Cornelius Vanderbilt

“ No one ever sees the name of Cornelius Vanderbilt on a subscription paper, nor ever will. In his charities, which are numerous and liberal, he exhibits the reticence which marks his conduct as a man of business. ”

“ There are few more public spirited men than Cornelius Vanderbilt. His charities, as well as his wife’s, are numerous and unostentatious. He takes an especially deep interest in all movements for the benefit of boys and young men. Of the New York Young Men’s Christian Association he is an active supporter, and its branches for railroad men are largely his own creation. ”

“ The man is almost seventy-eight years of age, but he looks twenty years younger. He is large of frame, tall, erect, and with a face as handsome and as cold as a statue. He is one of the best known men in the country, and he is called Cornelius Vanderbilt. ”

“ The American people ought to be proud of, and grateful to, Cornelius Vanderbilt. This man has done more than a dozen presidents to give America a respected name in Europe. In the person of Cornelius Vanderbilt, American enterprise told the people of Europe what it could do. ”

“ He built a great terminal in New York City, and made the system so profitable that, from it, and a series of fortunate speculations, he accumulated a fortune of $100,000,000, practically all of which he bequeathed to his eldest son, William Henry. One million was also given for the establishment of Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, for many years, had a very poor opinion of his son's financial ability, and giving him a small farm on Staten Island, left him to shift for himself. Everyone has read of the incident which changed this opinion. ”

“ He may yet be one of our illustrious men. Who knows? Who knows? Such people are not to be neglected. Great men come of them.'"
Vanderbilt University now has over seven hundred students, and is sending out many capable scholars into fields of usefulness.
Mr. William H. Vanderbilt, the son of Cornelius, gave over $450,000 to the University. His first gift of $100,000 was for the gymnasium, Science Hall, and Wesley Hall, the Home of the Biblical Department. ”

“ A Young Millionaire not Afraid to Work in Overalls. A TALL, slender young man walked into the office of the master of motive power and construction, in the Grand Central Station, New York. He was dressed in clothes that showed marks of travel, and his face had a tired look. This was young Cornelius Vanderbilt, son of the head of the house of Vanderbilt, and great-grandson of his namesake, the founder of the Vanderbilt fortune. ”

“ Cornelius Vanderbilt, the son of a farmer in moderate circumstances on Staten Island, was ferrying passengers over to New York at sixteen years of age, and at the age of eighteen owned two boats and was captain of a third. He derived his education from practical experience, his successes from innate shrewdness. Daniel Drew, beginning as a drover and afterward the keeper of a tavern, never sought to rise socially above his early environment. To a reported trick of his in early life is ascribed the familiar stock-market expression, “watering stock.” ”

“ The landed possessions of the Astors, preserved intact for four generations and augmented by the unearned increment of New York’s development, hardly afford a parallel case. The rising generation of the Gould family has yet to prove its ability to manage a fortune which was probably [36] as great as Commodore Vanderbilt’s at the time of the latter’s death, but has since been far surpassed by the acquisitions of the Commodore’s successors.
CORNELIUS VANDERBILT’S RESIDENCE AT FIFTY SEVENTH STREET AND FIFTH AVENUE.
Seventy five years ago, as has already been stated, Mr. ”

“ Vancouver Island (30) , a rugged-coasted island on the W. of North America; belongs to British Columbia; is separated from it by a strait of the sea; is 278 m. long and 50 to 65 m. of average breadth; is covered with forests, and only partially cultivated; is rich in minerals, and has extensive fisheries.
Vandals, a fierce nation of the Teutonic race, who, from the NE. of Europe, invaded Rome on the E., mutilating and destroying the works of art in the city.
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, American millionaire, born on Staten Island ”

“ He was active in neighborhood affairs and in politics. This brought him in close contact with the people and was of invaluable benefit to him when he became president of a great railroad corporation. He also acquired familiarity in railway management as a director of one on Staten Island.
Mr. William H. Vanderbilt was a man of great ability, and his education made him in many ways an abler man than his father for the new conditions he had to meet. ”

