COMMODORE VANDERBILT.
THE VANDERBILTS
THE STORY OF THEIR FORTUNE
W. A. GEOFF UT
AUTHOR OF " A HELPING HAND," " A MIDSUMMER LARK," " THE
BOURBON BALLADS," " HISTORV OF CONNECTICUT," ETC.
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
BELFOED, CLAEKE & COMPANY
Publishers
C97/
73
COPTRIGHT, 18S6, BY
BELFORD, CLAEKE & COMPANY.
TROWS
PRINTING AND QOOKBINDING COMPANY,
NEW YORK.
PEEFAOE
This is a history of the Yanderbilt family, with a record
of their vicissitudes, and a clironicle of the method bj
which their wealth has been acquired. It is confidently
put forth as a work which should fall into the hands of
boys and young men — of all wdio aspire to become Cap-
tains of Industry or leaders of their fellows in the sharp
and wholesome competitions of life.
In preparing these pages, the author has had an am-
bition, not merely to give a biographical picture of sire,
son, and grandsons and descendants, but to consider
their relation to society, to measure the significance and
the influence of their fortune, to ascertain where their
money came from, to inquire whether others are poorer
because they are rich, whether they are hindering or
promoting civilization, whether they and snch as they
are impediments to the welfare of the human race. A
correct answer to these questions will solve half of the
problems which most eagerly beset this generation.
This story is an analogue of the story of all American
successes. When Commodore Yanderbilt visited Europe
in 1853 at the head of his family, he seemed to defy
classification. He was apparently neither lord nor com-
moner, lie was too democratic for a errandee : too self-
871456
IV PREFACE.
poised for a plebeian. He was untitled, but his 3'acht
surpassed in size and splendor the ocean vehicles of
monarchs. No expense was too great to be indulged,
no luxury too choice to be provided, but he moved mod-
estly and without ostentation, with the serene compos-
ure of a prince among his equals. There were wealthy
English citizens who could have afforded a similar out-
lay, but they would have been sneered at and charged
with pretentiousness and vanity, with aping customs
rightly monopolized by the nobilitj-. They would have
been rated as snobs, cads, upstarts, and would have been
twitted with their humble origin, as if an impi'ovement
of one's condition were a reproach instead of an honor.
But the cruising Commodore came from a land where
prevalent conditions and not antecedents are considered ;
Avhere a coat-of-arms is properly regarded as a foolish
affectation ; where a family's "descent" is of no impor-
tance, and its ascent of all importance ; whei'e the M'heel
of fortune runs rapidly around and every man is, not
only permitted bnt required to stand for what he is.
So when William 11. Yanderbilt erected for himself
a palace, and enriched it with an art collection more
valuable than any private gallery in Great Britain, the
English found it impossible to think of him as he was — a
quiet citizen, despising parade and display — and the Lon-
don Spectator said when he was dead: "• lie occasionally
flaunted his wealth in a uiaimer a Roman noble could
not have exceeded. He gave an entertainment, it is
said, one day last year at which his guests ate off gold
laid upon fine lace, the wines cost thousands, and flowers
were brought from the Southern States at an expense of
£4,000." And the editorial inventor went on to an-
PREFACE, V
iiounce that the host on tliis occasion " was accused of
giving each journalist among his guests a thousand-dol-
lar note tied up in his napkin, in order that his magnifi-
cence might be reported in detail." This from one of
the most cautious and conservative journals in England !
The British mind apparently cannot conceive of a man
who has made a hundred million dollars and yet is not
a pompous vulgarian filled with " the pride that apes
humilitv."
America is the land of the self-made man — the em-
pire of the parvenu. Here it is felt tliat the accident of
birth is of trifling consequence ; here there is no " blood "
that is to be coveted save the red blood which every
masterful man distills in his own arteries ; and here the
name of parvenu is the only and all-sufficient title of
nobility. So here, if nowhere else in the world, should
such a dominant man without hesitation or apology
assume the place to which he is entitled, in commerce
or the industrial arts, in professional life or society.
A wealthy man is as much in the public eye and as
much an object of popular intei'est as a successful gen-
eral, a famous inventor, a great poet, or a distinguished
statesman, and an opulent family is the focus of much
legitimate and respectful curiosity. Xeither Stephen
Girard, John Jacob Astor, nor Alexander T. Stewart is
a familiar personage to this generation, because there
is no complete narrative of their lives, thoughts, and
methods, telling how they acquired their money, and to
what purpose they lived. Traditions there are, in abun-
dance, and rumors and myths, largely discreditable ; but
the real men are not known, and probably never will be.
Yet a rich man, if only because he possesses the rare gift
VI PREFACE.
of money-getting and money-keeping, and the skill and
wisdom that are a part of it, is necessarily one of the
most interesting figures of his generation. In this is a
sufficient justification for the preparation of this work.
Acknowledgment is gratefully made to Chauncey M.
Depew, Isaac P. Chambers, Dr. Jared Linsly, Thomas
C. Purdy, Robert Bonner, E. H. Carmick, Dr. Fuller-
Walker, and Rev. Dr. Deems, for valuable information,
and to Mrs. Frank Leslie and Harper & Brothers for
illustrations.
C0:?^TE1^TS
CHAPTER I. PAGE
Ancestors 1
The Dutch Emigrants — Men Self-made or not Made at all —
Distinguislied Examples — Aris on Long Island— Jacob
goes to Staten Island — The Moravians — Jacob's Son and
Grandson— Thrifty but Unambitious— The Fruit of the
Family Tree.
CHAPTER II.
Boyhood and Poverty 10
His Father and Mother — The Humble Home — Avoiding
School — Fun and Hard Work — Wants to be a Sailor —
Earns a Periauger — Ready for Business at Sixteen.
CHAPTER III.
Youth and Ambition 19
Sails his Boat on the Bay — Fare, Eighteen Cents — Makes
$1,000 a Year— Sturdy, Abrupt, and Honest — In War
Times— Beats Van Duzen — Marries at Nineteen.
CHAPTER IV.
Steamboat and Tavern 27
Abandons Sails for Steam— New York to New Brunswick —
Fight with a Monopoly — Dodging the Sheriff — Making
his Point — Large Profits — Pluck and Enterprise.
CHAPTER V.
Home and Children 37
His Return to New York Harbor — Residence in the City —
A New House on Staten Island — His Three Sons — Stern
Management — William 11. 's Exile to New Dorp.
Till CO^s^TENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER VI.
From Steamboats to Steamships 43
, Running Steamboats in all Directions — To California via
/ the Isthmus — Worth Ten Million Dollars — A Yachting
Cruise to Europe — A Line Across the Atlantic — The Mails
— Lending a Vessel to the Government.
CHAPTER VII.
TwEXTT Tears a Farmer 57
William at New Dorp, Staten Island — The Farm — Energy
and Economy — The Seat on the Fence — A Mortgage and
Consequent WVath — " Four Dollars a Load" — A Spurt on
the Road — A New House— The Farm Pays.
CHAPTER VIII. -
William's Apprenticeship 66
The Staten Island Railroad — Its Ruin and Regeneration —
Death of Cap'ain George — An Obedient Son — New
Schemes.
CHAPTER IX.
The Harlem Corner 71
1 Into Railroads — Harlem at 3 — Buying to Keep — Public Sym-
\j pathy — Aldermen Set a Trap — Get Caught — Six Rules of
Management — The Legislature in Trouble — Harlem at
285 ! — Fights and Conquers the Central — No Sympathy
Needed.
CHAPTER X.
The Erie War 86
The Commodore Covets Erie — Daniel Drew"s Little Game
— The Vanderbilt Party Buys — Drew and Gould Sell Short
— Drew's Duplicity — Fisk Throws 100,000 Bogus Sliares
upon the Market — Dodging the Sheriff — Flight to Jersey
— Surrender and Restitution.
CHAPTER XI.
Trophies of Victory 98
Twent3'-five JMillion Dollars in Five Years — William's Way —
i Consolidation Succeeds — Freight Depot on St. John's Park
^J — Dedication of the Commodore's Monument, the Bronzes
— Watering Stock — What is It, and Whom does it Rob ?
CONTENTS. IX
PAGF
CHAPTER XII.
Habits and Charactek 106 _^
Methods of Work — Location in Various Years — Keeping Ac-
counts in His Head— Punctuality— Close at a Bargain—
Wliist after Dinner— Tells a Story of His Mother— Death
of His Wife.
CHAPTER XIII.
Family Matters 114
His Grandchildren— Cornelius, Jr., and William K. at Work
— The Thorn in the Flesh — Horace Greeley — " Cornele's
Wife " — The Commodore Marries at Eighty — His Wife's
Influence.
CHAPTER XIV.
Father and Son 123
Buying New Roads Westward — Building the Grand Central
Depot — William H.'s Office Habits — Overwork — A Glance
at His Mail — A Good-natured Pessimist — The Complacent
Commodore.
CHAPTER XV.
Thr Commodore's Charities 131
His Opinion of Beggars — The Way He Gave — Careful about
Money — Meets Dr. Deems — Gives the Church of the
Strangers — The Tennessee University.
CHAPTER XVI.
Death of the Commodore 142
Taken 111 at Eighty-two — Great Public Interest — The Vigi-
lant Newspapers — Rej^orters Besiege the Invalid — Death
after Eight Months— A Simple Funeral— The Will.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Commodore's Successor 148
Industrious and Prudent — Compromises with Foes — Deal-
ing with Laborers— Contest of the Will — The Quarrel
Ended — Generosity and Human Nature — Accurate Biisi-
ness Habits.
X CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER XVni.
The Mansion 155
Tlie Stj'le and Cost — Six Hundred Workmen and Sixty
Sculptors — Description of the Rooms— The Vestibule —
The Picture Gallery — Hoping to Live There Ten Years —
Leaves in Five.
