Vanderbilt eventually drove the Collins Line into extinction. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794, the four… He received little formal schooling. Using the name "The People's Line," he used the populist language associated with Democratic president Andrew Jackson to get popular support for his business. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) operates the nation’s second largest public transportation system. [16]:37–48, Working for Gibbons, Vanderbilt learned to operate a large and complicated business. 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) – a significantly cut rate and what George had originally paid – 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. Vanderbilt took control of the company just before these developments were announced. ; A Long And Useful Life Ended. 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]. That same year, the American military adventurer, William Walker, led an expedition to Nicaragua and briefly took control of the government. 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. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Walker was forced to give up, and was conducted out of the country by a U.S. Navy officer. William's eldest son, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, received $5 million in the will, while his three younger sons—William Kissam Vanderbilt, Frederick William Vanderbilt, and George Washington Vanderbilt II—received $2 million apiece. Commodore Vanderbilt willed amounts ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 to each of his daughters. The early life and childhood of Cornelius Vanderbilt is not particularly noteworthy. Nicknamed "The Commodore", he is known for owning the New York Central Railroad. Vanderbilt then acquired the Central Railroad (1867), merged it with the Hudson River Railroad, and leased the Harlem to the new company. To accomplish this, he undercut prices and also brought a landmark legal case – Gibbons v. Ogden – to the United States Supreme Court to overturn the monopoly. [9], While many Vanderbilt family members had joined the Episcopal Church,[10] Cornelius Vanderbilt remained a member of the Moravian Church to his death. what route was the most valuable rail line in the world at this time? His biographer T. J. Stiles says, "He vastly improved and expanded the nation's transportation infrastructure, contributing … Not wanting to risk further public humiliation of the family name in court, William finally settled with his siblings. 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. [16]:99–104, During the 1830s, textile mills were built in large numbers in New England as the United States developed its manufacturing base. [16]:341–64, 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). [18] Vanderbilt also paid to outfit a major expedition to New Orleans. 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 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. This would make him the second-wealthiest person in United States history, after Standard Oil co-founder John Davison Rockefeller (1839–1937). Source There are … He gave Mary and Ethelinda the same settlement. But on November 24, 1817, a ferry entrepreneur named Thomas Gibbons asked Vanderbilt to captain his steamboat between New Jersey and New York. [16]:47–67, After Thomas Gibbons died in 1826, Vanderbilt worked for Gibbons' son William until 1829. "[5], Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-grandfather, Jan Aertson or Aertszoon ("Aert's son"), was a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt in Utrecht, Netherlands, who emigrated to New Amsterdam (later New York) as an indentured servant in 1650. 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. In 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt was the richest man in America. 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. That year he faced opposition by a steamboat operated by Daniel Drew, who forced Vanderbilt to buy him out. 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. [16]:72, 84–87, On November 8, 1833, Vanderbilt was nearly killed in the Hightstown rail accident on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey. In 1877, Vanderbilt family’s net worth was gigantic and approximated to be around $200 million. It was in the 1830s when he was first referred to as "commodore," then the highest rank in the United States Navy. (Although his daughters and Cornelius received bequests much smaller than those of their brother William, these made them very wealthy by the standards of 1877 and were not subject to inheritance tax. In 1863, Vanderbilt took control of the Harlem in a famous stockmarket corner, and was elected its president. 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. In 1852, a dispute with Joseph L. White, a partner in the Accessory Transit Company, led to a business battle in which Vanderbilt forced the company to buy his ships for an inflated price. By the end of the decade, Vanderbilt dominated the steamboat business on the Sound, and began to take over management of the connecting railroads. 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. Billy had had a nervous breakdown early in life, and his father had sent him to a farm on Staten Island. He later explained that he wanted to show that he could take this railroad, which was generally considered worthless, and make it valuable. [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. Garrison brought Charles Morgan in New York into the plan. However, they were for reference only as they were for a Hudson type locomotive. [16]:268–327, When the Civil War began in 1861, Vanderbilt attempted to donate his largest steamship, the Vanderbilt, to the Union Navy. [25][note 1] Another calculation, from 1998, puts him in third place, after Andrew Carnegie. They had 13 children together: Phebe in 1814, Ethelinda in 1817, Eliza in 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. To get revenge, he tried to corner Erie stock, which led to the so-called Erie War. CTA has 1,864 buses that operate 129 routes and 1,536 route miles. [16]:391–442, In 1868, Vanderbilt fell into a dispute with Daniel Drew, who had become treasurer of the Erie Railway. He then turned to transatlantic steamship lines, running in opposition to the heavily subsidized Collins Line, headed by Edward K. Collins. In 1864, the Commodore sold his last ships, in order to concentrate on the railroads. Passenger service is mainly mass transit and commuter rail in major cities. Cornelius Vanderbilt had made around $1000 in the first year of his shipping business. Nicknamed "The Commodore", he is known for owning the New York Central Railroad. For very small lines, like old ones for hand carts in mines, you might find it even smaller. 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. They moved into a boarding house on Broad Street in Manhattan. [8], Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in Staten Island, New York on May 27, 1794 to Cornelius van Derbilt and Phebe Hand. While it will be discussed here in brief this article will predominantly focus on the Commodore's railroad career. 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. According to one version of events, he borrowed $100 from his mother to purchase a periauger (a shallow draft, two-masted sailing vessel), which he christened the Swiftsure. Though he had always run his own businesses on the side, he now worked entirely for himself. [16]:365–386, Vanderbilt brought his eldest son, Billy, in as vice-president of the Harlem. In the first 5 years he is said to have cleared $25 million. 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. In 1992, he made a … 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. In each case, the strife ended in a battle that Vanderbilt won. "[4], As one of the richest Americans in history and wealthiest figures overall, Vanderbilt was the patriarch of the wealthy and influential Vanderbilt family. After working as a steamship captain, Vanderbilt went into business for himself in the late 1820s, and eventually became one … Vanderbilt had now repeatedly preyed on existing lines—to New Brunswick, to western Long Island Sound, and now to Albany—and each time had taken money to stay away. 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. He moved with his family to New Brunswick, New Jersey, a stop on Gibbons' line between New York and Philadelphia. 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. 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. [2][3] 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. The protection of competitive interstate commerce is considered the basis for much of the prosperity which the United States has generated. The Commodore had lived in relative modesty considering his nearly unlimited means, splurging only on race horses. Vanderbilt had little choice but to lease it to the War Department, at prices set by ship brokers. [23], In his will, he left 95% of his $105 million estate to his son William (Billy) and four grandsons through him. [16]:391–442, 474–520, In 1869, Vanderbilt directed the Harlem to begin construction of the Grand Central Depot on 42nd Street in Manhattan. erie railroad. The Commodore said that he believed his son William was the only heir capable of maintaining the business empire. 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. American industrialist and philanthropist [1794–1877]. 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. Fund of $ 105 million Central Pacific operates the nation ’ s railroads that Cornelius was. North Star sold his last ships, in 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794 the... 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