Cornelius Vanderbilt was not a nice man. He was rude, uncultured, inconsiderate, bullish, and misogynistic. He was not a benefactor, not an art patron; he did not believe in charity and did not concern himself with the intricacies of correct spelling. Furthermore, he was known to spit on the floor.
However, strong-willed, driven, and ambitious, Cornelius Vanderbilt became one of the wealthiest Americans of the 19th century. A self-made multi-millionaire and a shipping and railroad tycoon, he was born to a modest circumstance on Staten Island. He finished his formal education at the tender age of 11 and never looked back. He started by helping his father run his passenger boats around Staten Island and moved on to controlling the shipping operations all around New York. Crude, ruthless, and determined, he was a natural businessman and his small boat operation grew as he was buying more boats. The competition was dealt with by simply undercutting them and driving them out of business. He would run his boats for free until the competitors were bled dry and went out of business. Some paid him large sums to allow them to stay in business.
The War of 1812 provided an excellent opportunity for Cornelius Vanderbilt to expand his business by securing government transportation contracts. By the 1850s, Vanderbilt owned the nation’s largest fleet of steamships, thus earning himself a moniker – Commodore. In his 60s, when most people contemplate retirement, Cornelius Vanderbilt broke into the newly robust railroad industry. He consolidated all the major railroads that led to New York City and built Grand Central Depot – the predecessor of Grand Central Terminal.
Single-mindedly interested in his business, he was not a man of leisure. Commodore allowed himself one grandiose vacation: he took his family on a grand tour of the Old World aboard his private yacht named North Star. This personal yacht was a steamship rivaling the largest commercial liners. As Scientific American put it, “Queen Victoria, Czar Nicholas of Russia, and Napoleon III will get some of the conceit knocked out of them by a private citizen of New York.”
For Cornelius Vanderbilt, the family always came second. All his energies, desires, and aspirations were connected only to better his business. His first wife, Sofia, whom he married at age 19 and had 13 children together, was, at best, neglected. She gave him three sons and many daughters. Shocking by contemporary standards but within the norm of the times, the daughters were not important at all.
Cornelius’ favorite son, who was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps, died young. Another one was a mentally unstable and a compulsive gambler. The third one, William Henry Vanderbilt, who became the heir, suffered a constant put-down from his father and worked tirelessly to achieve his father’s approval. Commodore – tall, lean, and strong – despised his pudgy, soft-mannered son and didn’t hold back in pushing him around. Not out of love, but in the interest of the business, Cornelius Vanderbilt left 95% of his fortune to William H, dividing the rest between the other family members. Despite the Commodore’s low opinion of his son, William H proved to be a capable businessman who doubled Vanderbilt’s family fortune and seared the offspring that formed the Vanderbilt dynasty.
After the death of his first wife, Cornelius, aged 75 married his cousin, Frank Armstrong Crawford, aged 30, 45 years his junior. As he was getting older, and his business energies were leaving his aging body, the Commodore was becoming spiritual. It must be why his second wife convinced him to give $1 million, the largest charitable gift in American history to that date, to found Vanderbilt University. This newly discovered spirituality might also explain his very peculiar relationship with 2 sisters – the Woodhull/Claflins – who were a very odd amalgam of charlatans, spiritualists, ex-prostitutes, healers, suffragists, and the very first female stockbrokers.
Cornelius Vanderbilt died at the age of 82 on January 4, 1877, at his residence, No. 10 Washington Place. When he died, he was the richest man in America. Starting with the initial investment of $100, he left this earth with a fortune of over $100 million, increasing it million-fold!
Vanderbilt’s name is associated, first and foremost, with tremendous wealth. Vanderbilt’s acquisition of numerous railroads consolidated the railroad industry in the United States. Vanderbilt’s centralized shipping network and the New York Central Railroad system made transportation cheaper, faster, and more efficient.
Through his son William Henry, he created the Vanderbilt dynasty that dazzled the world with immense wealth and juicy scandals and became central during the Gilded Age. Alva Vanderbilt was one of the most dynamic and influential women of the Gilded Age, known for her social ambition, architectural patronage, and later, her leadership in the women’s suffrage movement. Consuelo Vanderbilt became the Duchess of Marlborough in a union blending American wealth with British aristocracy. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was a sculptor celebrated for her artworks, philanthropy, and women’s rights. She founded the Whitney Museum of American Art, a leading institution dedicated to promoting living American artists. Gloria Vanderbilt became known as a fashion designer, and Anderson Cooper is a prominent journalist and CNN news anchor.
Cornelius Vanderbilt was not a nice man. But one has to marvel at the achievements and legacy of this uneducated and crude person who established the transportation system in the 19th century New York and whose name – Vanderbilt – became recognizable all over the world.
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