CHAPTER XIX.
The Art Gallery 163
Modern French Art— Best Collection in the World— A Good
Investment — Mr. Yanderbilt's Tastes and Fancies — His
Visits to Artists — Abuse of Hospitality.
CHAPTER XX.
The Vaxderbilt Family 175
Captain "Jake" — His Wealth and Habits — His Children —
The Sisters of William H.— His Widow and Children—
Their Homes and Families.
CHAPTER XXL
Social Position 190
What is Good Society ?— Our Plutocracy— Mrs. W. K. Yan-
derbilt's Great Ball — Preparations — The Guests — The Cos-
tumes— The Display.
CHAPTER XXII.
Horses and Stables 198
Love for Horses — Fondness for Fast Teams — Excellent Ama-
teur Driver — Perils of the Road — MaudS. — Summer Rec-
reation— The Derby — His Stables — Resigns the Reins.
CHAPTER XXIII,
William H. Yanderbilt's Donations 206
His Method of Giving — The Tennessee University — The Col-
lege of Physicians and Surgeons — The Grants — Minor
Gifts— The Obelisk— Public Ingratitude.
CONTEISTTS. xi
PAGK
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Mausoleum 213
Original Design Rejected — Too Grand — Moravian Thrift —
The Site Secured — Tlie Plan Adopted — A Romanesque
Tomb — Granite, Limestone, and Bronze — The Interior —
Allegorical Sculptures.
CHAPTER XXV.
Closing Labors 219
Sensitive to Public Opinion — Relinquishes His "Monop-
oly"— Fifty Millions in Government Bonds — Resigns His
Presidencies — Letter to Associates — "The Public be
Damned ! "' — Succeeded by His Sons— Working Westward
— Acquiring the Nickel Plate — Letter on Freight Dis-
criminations— On Labor — To Grover Cleveland.
CHAPTER XXVI.
W. H. Vanderbilt's Death 231
Worry and Anxiety — His Declining Health — Morning of
the Last Day — At Ward's Studio — Conference with Mr.
Garrett — Paralysis and Quick Death — Effect on the Public
Mind — Simple and Inexpensive Funeral — The Vault at
New Dorp — Home Again.
CHAPTER XXVIL
The Will j 239
Two Hundred Million Dollars given Away — The Great Bur-
den Distributed — Widow, Children, and Relatives well
Provided for — The " Residue" of a Hundred Millions —
Charities — The Testator's Purposes and Dreams.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Estimate of His Character 248
Temperate Habits — Abstemious — Domestic — Tribute of the
Directors — Opinions of Jay Gould and Russell Sage —
Letter to Matthew Riley — A Much-abused Man— Fond
of Opera — The Student Waiters — The Undelivered Apple-
jack.
Xll CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Sons and their Heritage 264
The New Residences — Cornelius and William K. Vander-
bilt — Theii- Public Trusts and Private Character — A Nota-
ble Present — Law-abiding and Self-restraining — Compari-
son of the Central with other Roads — Reduction of Pas-
senger and Freight Charges.
CHAPTER XXX.
Some Reflections About It 269
Commercial Philanthropy — Promiscuous Charity — Do the
Yanderbilts Possess their Money '? — The Envious and
Malevolent — Can a Man "Earn a Million Dollars?" —
Brain and Brawn — The Genealogy of Civilization — Re-
productive Wealth.
APPENDICES.
Appendix A 277
Appendix B 279
Appendix C 280
Appendix D . . 286
Appendix E 293
Appendix F 294
Appendix G 298
THE VANDERBILTS.
CHAPTER I.
ANCESTORS.
The Dutch Emigrants — Men Self-made or not Made at all — Dis-
tinguished Examples — Aris on Long Island — Jacob goes to
Staten Island — The Moravians — Jacob's Son and Grandson —
Thrifty but Unambitious — Tiie Fruit of the Family Tree.
A GENERATION Or two after tlie Hudson River was dis-
covered and the bold explorer who gave liis name to it
liad perished in tlie Arctic seas, the Vanderbilts came
with the early Knickerbockers to the Western World.
They settled on New York Bay because it seemed like
their home in the Low Countries — the same wash of
the aggressi ve wave, the same stretch of indented shore,
different only in its peaceful aspect. Holland is always
besieged by an alert and sleepless foe. Inheriting the
savage conflict from generation to generation, the garri-
son has thrown up huge fortiiications a thousand miles
long, stronger than Gibraltar or the dykes which wail
in the great harbors of France ; for many centuries
they have slept on the battle-field, weapon in hand and
armor on, never relaxing vigilance, never beguiled by a
treacherous flag of truce. The incessant combat has
3 THE VAISTDERBILTS.
made them a robust, patient, abstemious and obstinate
people. Marp :tisan :five hundred years ago the weary
fight-began" i't'wlH' continue, undiminished in ferocity,
five : liiindred j^e^rs' hence. The foe is the sea ; his
ailies, the rivers and tlie lakes.
Manhattan Island had won the alluvial battle centu-
ries before and was at peace. The array of observation
had ceased to countermarch along the parapet, and had
exchanged its weapons for implements of luisbandiy ;
so the fugitives from the Holland conflict found it a
grateful and restful camping-gi-ound.
The founder of the wealth of the Vanderbilts, known
to New Yorkers for half a century as "the Commo-
dore," was, like almost all men of unusual vigor and
personal power, a rustic of humble oi-igin. Few boys
born in homes of luxury ever greatly increase their
wealth or attain a leading position among men. The
dominating and over-mastering qualities are nurtured in
poverty and grown in hardy soil. Nine-tenths of all
the citizens of the metropolis who have acquired con-
spicuous influence in manufactures, commerce, litera-
ture, or professional life, have been born and reai^ed
afar in farming districts, and have been thrown upon
their own resources from their very earliest years. In
this country men are either self-made or not made at
all. Parental nursing and coddling seem to be en-
feebling in their effect on boys : they make the muscles
flabby and the energies inert. " Young man ! " said
Henry Ward Beecher, the greatest preacher of our days,
"if you are poor, thank God, and take courage ; for lie
has given you a chance to be somebody ! " The young
learn the value of money only from needing it and
SELF-MADE MEX. 3
earning it bj liard work. Abstinence is the mother of
conipetence; self-denial the cradle of wealth.
Peter Cooper wandered hither from Peekskill, and
worked joyously and faithfully for $25 a year and his
board. Cyrus W. Field descended from the sterile
liills of Berkshire, and served A. T. Stewart as office-
boy, at $2 a week. Horace Greeley migrated from the
wilds of Xew Hampshire. The founders of the house
of Harper were Long Island farm-boys, and they came
to the city and paid $20 a year apiece for the privilege of
working. AVilliani E. Dodge and P. T. Barnum emerged
from Coimecticut, and began at the lowest round of the
ladder ; so did George Law, for he was a hod-carrier in
Troy. Russell Sage escaped from an Oneida County
grocery-store. Daniel Drew was a Putnam County
plow-boy. John H. Starin came from an obscure fam-
ily in the middle of the State. John Kelly, John
Koach, Bobcrt Bonner, and A. T. Stewart were penni-
less Irish boys, and they acquired their trades as they
could, in spite of every impediment. John G. Moore
rebelled against the fate of a Maine skipper, to which
he seemed destined. Thurlow Weed was a printer's
" devil." Thomas A. Edison \vas a Michigan news-boy,
and Rufns T. Bush was a Michigan school-teacher.
Poswell P. Flower was a chore-boy on a wretched farm
in Jefferson County. F. B. Thurber had a similar ma-
triculation in Delaware County, and when this large-
hearted merchant-millionaire, then a hardy boy, was
hoeing potatoes in Delhi, Jay Gould M-as still i)ellows-
blower and clerk for a Eoxbury blacksmith, at $2 a
week, only live miles over the hill.
Scratch a Xew 1 ork millionaire and you will gener-
4 THE VANDERBILTS.
ally find a farm-boy nnderneatli — a youth with a strong
bade and resolute will, Avith the umber of toil on his
liands, and in his heart the determination to conquer.
If Commodore Yanderbilt had been born to a Valen-
ciennes christening-robe and a heritage of plenty — had
grown to be a child with a nursery full of toys, and
afterward a youth with a pocket full of money, there
is little chance that he would ever have been heard of
beyond the shadow of the Moravian church. Xature
seems to begrudge her highest favors to all except those
who walk through the thorny lane of penury, and be-
come familiar with her in her capricious and hostile
moods.
The early arrangement of the family name Nvas Yan
Der Bilt, and they were farmei's for generations. Just
when the lirst immigrant came from Holland is uncer-
tain,* but he settled on Long Island near Brooklyn. We
hear of Art Jansen Van Der Bilt M'ho settled in Flat-
bush, and was the grantee of a considerable part of the
territory of that town under the Dongan patent of 1685.
Twenty-one years earlier the English had taken posses-
sion of Manhattan Island, and sixty years earlier the
Dutch had bought it for $24, and founded Kew Am-
sterdam. Contemporary with Art Jansen — perhaps his
brother — was Aris, who, with his M'ife Ililitje, dwelt in the
same town. They w-orkedhard to get a living and give
bread to a large and growing bi'ood. The family' seems
to have been of some social consequence, for one of theni
was an elder in the church, and another presented to the
religious edifice " a fine bell imported from Holland."