“ As Vice President of the consolidated New York Central and Hudson River he performed an amount of work which, as some of his friends think, contributed to his death—a comparatively premature one in a family distinguished for longevity.
In many minds millions breed envy, and it is only natural that while William H. Vanderbilt’s wonderful ability has been universally recognized, his personal qualities should have been misrepresented. ”

“ These are days when it is the commonest thing for men to meet death with coolness and courage, but even in these days we will not forget the story of Vanderbilt's humanity and sacrifice.” To his friends he was ever accessible, cordial, and generous, to strangers he was dignified, courteous, and affable. ”

“ H. Vanderbilt’s death, had a most demoralizing effect upon a large number of the wealthy portion of the community, who began to feel that they were nonentities in comparison. In making this statement I absolve the Vanderbilt family from any blame. Every man in this great Republic has the privilege of walking in the footsteps of the two great Vanderbilts if he only has the ability; but it would not be wisdom for a large number of men to attempt it. ”

“ Vanderbilt is in every case portrayed as an eminently high-minded man who never stooped to dissimulation, deceit or treachery, and whose first millions, at any rate, were made in the legitimate ways of trade as they were then understood. ”

“ Vanderbilt said that that had been the greatest day of his life. He later established regular daily runs with his famous coach, from Victoria Hotel in London to the Metropole Hotel in Brighton. Some time before he had become one of the most prominent horsemen in America, his horses winning blue ribbons at every show of importance both here and abroad. In looking back throughout his career one is impressed by the modesty of his sportsmanship. If he had chosen, he could easily have taken front rank as an exhibitor of show horses ”

“ And so it is that everywhere the conviction prevails that whatever fraudulent methods Vanderbilt employed in his later career, he was essentially an honest, straightforward man who was compelled by the promptings of sheer self-preservation to fight back at unscrupulous competitors or antagonists, and who innately was opposed to underhand work or fraud in any form. ”

“ There's only one man in the world who can carry it out."
"Who is that?" I inquired.
"Vanderbilt," said he. "There's the biggest man in the country. He's made ten million dollars with his brain—think of that. He's the Napoleon of this day."
After a while the Hand-Made Gentleman said: "I must have somebody to look after my business who is more than a mere writing machine. I want some gentleman who thinks as I do and will stand up for me like a brother. ”

“ The first Vanderbilt was no doubt a brutal, cruel and savage man, but he had the vision which made a transcontinental railroad possible. His greed and vanity made it possible. As much might be said for Gould, Russell Sage and Harriman, though the picture of Sage keeping apples in his desk to avoid buying lunches for his friends or well-wishers and using his old plug hats for umbrella stands in order to get a little more wear out of them could not be of much interest to the mass except in a Dickensian sense. ”

“ Get all the knowledge you can that a gentleman ought to have. There's a lot of very polished people down here. See how they dress and behave themselves morning, noon and night. It will be a help to both of us."
That day we were going to see Vanderbilt. Pearl had said to Mr. McCarthy at the depot in Rushwater:
"Don't let him scare ye. He's as full of power as my turbine. Has a good deal o' whir in him. Likes resistance; so does every great force. Used to row a boat all day an' every day. Fought the wind an' the tide. ”

“ Vanderbilt continued; "it's your freight car—remember that, and you don't want to carry any sap in it. Let me tell you a story. Bill is a fat good-natured cuss and wants to take it easy because he has a rich father. I told him that I wouldn't have him loafing around, and I sent him down on the farm and put him to work there, and Bill is getting along. He played a good joke on me and I've made up my mind that he'll do for the railroad business. ”

