from his grandfather. William's eldest son, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, received $5 million in the will, while his three younger sonsâWilliam Kissam Vanderbilt, Frederick William Vanderbilt, and George Washington Vanderbilt IIâreceived $2 million apiece. It was finished in 1871, and served as his lines' terminus in New York. It still retains the title of the largest privately owned home in the United States, though it is open to the public. Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877) was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. The last few years have seen General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) go from one of the largest conglomerates in the United States to having one … Amtrak provides the ability for rail/train car owners to have their privately-owned rail/train cars attached to our trains between specified locations to see North America in an extraordinary way. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born at Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York, the son of a ferryman and farmer. It had a key advantage: it was the only steam railroad to enter the center of Manhattan, running down 4th Avenue (later Park Avenue) to a station on 26th Street, where it connected with a horse-drawn streetcar line. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cornelius-Vanderbilt-1794-1877. Eventually he promoted him to operational manager of all his railroad lines. What percentage of America’s railroads that Cornelius Vanderbilt own?12. Vanderbilt then acquired the Central Railroad (1867), merged it with the Hudson River Railroad, and leased the Harlem to the new company. [19]:262â64 Vanderbilt used the leverage of a lawsuit to recover his losses, but he and Gould became public enemies.[20]. Main lines will commonly be 130 pounds per yard, whereas smaller lines could get to around 70 pounds. What action did Vanderbilt order his son to take next?9. We also provide many services, including 480v standby power, water, ice, septic, car wash, parking, and switching. Though he had always run his own businesses on the side, he now worked entirely for himself. He later explained that he wanted to show that he could take this railroad, which was generally considered worthless, and make it valuable. chicago to new york. In 1863, Vanderbilt took control of the Harlem in a famous stockmarket corner, and was elected its president. At the age of 16, Vanderbilt decided to start his own ferry service. While it will be discussed here in brief this article will predominantly focus on the Commodore's railroad career. According to historian H. Roger Grant: "Contemporaries, too, often hated or feared Vanderbilt or at least considered him an unmannered brute. It is the quintessential book on his life. [10] During these years, Vanderbilt also operated many other businesses. Three of his daughters and son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt, contested the will on the grounds that their father was of unsound mind and under the influence of his son Billy and spiritualists whom he consulted on a regular basis. Vanderbilt's second wife convinced him to give $1 million, the largest charitable gift in American history to that date, to Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire, the husband of her cousin, Amelia Townsend, to found Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, named in his honor. 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