Among the children of Aris was Jacob Van Der Bilt,
born January 25, 1602. In 1715 Jacob was accepted
THE MORAVIANS. 5
in marriage by Eleanor* and to set liiin np in life his
father "sold" him a large tract of land "at Staaten
Island," probably obtained by him from the Indians, for
this was then a frontier settlement. The consideration
given by Jacob is not stated, bnt thither he and his
yonng wife repaired and fonnded the Staten Island
bi'anch of the Vanderbilt family. Dnring the next
thirty years eleven children were born to them.f
Abont this time some of the persecnted followers of
John Ilnss, called Moravians, fled to this country, and
a few of them settled at Xew Dorp. This destination
was most natural. Already the beautiful and lonely
island had become the refuge of bands of Ilnguenots,
Waldenses, and "Walloons, who had clustered here and
there in detached communities. So thither the exiled
Protestants from Bohemia flocked and told their story
of outrage. The Van Der Bilts became converts.
In 1741 Count Zinzendorf, the founder and patron
of this martyr-sect, having been banished from Saxony,
came to America, and visited, among others, the little
community on Staten Island. It is related tliat the
primal wilderness was then so untamed and xvew Dorp
so diflicult of access, that he had a long search for the
place on the wandering Indian t]-ails and cowpaths. Tlie
visit of the illustrious exile fired the half-dozen IMora-
vians with uncommon zeal, and the feeble church, of
* Called, in Dntcli, Xeilje.
f Aiis, born February 2, 1716 ; Dennys, born September 5. 1716 ;
Hilitje, born March 22, 1720; Jacob, born January 6, 1723; Mag-
delena, born December 1, 1725 ; John, born Xovember 15, 1728;
Cornelius, born September 22, 1731 ; Anna, born February' 11, 1734;
Phebe, born April 27, 1737 ; Anthea, born January 31, 1739 ; Eleanor,
born September 13, 1742.
6 THE VAISTDERBILTS.
M'hicli Jacob Van Dei* Bilt and his wife and children
were chief pilhirs, resolved to build a ship to assist the
immigration of the United Brethren from Germany.
This missionary vessel was launched May 29, IT-tS, and
was in the service of the builders iiine years. She
crossed from ISi^ew York to Amsterdam and back twelve
times, brino-ino; each time a freight of refugees. In
1T57 she was captured by a French privateer and driven
to wreck off Cape Breton. In the records of the United
Brethren at that time, Jacob Van Der Bilt of K ew
Dorp is mentioned as the most active and persevering
member.
The religious services of the Moravians were held
first in a private residence, and then in a school-house
at ]S^ew Dorp, but in 1762, the Cornelius Van Der Bilt
'wdiose birth has been recorded, joined liis neighbors in
an application to the authorities of the church in Beth-
lehem, Pa., for the construction of a Moi'avian meeting-
house and society on Staten Island. On July T, 1763,
the corner-stone of the edifice was laid, and it was con-
secrated just before the year closed, only to be burned to
the ground by the British soldiery fourteen years later.
Of the liberal brood of Jacob Van Der Bilt, above
mentioned, Jacob, jr., m'Iio first saw the light in 1723,
is the only one in whose personal fortunes this history
is interested, as he appears "• in the line of promotion.'"
He married in due time Mary Sprague mIio bore him
seven children,'" and these, during their life-time, learned
* Eleanor, born 1747 ; Jacob, born January G, 1750 ; John,
born May 9, 1752; Dorothy, born July 29, 1754 ; Oliver, born June
10, 1757 ; Joseph, born September G, 17G1 ; Cornelius, born Aiigust
28. 1764.
CONTENTED DRUDGES. 7
to economize bj uniting tlie first two syllables of the
family name and writing it "Vander Bilt."
The last of these, Coi-nelius, born 1764, married Phebe
Hand, and they, in time, had nine children '-^ born to
their humble honse. A hard time they seem to have
had snppoj-ting life i-espectably and keeping the family
together.
About this time it was that the Rose-and-Crown
cottage was kept at Stapleton by one of the Yander
Bilts, and it is known in Revolutionary story as having
been much frequented by British officers and made
prosperous by British guineas.
During this century and a half, from the coming of
Aris to the birth of the stur.dy " Commodore," Cor-
nelius, the hundred male members of the family and
its collateral wings had all been solid and stolid tillers
of the earth. They had carted on the manure and
carted off the rocks. They had rendered arable the
stony and fruitful the sterile land. They had pastured
the cows and milked them. They had planted and
hoed, ploughed and sowed, drudged and delved, died
and been buried in the town where they were born.
The average woi-kman in the employ of the Xew York
Central Railroad to-day lives better and gets far more
of the real comforts of life than any of the Yanderbilts
* Mary, born December 21, 1787, and died August 10, 1845 ; Jacob,
born August 28, 1789, and died October 3, 18U5 ; Charlotte, born
December 29, 1791, married Captain John De Forest, died January
5, 1877 ; Cornelius, born May 27, 1794, died January 4, 1877 ; Phebe,
born February 19, 1798, died young ; Jane, born August 1, 1800, and
became wife of Colonel Samuel Barton ; Eleanor, born January 4,
1804, died April 21, 1833; Jacob Hand, born September 2, 1807;
Phebe, born February 9, 1810, died April 23, 1885.
8 THE TAiSTDEEBILTS.
of tlie last centni-y. Thev were not nnhappj, for tliey
had that contented mind which, the philosopher tells
us, is a continual feast. But the standard of their ex-
istence M'as simple.
In the very mode of life they had adopted, they
were ]3reparing for a colossal output. They were
practising an untiring industry and an economy that
knew no bounds. They were M-restling with all the in-
describable difficulties of a new settlement. They had
attached themselves to a persecuted church, and were
learning self-denial for the sake of sympathy and deep
religious feeling. They were delving in an inhospitable
soil, and facing hostile elements, and inuring themselves
to hardship and exposure, and thus getting the muscles
of steel, the unflinching pluck, and the unconquerable
will that move and mould the world. Unconsciously,
nerve by nerve, and fibre by fibre, they were building
up the man who was to illustrate their name.
There was, indeed, a cousin, John Yanderbilt, who
became a member of the Assembly from Long Island.
But he did not win fame. His principal mission as a
legislator doubtless was, to move to adjourn when the
appointed hour came around ; as the local records show
that he was chosen to the office, not for his probity and
ability, though he was probably both talented and hon-
est, but "because it was his turne." The case is too
ambiguous to disprove the rule of mediocrity.
Generation after generation, the Vanderbilts had fed
their stock and tilled their tough acres and asked no
more. They had stood, successively, father and son, on
the same green hill-side and looked down the bay
through that open gateway, the Narrows, to the sea be-
THE COMING MATST. 9
yond, without desiring to occupy it. Tlieyliad glanced
languidly up the bay to the shining city in the dis-
tance without burning to get a mortgage on it. They
liad gazed joyously round upon the opulent earth with-
out resolving to own it. Indeed, during all these years,
the members of this family do not seem to have cher-
ished any ambition of any kind, except to pay their
taxes promptl}-, go to church regularly, and get to
Heaven at last. AVith this they were satisfied.
The fruit of the family tree was not yet ripe, but it was
ripening. The man had not yet come who, filled with
divine greed, would go forth on a magnificent crusade of
conquest; who, inspired by personal avarice, would enter
into the commercial emulations of his time with benefi-
cent results ; who, determined to be master, would be-
come pre-eminently the servant of his countrymen ; who,
aiming only to push forward his own interests, would
mysteriously advance the interests of all, promoting
traffic and transit, increasing the general M^ealth and
thrift, and augmenting the universal comfort beyond the
dreams of philanthropy. Such a man, at the end of the
fourth generation, made his appearance iu the person of
Cornelius Vanderbilt.
CHAPTER 11.
BOYHOOD AND POVERTY.
His Father and Mother — The Humble Home — Avoiding School — Fun
and Hard Work — Wants to be a Sailor — Earns a Periauger —
Readj for Business at Sixteen.
Of the father of Cornelius we know little. He had
no start in life, as he did not inherit even the meagre
patriuionj ; for his father and mother died when he
was a child, and the property that existed was dissipated
by incapable or faithless trnstees. As he grew to man-
hood he snot a livino- as he conld, assistino; the farmers
at their work, and sailing a boat up to Kew York with
produce. It is alleged tiiat he was the first boatman
Avho established the habit of leaving his wharf near
the Quarantine ground at a regular time ever}' morn-
ing, and quitting ]^ew Yoj-k for home at a uniform hour
in the afternoon. Thus he became, to a certain extent,
the founder of tlie Staten Island Ferry that now carries
twenty thousand passengers a daj'.
He had just succeeded in getting a few acres together,
when he made his fortune by meeting and marrying
Phebe Hand, a woman of i-are qualities. She was born
over in Rahway, and both of her grandfathers were
farmers. Her uncle. Colonel Hand, fought at the battle
of Long Island. A competence was left her by her
THE commodore's mother.
ins FATTIER AND MOTHER. 11
maternal grandfatlier, but tlie family patriotism in-
vested it in "Continental Ijonds" and it was almost
wholly lost, so she was compelled, as she emerged into
womanhood, to rely npou her own labor for support.
"When she first became acqnainted with Mr. Vanderbilt,
she was residing in the family of a clergyman at Port
Richmond, on the north side of the island, and there
they married and set np housekeeping.
He seems to have been an industrious plodder, but
be was not very thrifty or forehanded. In fact, he was
inclined to be improvident and to indulge in specula-
tions that did not terminate profitably. They lived in
a small house at Port Pichmond.^ More than once Mrs.
Vanderbilt saved the little family from want, and it is
known that on one occasion, when her husband was in a
dire strait, she drew from an old clock s3,000, the care-
ful hoardings of years, and rescued the place from his
creditors. Her energy, forethought, and self-reliance
served as an admirable countei'poise to the visionary
projects and scheming propensities of her husband.
The scanty family record shows that she was possessed
of a high and strong character, and to this fact her favor-
ite son always bore nnstinted testimony.