“ Politics did not interest him. He was fond of driving fine horses; he gave one million to Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. He had thirteen children by his first wife."
Among many stories of his daring in storm and danger, this may be told here: In a sailing-race from Staten Island to a buoy five miles out in the Bay, and return; the favorite was a costly and handsome sloop, which could easily outsail Vanderbilt's periagua—this very boat he had earned. Upon the day of the race it blew a gale. Nothing could suit Vanderbilt better. ”

“ The barns on the Vanderbilt estate, now privately owned.
A spring attraction that appealed to many of the Dutchess County residents was the college regatta held each year on the Hudson at Poughkeepsie. Vanderbilt was a regular contributor to this rowing event. The presence of his yacht in the spectator line was frequently mentioned in the papers.
The Vanderbilts enjoyed winter sports during their weekend visits at the pavilion. Their particular delight was sleighing. On a crisp winter day, the Post Road would be alive with handsome turnouts and highstepping horses. ”

“ The moment a genuine investigation is begun into the facts, the glamour of superior ability and respectability evaporates, and the Vanderbilt fortune stands out, like all other fortunes, as the product of a continuous chain of frauds. ”

“ In such strange utterances we see quite clearly what is really at the bottom of all these articles and books. It is not mere business; it is not even mere cynicism. It is mysticism; the horrible mysticism of money. The writer of that passage did not really have the remotest notion of how Vanderbilt made his money, or of how anybody else is to make his. He does, indeed, conclude his remarks by advocating some scheme; but it has nothing in the world to do with Vanderbilt. He merely wished to prostrate himself before the mystery of a millionaire. ”

“ Vanderbilt resides in a handsome old-fashioned brick mansion in East Washington Place. His business office is in Fourth street, near Broadway. His wealth is very great, and is generally estimated in the city at over forty millions of dollars. He is said to have a greater command of large sums of ready money than almost any other American capitalist. ”

“ For fifteen years Vanderbilt and his associates succeeded in stifling every bill introduced in Congress for the reduction of the postage on mail.
HE QUITS STEAMSHIPS. The Civil War with its commerce-preying privateers was an unpropitious time for American mercantile vessels. Vanderbilt now began his career as a railroad owner.
He was at this time sixty-nine years old, a tall, robust, vigorous man with a stern face of remarkable vulgar strength. The illiteracy of his youth survived ”

“ Seventy five years ago the earthly property of the house of Vanderbilt consisted of a sandy farm on Staten Island, and a sail boat that plied up and down New York Harbor. These modest possessions have since grown until they now form the immense estate which, held together as a sort of family trust by the sons of the late William H. Vanderbilt, runs far into the hundreds of millions of dollars. ”

“ The only result of the offer was to help turn public sentiment against Collins. Vanderbilt had already constructed two large steamers (the North Star, called his yacht, and the Ariel) for use in his Isthmian competition, and when he failed to get a subsidy contract, he made a few voyages in the Bremen route and to Havre, omitting, however, all voyages in the winter months. With a view of increasing his service he built a still larger ship, called the Vanderbilt, and he was able to arrange with [276] the Post-office Department for the sea and inland postage on all mail carried. ”

“ A flint-hard, brute spirit enveloped all business transactions. The business man who lost his fortune was generally looked upon without emotion or pity, and condemned as an incapable. For self interest, business men began to combine in corporations, but these were based purely upon mercenary aims. Not a microscopic trace was visible of that spirit of fellow kindness, sympathy, collective concern and brotherhood already far developed among the organized part of the working class.
As the supereminent magnate of his day, Vanderbilt was invested with extraordinary publicity ”

“ Precisely as mercantile society bestowed no attention upon the crushed and slain, except to advance roughshod over their stricken bodies while throwing out a pittance in charity here and there, so Vanderbilt embodied in himself the qualities that capitalist society in mass practiced and glorified. "It was strong men," says Croffut, "whom he liked and sympathized with, not weak ones; the self-reliant, not the helpless. He felt that the solicitor of charity was always a lazy or drunken person, trying to live by plundering the sober and industrious." ”