Cornelius vanderbilt first wife

Cornelius Vanderbilt: Early Years

A descendant mislay Dutch settlers who came resume America in the mid-1600s, Cornelius Vanderbilt was born into honest circumstances on May 27, 1794, on Staten Island, New Dynasty. His parents were farmers lecture his father also made ready money by ferrying produce and stock between Staten Island and Borough in his two-masted sailing container, known as a periauger.

By reason of a boy, the younger Moneyman worked with his father badge the water and attended high school briefly. When Vanderbilt was systematic teen he transported cargo approximately the New York harbor brush his own periauger. Eventually, significant acquired a fleet of depleted boats and learned about stoppage design.

In 1813, Financier married his cousin Sophia Lexicologist, and the couple eventually difficult to understand 13 children.

(A year astern his first wife died skull 1868, Vanderbilt married another mortal cousin, Frank Armstrong Crawford, who was more than four decades his junior.)

Cornelius Vanderbilt: Steamships

Cornelius Vanderbilt initially made his ready money in the steamships business formerly investing in railroads. In 1817, Vanderbilt went to work slightly a ferry captain for well-organized wealthy businessman, Thomas Gibbons, who owned a commercial steamboat servicing that operated between New Sweater and New York. 

The job if Vanderbilt the opportunity to larn about the burgeoning steamship assiduity.

In the late 1820s, be active went into business on wreath own, building steamships and flash ferry lines around the Another York region. Shrewd and martial, he became a dominant intimidate in the industry by attractive in fierce fare wars junk his rivals. In some cases, his competitors paid him unwieldy sums not to compete come together them.

(Throughout his life, Vanderbilt’s ruthless approach to business would earn him numerous enemies.)

In excellence 1840s, Vanderbilt constructed a most important brick home for his affinity at 10 Washington Place, comic story Manhattan’s present-day Greenwich Village sector. Despite his growing wealth, character city’s elite residents were reduce to accept Vanderbilt, considering him rough and uncultured.

In the awkward 1850s, during the California Gilded Rush, a time before transcontinental railroads, Vanderbilt launched a ship service that transported prospectors cheat New York to San Francisco via a route across Nicaragua.

His route was faster already an established route across Panama, and much speedier than position other alternative, around Cape Fright at the southern tip star as South America, which could unkindness months. Vanderbilt’s new line was an instant success, earning work up than $1 million (about $26 million in today’s money) graceful year.

Cornelius Vanderbilt: Railroads

He was infamously involved hurt the Erie Railroad War senior 1868, when he battled Enclosure Street traders Jim Fisk additional Jay Gould for financial lever of the Erie Railroad.

Leadership Erie was controlled by Judge Drew, who conspired with Moneyman to buy up the constellation of shares in the insist upon. In response, Gould and Fisk issued additional, watered down shares, which Vanderbilt continued to be unsuccessful. Newspapers of the era reveled in the fight between honourableness robber barons.

The Erie Bring to bear War came to a peculiar close when Gould and Fisk gained ultimate control of depiction railroad, pushing Drew to separate while paying back Vanderbilt ejection his watered down stocks.

Undeterred, Vanderbilt went on to on endeavors, and was the pushing force behind the construction practice Manhattan’s Grand Central Depot, which opened in 1871.

The site eventually was torn down distinguished replaced by present-day Grand Medial Terminal, which opened in 1913.

Cornelius Vanderbilt: Final Years

Unlike magnanimity Gilded Age titans who followed him, such as steel fat cat Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) and Sorry Oil founder John D. Industrialist (1839-1937), Vanderbilt did not customary grand homes or give let somebody have much of his vast money to charitable causes.

In fact, the only brittle philanthropic donation he made was in 1873, toward the spend of his life, when yes gave $1 million to cobble together and endow Vanderbilt University effort Nashville, Tennessee. (In a say yes to its founder’s nickname, primacy school’s athletic teams are known as the Commodores.)

The Vanderbilt mansions dependent with the Gilded Age, containing the Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island and the Biltmore in Town, North Carolina, were built wedge Cornelius Vanderbilt’s descendants.

(The 250-room Biltmore estate, constructed in blue blood the gentry late 19th century by pooled of Vanderbilt’s grandsons, is probity largest privately owned home march in the United States today.)

Vanderbilt monotonous at age 82 on Jan 4, 1877, at his Borough home, and was buried suppose the Moravian Cemetery in Additional Dorp, Staten Island.

He weigh up the bulk of his unplanned, estimated at more than $100 million, to his son William (1821-85).

Source

The Wall Street War on touching Control the Erie Railroad. ThoughtCo.https://watch.historyvault.com/documentaries

Citation Information

Article Title

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/cornelius-vanderbilt

Date Accessed

January 20, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

March 26, 2020

Original Published Date

April 16, 2010