The family lived for some years at Port Pichmond,
on the Kill Yon Kull, and then moved to Stapleton,
the residence being on the eastern face of Staten Island,
on a gently sloping lawn that was washed by the tides
of the Narrows, It stood ten rods or so back from the
beach, and was not lifted moie than six or eight feet
above high water. It was shingled all over, Avas of one
story, with a loft above under a steep roof lighted by
* Still standing, and the property of Dr. Harrison.
12 THE VANDERBILTS.
dormer windows, and there could not have been more
than five rooms in tlie wliole liouse. Tliis made rather
cramped quarters for tlie father, motlier, and nine lively
children. Even the great chimney seems to have felt
the need of elbow-room, for it went outside and stood
up like a grenadier at the gable end of the cabin, Cor-
nelius and the older children were born at Port Rich-
mond. They had opened their ej^es on the light of the
slcy in a much smaller and humbler residence, and the
father moved to Stapleton because it had become im-
peratively necessary to " have more room." Taking
possession of the fine five-roomed liouse on the beach
was, in the Yanderbilt hive, analogous to sM'arming.*
Cornelius Yanderbilt,t born May 27, 1794, was the
second son, but when he was eleven years old his elder
brother died, leaving him heir-apparent. The dauphin
had not a vcvy brilliant prospect before him. His
great-grandfather had brought up eleven children, his
grandfather seven, and his father nine, and this severe
service had quite exhausted the few acres on which the
thrifty Aris had planted the family tree eighty years
before. They had sailed a little, fished a little, and
delved in the soil a good deal, and had managed to sur-
vive in the humble fashion of those days.
Cornelius attracted much attention by his personal
* For description, see Ajipendix A.
f He always wrote Ids name " Van Derbilt." as in the autograph
upon the cover of this book ; hut he directed everybody else to
write the name as one word. His oldest son, during his youth, com-
promised between his father's custom and his command by leaving
aspice after the first syllable, thus '* Van derbilt." On the old family
tomb, built by the Commodore, the name stands " Vauder Bilt," but
ou the new mausoleum it appears as " Vauderbilt."
A LIVE BOY. 13
resoluteness and his love of out-door sports. That is to
say, in the direct language of that uncircuitous age, "he
was obstinate and disobedient, and h.ated to go to school.*'
Indeed, he would not go to school if he could help it.
When given his choice, limited to the two things, he
even preferred to work. But plaj suited him best of
all. He was hearty, hardv, tall, and strong of his age,
bold, quick as a cat, sinewy, a good oarsman, an expert
swimmer, an unsurpassed climber, a wrestler whom few
could lay upon his back. In fact he seems to have
had a remarkably vigorous mind, as \yell as body ; he
early learned how to sail a boat and he learned the use
of all accessible tools, — he could learn anything but his
lessons. His mother used to tell of his riding an im-
promptu horse-race, bare-back of course, before he was
six years old. His antagonist was a slave-boy two yeai's
his senior, and both of them went at full speed. The
black contestant lived to be a Methodist minister.-
Books and school Cornelius shunned. Multiplication
was vexation, and Division M^as still worse, while he
never heard of the Rule-of-Three. lie often lamented
his illiteracy in after days. The Bible and spelling-
book were the only books he remembered ever having
used in school. But even orthography was a profound
mystery to him, and all his life he insisted on " spelling
according to common-sense " — a system which the Eng-
lish language cannot tolerate.
If young Cornelius avoided school, he loved the water.
He seems to have been the first of his line who felt en-
tirely at home upon the surface of the bay, and who
* They met .again at tlie Commodore's liouse, ia Wasliington Place,
after a separation of seventy-five years.
14 THE VANDERBILTS.
looked down tlirongli the Xarrows with an acquisitive
eje. Wliole summer afternoons, when he should have
been, or at any rate, might have been, studying, he lay
upon the lawn or sat in a tree-top near the house and
watched the incoming and outgoing craft. It was a
superb outlook, for the bay of New York is unequalled
in the world for its generous expanse, its pleasant em-
brace of fertile shores, its ever-changing beauty and
its panorama of picturesque activity. Opposite was the
forest of Bay liidge ; further off were the vacant slopes
where now rise the white spires of Greenwood. Up the
liarbor wei-e the first roofs of infant Brooklyn, and in
the background, bej'ond, the greater city was dimly vis-
ible against the sky.
The boy was observing and had a retentive memory
along the line of his predilections. lie soon distin-
guished the difference between a schooner and a ship, a
brig and a barkentine ; and it is alleged that it was not
long before he knew by sight every ship belonging to
the port, and learned the rig and outline of every fish-
ing-smack or coaster that trafficked on the rivers.
Like the other farmers along the shore, his father at
last came to own a clumsy sail-boat of primitive pat-
tern, with which to carry his produce to the city market.
It had two masts and no deck, and its name had been
Americanized from mellifluous Spanish into " periau-
ger." * On this rude water- vehicle young Cornelius
made himself useful, and thus escaped torment at the
dreaded school. lie got, at an early age, so that he
* It was the pr(Hlccessor of tlio cat-boat of flic jiresciit day. and
its iiamo was probably carried to tlio Netliorlauds by tho terrible
Alva.
WORK AXD FUX. 15
could bo trusted to sail and steer the " perianger " as
well as anybody, for there were yet no steamers to run
him down.
A stoi-y is told at this time which indicates that the
family thrift was already bi-ewing in his father's arte-
ries. The boy, as a reward for special hard work, hoe-
ing potatoes, had been promised a holiday •' next Tues-
day," during wdiich he and a neighboi'ing crony, Owen,
could "go np to New York and have a good time."
The morning came, and the father said : " Xow Cornele,
there's the perianger for you ; I've pitched on moi-e
than half of the hay, yon and Owen can just pitch on
the rest, and take it np and unload it at the wharf as
usual, and you can play on the way — both ways, going up
and coming back ! Here's sixpence for you, my boy."
The Commodore, in telling the story in after years, used
to add, " A boy can get fun out of 'most anything, and
we got some fun out of that ; but I remember we were
just as tired that night as if we had been working."
Before Cornelius had finished his eleventh year, his
father had come to trust him to oversee and manage
jobs requiring the prudence and thoughtfulness of a
man, sometimes sending him many miles away from
home with teams and men to assist in the nnloading of
stranded vessels. lie always proved himself equal to
such emergencies.
When he was twelve years old, his father took a con-
tract for getting the cargo out of a vessel stranded near
Sandy Hook, and transporting it to Isew York in
lighters. It was necessary to carry the cargo in wagons
across a sandy spit. Cornelius, with a little fleet of
lighters, three wagons, their horses and drivers, started
16 THE VANDERBILTS.
from liome solely charged with the management of this
difficult affair. After loading the lighters and starting
them for the eitv, he had to conduct his wagons home
by land^a long distance over Jersey sands. Leaving
the beach with only six dollars, he reached South Am-
boy penniless, with six horses and three men all hungry,
still far from home, and separated from Staten Island
hj an arm of the sea half a mile wide, that could be
crossed only by paying the ferryman six dollars. This
was a puzzling predicament for a boy of twelve, and he
pondered long how he could get out of it. At length
he went boldly to the only innkeeper of the place, and
addressed him thus :
" I have here three teams that I want to get over to
Staten Island. If you will put us across, I'll leave with
you one of my horses in pawn, and if I don't send you
back the six dollars within forty-eight hours you may
sell the horse."
The innkeeper looked into the bright, honest eyes of
the boy for a moment, and said :
" I'll do it."
And he did it. The horse in pawn was left with the
ferryman on the island, and was redeemed in time.
At last came the inevital)le hour. The seductive
vision of moving sails had done its work on the boy's
imagination. The wizard sea had wrought its spell.
He slyly announced to his mother that he was going to
be a sailor and should ship before the mast. He Avas
sixteen years old, stalwart, tougli, and hardy. Of course,
he would have to run away, for the youth of those days
had not the fi-eedom they have at present— every boy's
labor belonged to liis father absolutely until lie was
HE BUYS A BOAT. 17
twenty-one, and the law held Iiini bound to render that
service.
His mother pleaded with him to give np hir, crazy
fancy, and set before him its exposures, hardships, and
dangers. He listened to' her. She was not only the
family oracle, but she\vas the oracle of the neighborhood,
whose advice was sought in all sorts of dilemmas, and
whose judgment had weight. But he loved the sea and
hated the farm, and he would be one of those
" Who reap, but sow not, on the rolling fields."
A compromise M-as possible. If he could not ship as a
sailor, might he buy a boat ? If he only had ^100
with which to buy a boat ! The mother's love directed
lier to a solution of the problem. After thinking of the
matter over night she promised the boy * that if he
would earn the hundred dollars he should have it.
There was on the farm an eight-acre lot, so hard, rough,
and stony that it had never been ploughed. The bar-
gain was that if he would plough and harrow that eight
acres and plant it with corn before the 27th of the
month, the day when he would be sixteen, he should
have the $100. He closed the contract and he exe-
cuted it — partly by hard work, partly by stratagem.
lie interested some of the neighboring boys in his
scheme. He confided to them the fact that he was to
have " a new periauger " of his own as soon as he got
the patch planted, and he added casually that anybody
who helped him finish the job right up in a hurry would
be permitted to sail in the Avonderful craft, and perhaps
* On May 1, 1810.
18 THE VANDERBILTS.
to some extent assist in managing her. The remark
bore fruit. Recruits flocked to his standard. And the
fiekl was all ploughed, harrowed, and planted complete
the day befoi-e his birthday.*
He claimed his reward — it M'as reluctantly given —
produced, no doubt, from his mother's inexhaustible
clock. She had not much faith in his venture. He
had long had his eye on a new and beautiful " periauger "
over at Port Kichmond, which the owner wanted to sell,
and now he rushed off and secured it. It would carry
twenty passengers. He used to say, in later days, when
in a reminiscent mood, " I didn't feel as much real sat-
isfaction when I made two million in that Harlem cor-
ner as I did on that bright May morning sixty years
before M'hen I stepped into my own periauger, hoisted
my own sail, and put my hand on my own tiller." It
will be noticed that, np to this time, the boy had not
been " a favorite of Fortune," as the envious called him
in after years ; he had been helped by no special " good
luck ; " every step had been won by hard work.
Kext morning he had his anchor up bright and early,
and announced that he was ready to carry freight and
passengers to Kew York. Those who came down the
beach to look at the craft found a capable-looking youth
of sixteen standing in the stern — tall, vigorous, firmly-
knotted, broad of shoulder, bright of eye, deft of hand,
with a complexion of Avhite and pink, and a reassuring
and agreeable smile. He could back a wild colt and
subdue it, and sail a boat on the maddest sea, but he
could scarcely write his name.
* He liad evidently been reading about the decorative exploits of
"Tom Sawjer."
CHAPTER III.
YOUTH AND AMBITION.
Sails his Boat on tlie Bay— Fare, Eighteen Cents— Makes $1,000 a
Year — Sturdy, Abrupt, and Honest — In War Times — Beats Van
Duzen — Marries at Nineteen.
In those days Kew York City was a cluster of houses
and stores below Fulton Street ; Broadway came up to
wliere the City Hall was rising, and disappeared in the
cornfields to the north. The Bowery Avas a country lane,
leading to the cow-pastures above Fourteenth Street.
Canal Street was a brook running to the Hudson through
huckleberry-fields. Centre Street was a lake covering
ten acres, and a great marsh-bordered pond spread over
the area which is now spanned by the approaches to the
Brooklyn Bridge, Xew York had overtaken and passed
Boston and Philadelphia, and it was growing. Most
of the business was done in Hanover Square and Pearl
Street ; there was no Water Street or South Street
or Front Street or West Street, and " up-town " was in-
habited only by farmers.
This was the place to and from which " Young Cor-
nele," as he was called, began his first trips of transpor-
tation. A single fare was eighteen cents. He worked
about sixteen hours out of every twenty-four. He car-
20 THE VANDEEBILTS.
ried by daylight the casual freight or incidental passen-
ger, and at night he bore across the Bay, whenever he
could get a load, parties of the young of both sexes who
went to enjoy the revel of promenading on the Battery
in the moonlight, behind the rows of old cannon which
still lingered there, and winding up the wild festivity
by partakiug of walnuts and llip in the fashionable
tavern of Bowling Green. The lad made money. At
the end of the first year he gave $100 to his mother for
the " perianger," and $1,000 besides. At the end of
the second he gave her another $1,000, and in the mean-
time had bought a fractional interest in two or three
more " periaugers."
Just at this time there came an extraordinary demand
for boats. On account of the joyful manner in which we
heard of and commented on the triumphant march of
Napoleon in Europe the relations of this country with
Great Britain were becoming strained, and war was
menaced. So our seaports were immediately strength-
ened. The forts now flanking the entrance to the
Sound and the Narrows were hastily begun, and all
available boatmen were kept busy bringing materials for
their construction. Cornelius got his full share of the
business. Often he skipped his dinner, and always
went to bed late and was out with the dawn.
Tlie young boatman was not blessed "with popular
manners. lie was not conciliatory, and never seemed to
care what people thought or said of him. He lacked
the affability and suavity which are born of a love of
approbation — the desire to please. He was not choice of
his language. He was sometimes harsh, abru})t, uncere-
monious, and even uncivil — like Julius Ga'sar, Kapuleon
BOLD AND SKILLFUL. 21
Bonaparte, Wellington, Von Moltke, Belmont, and a
good many others who liave never attained either wealth
or fame.
But he was honest. He charged fair prices. He al-
lowed nobody to miderbid him. He believed in the
competitive system of labor, which all sluggards who are
beaten in the competition denounce as barbarous. He
believed in " the survival of the- fittest," a law of nature
that is never liked by the weaklings or by those who
are unable to cope with their fellows on equal terms.
He was thoroughly capable and willing. So he soon
came to be the first person called on when anything dif-
ficult or dangerous was to be done. When the winds
were fierce, and the eyes were blinded with driving
sleet, and the waves raged and howled for a victim, then
the youth was in demand if anybody needed to go upon
the bay.
In this instance, as ever, the boy was father of the
man. The traits he showed as a boatman on the bay
were the very same tliat distinguished him fifty years
later — the power of doing what he set out to do in spite
of all obstacles. This was the key to the achievements
of his life.
When the British fleet tried to foi'ce its way past
Sandy Hook, "to lay Xew York in ashes,*' as the Ad-
miral gayly observed, the ill-equipped forts beat it off.
The batteries had an important ally in a fearful storm
that was raging at the time, but this niade it all the
more diflicult to infoi'm the commanding otficer in the
city of the attack and the repulse, and to obtain instant
]"einforcements. A messenger was sent to Staten Island
for its most expert boatman. Cornelius was found and
22 THE YAXDERBILTS.
summoned. Arriving at Sandy Hook, a staff officer
asked him if a boat would live in such a sea.
" Yes, if properly handled," was the answer.
" Will yon take us to the Battery ? "
" Yes ; but I shall carry you part way under water."
"All right, young man ; we can stand that."
They started, and after several hours of terrible ex-
posure to cold and wet he landed them safely at the
stairs at Whitehall. They were like drowned rats, and
one of them declaimed that he did not draw one full
breath throughout tlie stormy journey. But there they
were, and the fort at Sandy Hook was reinforced next
morning.
He allowed nobody to beat him at the business he
followed. One day, when the wind was off, and he was
pulling his boat-load of passengers up through Butter-
milk Channel, between Governor's Island and Brooklyn,
he suddenly found his boat neck-and-neck with the boat
of his tall rival, Jake Van Duzen. Beaten he must
never be, and by the most powerful exertions he sent
his boat swiftly forward to its destination. But he held
the pole against his breast, and he put forth such efforts
that it bored through the flesh to the bone, and made
there a scar which he carried to his grave.
One day during the war an advertisement appeared
in the papers which stirred up some emulation. "When
the boatmen M'ere anxiously considering what they
should do to escape the draft and thus keep at their
profitable \vork, a card was issued from the ofhce of the
Commissary-General, ]\Iatthew L. Davis, inviting bids
from the boatmen for the contract of conveying provi-
sions to the posts in the vicinity of Xew York, during
A GOVERNMENT CONTRACT. 23
tlie three months — the contractor to bo exempt from
military duty. The boatmen canght at this, as a drow-n-
ing man catches at a straw, and put in bids at rates
pi'eposteronsly ]ow — all except Cornelius Vanderbilt.
" Why don't you send in a bid ? " asked his father.
" Of whatnse would it be ? " replied the son. " They
are offering to do the work at half price. It can't be
done at sncli rates."
" Well,"' added the father, " it can do no harm to try
for it."
So, to please his father, but without the slightest ex-
pectation of getting the contract, he sent in an applica-
tion, offering to transport the provisions at a price whicli
would enable him to do it with the requisite certainty
and promptitude. His offer was simply fair to both
parties.
On the day named for awarding the contract all the
boatmen excepting liim assembled at the commissai-y's
office. He stayed at the boat-stand, not considering
that he had any interest in the aM^ard. When they all,
one after another, returned without the prize, he strolled
over to the office, and asked the commissary if the con-
tract had been given.
" Oh, yes," said Davis ; " that business is settled.
Cornelius Vanderbilt is the man."
He was thunderstruck.
" What ! " said the commissary, observing his aston-
ishment, " is it yon ? "
" My name is Cornelius Vanderbilt."
" Well," said Davis, " don't you know why we have
given the contract to you 1 "
" No."
24 THE VATSTDERBILTS.
" Why, it is because we want this business done^ and
we know you'll do it."
When he was nineteen years old he fell in love with
Sophia Johnson, an attractive and capable young woman,
and the daughter of his father's sister Eleanor. His
mother objected to the match on the ground of con-
sanguinity, and his father on the ground that so useful
and profitable a member of the household could not be
spared ; but he overcame both impediments and mar-
ried her.*
There are on the lips of the old people of Staten Island
and New York many picturesque traditions of the prow-
ess of young Yanderbilt about these days. One tells how,
when injustice Avas attempted against him, he attacked
with his fists an armed oiRcer in the midst of a battalion
of soldiers, and compelled him to succumb. Another
narrates how, when riding up Broadway at the head
of a cavalcade of eight hundred Staten Islanders, in a
procession, he was insulted by " Yankee Sullivan,"
whereupon he calmly dismounted and beat that re-
nowned pugilist " till he couldn't stand." These stories
liave an internal resemblance to the myths wherewith
popular prodigies and heroes are always glorified, and
the details need not be recounted here.
War was raging around, and business was bi'isk. The
young husband had obtained the contract to carrj^ pi-o-
visions to the six forts around New York, and this im-
mediately entailed extraordinary labors. To supply each
of the six forts took one day, and each needed provi-
sioning once a week. His boat was busy on the Staten
Island route during the day, so he did the additional
* December 19, 1813.
BOATING AND PEDDLING. 25
work at night, loading up at the Battery every evening
after the day's ferriage was over. Sunday furnished the
only day or night of unbroken rest.
The profits were hirge, and he was now enabled to
build a beautiful little schooner for the coasting-trade,
which he called the Dread, and which he sent under a
captain up and down the Sound or ocean-shore, wherever
a paying cargo could be found. From his several vent-
iu*es he was earning a good deal of money, and the fol-
lowing year he built a very large schooner named after
his sister Charlotte, and put it on the line between Xew
York and Charleston, commanded by her husband, Cap-
tain De Forest.
In one of his cruisings up the river he stopped with a
community of Shakers. After he had remained with
them a day and a night tliey refused to take any pay
for the hospitality. The circumstance made a deep im-
pression on his mind, and he never forgot it."
He did coasting or river business indifferently, trans-
porting or peddling, as the case might be. He was
above no honest toil that brought in moneyj Xow he
would carry l)oat-loads of shad up and down the shore
looking for a purchaser. Xow he would collect tons of
melons in Delaware, and boat them up to Albany, sell-
ing them out, wholesale and retail, at the little towns
on the way.
When the war closed and he had passed his twenty-
first birthday, he began earnestly to plan methods of
improving the shape and build of ships. He allowed
* Many years afterward, when president of the Harlem, he granted
to them an important and nnusual concession, much to the surprise
of his associates.
26 THE VAISTDEEBILTS.
himself to be lianijDered by no precedents, and be intro-
duced such innovations and modifications as attracted
the attention of ship-builders, and made " Vanderbilt
models " and " Vanderbilt methods " discussed even
among the experienced and practical men of his craft.
He soon built another vessel, a still greater departure
from the usual patterns, and worked on.) Between ship-
building and ship-owning, when he M^as twenty-three
he balanced his books* and found that he was worth
$9,000 in cash, besides his interest in various stanch
sailing-vessels. But a new candidate had come to con-
test with Boreas the supremacy of the sea, and Cornelius
Vanderbilt sat down on ISTew Year's Day and thought it
over.
* December 31, 1817.
CHAPTER IV.
STEAMBOAT AND TAVERN.
Abandons Sails for Steam — New York to Xe\v Brunswick — Figlit
with a Monopoly — Dodging the Sheriff — Making his Point^
Large Profits — Pluck and Enterprise.
The new-comer was Steam. Two years after Cor-
nelius Yanderbilt was boi-n, John Fitcli, of Connecticut,
had launched a steam-yawl, propelled by a stern-screw,
on Collect Pond, a body of fresh water sixty feet deep,
where the Tombs now stands, and though he had but a
twelve-gallon pot for a boiler, he ran his nondescript
around the pond witli great rapidity.* Tlie achieve-
ment was almost forgotten when Kobert Fulton, eleven
years later, launched the Clermont on the Hudson and
steamed toward Albany against wind and tide at the
rate of five miles an hour. John Stevens simultane-
ously launched the Phffinix on the Delaware.
These events caused a sensation, and M'ere heard of
and talked of even in Staten Island. The State of Xew
York hastened to grant exclusive patents to Fulton and
Livingston for the running of steamboats on all the
* Fitch had been before his invention a penniless adventurer, capt-
ured and bartered for tobacco by the Indians of Ohio ; and, after
his failure to attract attention by his steam-vessels on Collect Pond
and the Delaware, he returned to the West, disgusted with the
world's stupidity, and died of drink in the wilderness of Kentucky,
while Fulton and Livingston were reaping his harvest.
28 THE YAXDERBILTS.
waters within its jurisdiction, and the patentees pro-
ceeded to profit bj it. Better boats than the Clermont
were built, a higher speed was attained, and in some
places they even drove off the sloops and 'schooners and
took their place. By ISIO Fulton and Livingston had
four regular steamboats plying on the Hudson, one on
the Delaware and one on the St. Lawrence.*
Ship-owners, as a class, derided the steamboat as " a
mere plaything," which might answer for Sunday-scliool
picnics, but could never be used to carry freight to ad-
vantage, because the machinery took up so much room.
Young Vanderbilt was a leader among this class, and
participated in this sort of talk, but he did not allow it
to blind his judgment as to probabilities. lie went and
carefully examined Fulton's craft, took passage to Al-
bany and back, studied the engines and machinery, and
reluctantly made up his mind that the future of naviga-
tion belonged to steamboats.
lie saw that the usefulness of sailing-vessels was lim-
ited by various conditions, \vliile the scope of steam was
pi'actically unbounded. To the astonishment of his
friends, he suddenly turned his back on sails, gave up
the coasting business, sold out his interest in half a
dozen vessels, and looked vaguely around for a steam-
boat. He was eager to learn the business on any terms.
Fulton and Livingston had been granted by the Leg-
islature a monopoly of the new motor in Xew York
State, but the privilege M'as not uncontested. Thomas
Gibbons, a man with money and spirit, had started, a
transportation line from iSTew York to Philadelphia, by
* There was only one steamboat on tlie Mississippi at tlie time of
tlie battle of New Orleans.
FIGHTING A MONOPOLY. 29
steamer from tlie Battery to Xew Brunswick, at tlie
head of liaritan River, thence by stage to Trenton, and
by steamer again from Trenton to the point of destina-
tion. Livingston fought him in tlie courts, got a de-
cision against him, obtained an injunction to prevent the
trip from the Battery to ISTew Brunswiclc, and put in the
liands of officers warrants for tlie arrest of Gibbons and
liis captain. Gibbons appealed to higher courts, but
personally he stayed in New Jersey, and made reprisals
as he could. In his defence, New Jersey passed a re-
taliatory law, threatening with State prison any officer
of New York who should arrest any citizen of New
Jersey for steamboating in New York waters. But the
officers attempting to execute the Livingston writs were
carfeful to keep on their own side of the bay and the river.
It was a bitter contest, and prolonged from year to year.
Vanderbilt was naturally pugnacious. He always
.took sides in a fight, and generally with the weaker
party. So now, lie announced himself a Gibbonsonian,
and was welcomed as an important recruit. A man of
grit was needed to command the Mouse-of-the-Moun-
tain, and though Vanderbilt had been clearing ^3,000
a year by luffing and tacking, he now accepted $1,000
a year as captain of that diminutive steamboat. He at
once introduced a new order of things. He improved
the Mouse in various ways, made his trips on time,
discharged all superfluous help, cut down running ex-
penses, and at the end of six months, the line began for
the first time to return a profit to Gibbons. In a year
the Bellona, a larger steamer, M\as built under Yander-
bilt's supervision, and substituted for the Mouse-of-the-
Mountain.
30 THE VAISTDEEBILTS.
Tlie half-way-house at Xew Brunswick, where all
passengers had to tarry over-night to take the morning
stage, was dirtv and badlv-managed, and Vanderbilt's
offer to " take it and run it," was promptly accepted.
Thither he moved his M-ife with her babes from his
father's little house at Stapleton, and put her in charge
of the way-side tavern. This step was abundantly justi-
fied by the results. Like his mother, his Avife proved
to be a rare woman — strong, industrious, neat, frugal,
skilful, courageous, and business-like. She turned the
house wrong-side out and up-side down, cleaned it, reno-
vated it, fumigated it, and made it fit for guests. The
same energy, care, thrift, and economy which her hus-
band exhibited for the next twelve years in command of
the Bellona, she practised in command of Bellona Hall.
The line at last was made to pay $40,000 a year to Gib-
bons, and Captain Vanderbilt's salary was raised to
$2,000. Besides the salary, the house at the point of
transfer was a constant source of revenue."
During more than half of these twelve years of ap-
prenticeship to steam, Yanderbilt's life was one inces-
sant fight with the monopoly created by the Legislature.
The Bellona violated the patent of Fulton and Livingston
from the moment she entered Xew York Bay, and the
captain was subjected to repeated arrests and constant
annoyance. There was one period when for sixty suc-
cessive days an attempt was every day made to arrest
him, but the captain baffled each attempt. He fought
* Captain Vanderbilt is known to liave expressed some socialistic
notions about these days, such as that John Jacob Astor was a dan-
gerous monopolist, and "no man ever ought to be worth more than
$20,000. ' '
DODGI^s'G THE SHERIFF. 31
the monopoly by every device lie could think of, and,
as in the fable of old, made the tail of the fox eke ont
the skin of the lion. When defiance failed to protect
him, he resorted to stratagem and iinesse. lie took a
young woman into the pilot-house and taught her to
steer the boat, so that when the ofhcers of the law
boai"ded the trespassing vessel off Governor's Island,
they were greeted only with a confusing vision of petti-
coats at the helm. They searched the lower decks on
these occasions, but the crew had all been left in New
Jersey, and the captain had retreated and hidden him-
self in a fanel-closet which they could not find. This
went on week after week, the M-rit of arrest being reg-
ularly returned with the indorsement, non est inventus.
In 1810 Captain Yanderbilt was caught on the wharf.
In the custody of the exasperated and indignant sheriff
he was taken to Albany on the next steamboat which
the Stevenses sent up, and there M^as arraigned before
the Chancellor, Livingston's successor, to answer for con-
tempt of court. When the trial came off, it was found
that the audacious captain had set a trap, and had gone
ashore on purpose to be captured, having for that day only
(Sunday) hired out to one Tompkins, who held a license
under the Fulton-Livingston patents, lie was released.
A little incident of these years he has sometimes re-
lated to his children. In the cold January of 1820, the
ship Elizabeth — the first ship ever sent to Africa by the
Colonization Society — lay at the foot of Rector Street,
with the negroes all on board, frozen in. For many
days her crew, aided by the crew of the frigate Siam,
her convoy, had been cutting away at the ice ; but as
more ice formed at night than could be removed by day,
32 THE VAIS^DERBILTS.
tlie prospect of getting to sea was unpromising. One after-
noon Captain Vanderbilt joined the crowd of spectators.
" Tliej are going the wrong way to work," he care-
lessly remarked, as he tnrned to go home. " I could
get her out in one day."
These words from a man who was known to mean all
he said made an impression on a bystander, who re-
ported them to the anxious agent of the society. The
agent called upon him.
" What did you mean, captain, by saying that you
could get out the ship in one day ? "
" Just Mdiat I said." %
" What will you get her out for ? "
" One hundred dollars."
" I'll give it. When will you do it ? "
" Have a steamer to-morrow, at twelve o'clock, ready
to tow her out. I'll have her clear in time."
That same evening, at six, he was on the spot witli
five men, three pine boards, and a small anchor. The
difficulty was that beyond the ship there were two hun-
dred yards of ice too thin to bear a man. The captain
placed his anchor on one of his boards, and pushed it
out as far as he could reach ; then placed another board
npon the ice, lay down upon it, and gave liis anchor
another push. Then he put down his third board, and
nsed that as a means of propulsion. In this way he
worked forward to near the edge of the thin ice, where
tlie anchor broke through and sunk. With the line at-
tached to it, he hauled a boat to the outer edge, and then
began cutting a passage for the ship. At eleven the
next morning she was clear. At twelve slie was towed
into the stream.
STICKING TO GIBBONS. B3
Every effort was made by the ricli Xorth River alli-
ance to induce this plucky young captain to desert to
their side. They sent an emissary who offei-ed him
85,000 a year to take charge of their largest boat. He
declined. " No," he said, " I shall stick to Gibbons.
He has always treated me square, and been as good as
his Avord. (BesideSj^I don't care half so much about
making money as I, do about making my jjoint, and
coming out aheadP \
In 1S2J:, when he had continued the battle against
monopoly seven years, the cause of Gibbons 'os. the suc-
cessors of Livingston was decided in favor of Gibbons,
in the Supreme Court of the United States. Daniel
Webster made his great speech against the granting of
such an exclusive privilege, and Chief Justice Marshall
delivered the judgment of the Court, that it was uncon-
stitutional. Thenceforth the boats were run in peace,
and there was no longer before the captain's eyes the
fear of a jail.
The following is an advertisement of those early days :
UNION LINE.
For Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Through
To Philadeli)hia in one day J
Twenty-five miles
of land carriage, hy New Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton!
The splendid new steamer, Emerald, Captain C. Vanderbilt,
leaves the whai'f, north side of the Batteiy, at 12 o'clock noon
every day, Sunday excepted. Travellers will lodge at Trenton
and ariive at Philadelphia by steamboat at 10 o'clock next
morning !
fare only three dollars !
For seats, apply to York House, No. 5 Coui-tlandt Street.
New York, Sei>tember 15, 1826.
f
34 THE VANDERBILTS.
Another boat left at a later hour, whose passengers
stopped all night at Bellona Hall, Kew Brnnswick.
During these years, too. Captain Yanderbilt had been
making a profound stud}' of the shape and equipment
of steamboats ; had been locating their weaknesses,
and drawing crude designs to remedy them. Fulton
and Livingston were long since dead, but their intro-
duction of steam had been followed by tremendous
growth in all directions. Captain Yanderbilt told his
Avife that he must take a hand in the spoils of this ncM'ly
discovered realm, and to do so advantageously they
nmst leave jS^ew Brunswick and return to ]^ew York
Bay. Woman-like, she di-eaded to give up her home
to try experiments. " I love this place," she said.
" Our children have been born here. We have friends
about us. AYe have prospered and can now count up
$30,000 of our own. Why should we tempt misfortune
by changing now ? "
She had a strong ally in Thomas Gibbons, who
warmly remonstrated with the captain. " If you leave
me, Yanderbilt, it will break up the line. I can't get
along without you. I will double your pay. Stay and
I will let you have half of the line at your own price,
and you may pay for it out of the profits." But Yan-
derbilt's eye was fixed on the traffic of the Hudson and
the Sound ; his acute commercial brain showed him
how these could be marvellously expanded and devel-
oped, and how he could put in practice those new prin-
ciples of construction that he had forged during his
meditations.
So in 1829 he resigned and took his now muncrous
family back to Kcw York City. In the spring of lb30
SHARP KIVALKY. 35
he made his appearance among the transportation
grandees who controlled the waters of the State. They
were richer than he, but they already knew him and
feared him. It was a case of superior sagacity against
long purses. He began to build boats with novel im-
provements and run them in opposition to the old es-
tablished lines. His chief and most enterprising an-
tagonist, Stevens of lloboken, amazed at the dash of
his onset, and supposing that he was '• backed by Gib-
bons," surrendered the light and withdrew from the
river rather than waste a fortime in cutting rates ; but
that doughty couple, Daniel Drew and Dean Richmond,
took his place in the battle. Vanderbilt constructed
magnificent boats, faster, better, and more commodious
than ever befoi-e seen, and he ran them at the lowest
paying fares. His foible \vas " opposition ; " wherever
his keen eye detected a line that was making a very
large profit on its investment, he swooped down on it
and drove it to the wall by offering a better service and
lower rates."'"
To understand what tremendous improvements were
introduced into steamboating by this trio of giant com-
manders, it is necessary only to travel on the shabby
English river-boats or the primitive Rhine steamers of
to-day, where the influence of these enterprising I'ivals
was never felt.
The Caroline, a little steamer which Yanderbilt con-
structed at this time, met with an unusual doom. She
was put on Lake Erie, and there was used by the in-
surgents during the Canadian " rebellion." She was
* After leaving Gibbons he made $30,000 a year for the first five
years, then doubled it in 183(5.
36 THE VANDERBILTS.
captured by an excited band of loyalists, in the Niagara
River, and then she was cut from her moorings, set on
fire, turned down the rapids, sent, like some splendid
sacrificial offering over the mighty Falls, and torn to
pieces in the mad whirlpool below.
It is a fact worth noting that, although Vanderbilt, at
one time or another, built or bought a hundred vessels,
not one of them was ever wrecked, burned, or destroyed
while in his possession. This must be assigned to the
extreme care with which he selected his officers and
men.
Jle^ never insured a vessel. lie used to say, when
spoken to on the subject: "Good vessels and good cap-
tains are the best sort of insurance. If corporations can
make money out of insurance, I can."
Captain Yanderbilt came naturally by his early preju-
dices against railroads. In October, 1833, the first se-
rious railroad accident in America occurred on the Am-
boy Railroad, in Xew Jersey. The Captain came near
losing his life. He was pitched out, dragged along the
track, and flung down a thirty-foot embankment. Sev-
eral of his ribs were broken and pushed into the lungs,
and the air escaped into the cellular tissue. His body
was dangerously swollen, and lie was subjected to heroic
treatment at his house, 13-i Madison Street,* by Dr.
Jared Lindsey, then a young man. "I staid with him
thi-ee weeks," says the doctor. " One night I bled him
three times, and thus subdued the inflammation."
* See Appendix B.
CHAPTER V.
HOME AND CHILDREN.
His return to New York Harbor — Residence in the City — A New
House on Staten Island — His Tliree Sons — Stern Management —
William H. 's Exile to New Dorp.
When he left l^ew Brunswick, in 1829, with his wife
and cliildren,* he took them first to a quiet and humble
tenement in Stone Street, near the Battery. The sur-
roundings were narrow, unwholesome, and uncomfort-
able, especially for the children, M'ho seriously felt the
contrast with the open country to which they had been
accustomed.f From here he soon sought a little more
comfortable quarters in East Broadway, but this tene-
ment was the reverse of spacious, and he shortly re-
turned with his increasing family to the little honse at
Stapleton, where his mother still resided with some of
her daughters.
This, of conrse, was far too cramped to be longer tol-
erable, and Captain Vanderbilt, already regarded as a
man of means, built his first family mansion on Staten
* There were thirteen children in all, and ten of them were born
in New Brunswick. One (Francis) died in infancy, and the story of
the other three boys will be told. The nine girls all lived to marry
and have families, but the captain and his wife were too busy to
make a family record, and diligent inquiry fails to ascertain the dates
of their children's birth. t ^^^ Appendix B.
38 THE VANDERBILTS.
Island, in one corner of the ancestral farm. He had
his eje on this lot early in life, and years before he built
his permanent home there it was known among the
neighbors as " Corneel's lot." Its site was on the north-
east corner of the farm, near the water, on a rise of land
overlooking the bay, midway between Stapleton and
Tompkinsville, and those passing down that road may
still see, surrounded by an iron fence, the residence of
the great railroad king. It is an imposing dwelling,
conspicuous for its high portico and tall Corinthian col-
umns in front. IIe)"e he lived several years, du.ring the
youth of his children.
It was not until 1846 that the family moved to Xew
York and made, at JSTo. 10 Washington Place, a perma-
nent residence. It was a little too far np-town, but
the tide was setting toward it. The "npper ten," as
they were called, had begun to abandon that choice
locality, St. John's Square, now occupied by the great
freight depot of the Hudson River Railway Company.
Bleecker Street, even, Avas ceasing to be the fashionable
thoroughfare, and "Washington's Parade Ground, its
name modei-nized to Washington Square, had become
the aristocratic heart of the city. Trees had been
planted, greensward put down, the stream that ran
through it turned aside into the new sewer, and it had
become the most desirable centre of resort and resi-
dence. There the opulent AYest India merchants lived,
and the great real estate owners and bankei's, the Rhine-
landers, Jays, Schnylers, Lispenards, Van Rensselaers,
and leaders of society.
Long before this time, Yanderbilt had attracted great
attention among the rich and pushing men of the city.
THE EAKLY MILLIOISTAIRES. 39
111 a qnaint list of sncli lie is tlius mentioned: "Cor-
nelius Vaiiderbilt, $750,000, of an old Dutch root; lias
evinced more go-aheaditiveness than any other single
Dutchman ever possessed. It takes our American hot
suns to clear off the fogs and vapors of the Zuyder-Zee
and wake up the phlegm of a descendant of old Hol-
land." There were sixteen millionaires in the list, most
of them now forgotten. Who remembers the million-
aires Brandegee, Bowne, Barclay, Glover, "Ward, Leggett
and Parrish, who flourished only forty-five years ago ?
Captain A^anderbilt had striven to give all his chil-
dren a fair education, and to prepare his three sons to
follow in his footsteps and take care of the estate he
was to leave behind liini. Of these last, George, the
youngest, was his favorite, though, when lie was old
enough, he sent him to West Point, thus apparently
taking him out of the line of the commercial succession.
His oldest son, William II.,* was never in early days
regarded with great favor by his father. He seemed to
him dull and commonplace, and in his candid moments
the elder Vanderbilt was accustomed to call him a fool
to his face. He usually addressed him and spoke of lain
as " Billy ; " sometimes, resentfully, as '• Bill."
The second son, Cornelius Jeremiah, was antipathetic
to his father in all things : he was physically weak, and
an epileptic — moody, irascible, unstable, indolent, petu-
lant, extravagant, and fond of the gaming-table.
The strong man had no toleration for this invalid
ne'er-do-weel, and he early announced that no son of his
should have any of his wealth until demonstrating his
* William Henry, named after liis father's hero, General Harrison,
who had won the battle of Tippecanoe ten years before.
40 THE YANDERBILTS.
capacity to support liimself without any aid from him,
Cornelius always wanted money, and one day, during
the California excitement of '49, when his father, as
usual, refused his demands, he ran away, and shipped
before the mast for the land of gold. He went around
Cape Horn, and the voyage tended to increase his physi-
cal debility. A short stay was enough, and lie returned
home again, only to be arrested on his arrival by his
father and confined as a lunatic in the Bloomingdale In-
sane Asylum. The evidence offered to prove that he
was crazy was that he had used his father's name to
procure funds when suffering from want in Sacramento.
The incarceration was short, and his father thenceforth
made liim a moderate annual allowance, increasing it
considerably after his marriage in 1S56. Thus Corne-
lius J. was early seen to be a failure, and the exacting
father was not slow in assigning "William to the same
category.
The Captain was not only the incumbent of the
throne, but the power behind it also. He ruled home,
wife, and children with a rod of steel, and brooked no
disobedience or contradiction. He manifested scant af-
fection for his children, seldom sought their love or con-
fidence, and treated them very nearly like anybody's else.
After William was born at ISew Brunswick, in 18:^1,
liis father noticed him only as much as he was compelled
to. The boy went to the country school for four or five
years, but he M'as not apt or ambitious in his studies,
and when he was nine went with father and family to
IS^ew York. Here he attended the Columbia Grammar
School, and got some of the rudiments of youthful
learning. At the age of seventeen he went into busi-
AVILLIAM H. IN THE BANK. 41
ness in a small way as a sliip-cliaiidler ; but when he
was eighteen his father transferred him as a clerk to the
large banking-house of Diew, Kobinson & Co., in Wall
Street, the senior partner being Daniel Drew.
Tlie young bank clerk recalled the inverted compli-
ments which his father had heaped upon him from time
to time, and he resolved to disprove their applicability.
He worked hard from morning to night. He was not
very quick to comprehend or to learn, but by stubboi-n
plodding he mastered the details of the business, and
slowly but surely won the approval of his employers.
His salary the first year was $150; the second year it
was $300 ; and the third year it was made $1,000.
During his twentieth year his affections became en-
tangled with those of Miss Maria Louisa Ivissam, an
educated young woman, and the daughter of a Brooklyn
clergyman, and her he married — of course against the
remonstrances of his father.
" What are you going to live on ? " incjuired the lat-
ter.
"Isineteen dollars a week,*' replied the son, nothing
daunted.
" Well, Billy, yon are a fool, just as I always
thought ! " and the great ship-owner went off disgusted.
The young bank clerk and his wife lived on the nineteen
dollars a week in a cheap boarding-house in East Broad-
way. The Captain was M'orth a million dollars, but
he had made up his mind that William was shiftless and
reckless, and going to the dogs, and it was useless to
spend money in trying to prevent the inevitable. Or
perhaps he thought. If I give him money now he will
never learn those important lessons which only Poverty
42 THE VANDERBILTS.
teaches. The young clei'k strnggled on, and his yonng
wife proved a blessing to him in every way. His home
life, thence onwai'd for forty-live years, showed a whole-
some and agreeable contrast to that of his father, who
was cold and suspicious, and whose imperious will com-
pelled everybody about him to move as he directed.
He imagined that the fact that " Billy " was his son was
the cause of his advancement at the bank, and gave him
little credit for it.
Suddenly William's health began to fail, and the phy-
sician notified his father that he would probably die if
he were not taken from the confinement at the bank.
The Captain said, " Well, Billy, wdiat next ? "
- " I don't know," said the young husband, " but I can
support us two at almost anything."
" You two ! " exclaimed his father ; "but there'll be
more than two. I know the way of our family. You
must go on a farm, where there'll be room."
He bought a little farm of seventy acres of unim-
proved land at Kew Dorp, Staten Island, between the
old Moravian church and the sea ; and he no doubt re-
marked to himself, " I am the only one of all our breed
that is fit for anything except digging in that dirt!"
The young couple accepted the gift without the blessing,
and took possession of the lonely little homestead. It
stood on the slope of the southeast shore of the an-
cestral island ; a third of the horizon was the billowy
sea, and straight in front of the cottage, toward the
summer sunrise, the nearest land was Spain.
CHAPTER VI.
FROM, STEAMBOATS TO STEAMSHIPS.
Running Steamboats in all Directions— To California via the Istli-
mus — Worth Ten Million Dollars — A Yachting Cruise to Europe —
A Line Across the Atlantic— The Mails — Lending a Vessel to the
Government.
Before lie Lad readied the age of forty lie was worth
half a million dollars. He had a score of vessels in com-
mission, most of which he had built himself, and these
were of so superior a character and so rapidly increasing
in number. that there was bestowed npon him by accla-
mation the title of " Commodore." This honorary
badge of distinction he wore all his life, and the designa-
tion, first applied facetiously, was at last universally em-
ployed as a serious recognition of his worth and power.
During the next fifteen years he launched out broadly
upon all the waters around ^ew York. He ran boats
to Albany, sometimes at a loss, but generally at a profit,
till Robert L. Stevens & Son '"^ bought him off. He
built boats of new models and of great power, and es-
tablished lines to Bridgeport, Norwalk, Derby, Xew
Haven, Hartford, New London, Providence and iS^ew-
*Tlie Commodore afterward said of the Stevenses, "Thev were
the greatest projectors of their day, with more faith than Fulton, or
Livingston, or any of us. They projected the New Jersey Railroad
and Canal, which nobody else thought would ever pay a dividend."
44 THE YANDEllBILTS.
port, and even Boston. lie reached in all directions for
patronage, and the snppl}^ was equal to the demand.
From 1S40 to 1S50 he made a great deal of money.
On the outbreak of the gold fever of California in
1849, the Commodore hastened to avail himself of the
opportunity which it offered to the enterprising carrier.
The Pacific Mail Steaniship Company monopolized
most of the transportation service, running steamers in
connection with both shores at Panama. The price for
the round trip was $600, and the service was verj^ bad.
" I can improve on that," said Yanderbilt ; " 1 can make
money at $300, crossing my passengers by Lake Nica-
ragua, a route six hundred miles shorter."
He built a fine large steamer, the Prometheus,* and
steamed down to the Ts icaragua crossing, three or four
hundred miles this side of Panama, dragging a small,
side- wheel steamboat, the Director, in tow.f This last
was for transporting passengers across Lake Kicai'agua,
which is a hundred miles long and fifty broad, located
among the tops of the Andes. How to get the boat up
into the lake was the question. The San Juan River
empties out of it, into the Caribbean Sea, near where
the Prometheus was anchored, but no boat had ever
tried to ascend it. Yanderbilt sent his engineers to ex-
plore it. They were gone a week, and reported that
the stream was not navigable ; that there were bars and
rocks, fallen trees and rapids and cascades in great
* This was tlie first steamer ever owned by an individual.
f He was so secretive about this venture that he ieft home in 1850,
it is alleged, without bidding good-by to his wife. She missed him
and made inquiries, found that the steamer had gone, whither no one
knew, and that he had been recently much seen studying a map of
Central America. In three weeks he was heard from, via Panama.
THE CALIFOIINIA LINE. 45
numbers ; bnt that tliey might drag the boat along by
easy stages, and cut side canals around the places that
were too steep to climb.
Tliis report disgusted the ISTapoleon of navigation,
who felt that he was losing $5,000 a day by the delay.
He tired up the little Director, boarded her with thirty
men, and announced to them that he was going up to
the lake"Mnthout anymore fooling." The engineers
were appalled, but on he went. Sometimes he got over
the rapids by putting on all steam ; sometiines when
this did not avail, he extended a heavy cable to great
trees up stream and warped the boat over in that way.
Every device was resorted to. On returning to New
York the engineers reported that he " tied down the
safety-valve and 'jumped' the obstructions, to the great
terror of the 'whole party."
He finally got to the lake and established his through
line. It was a good deal like the old Gibbons line —
a boat at each end and a portage between. Then came
an enormous rush of passengers, and the means of trans-
portation were increased. Two steamers were placed
on the river, the Clayton and Buhver, and a large one,
the Central America, on the lake. On tlie Atlantic
side the Commodore put the Prometheus, which was
his first ocean-built steamer, the Webster, the Star-of-
the-West, and the Northern Light, and on the Pacific
side five others. He started a boat from New York
every fortnight, and soon had the bulk of the travel,
making large sums and swelling his already innnense
fortune.
He made more than a million dollars a year in Nic*a-
ragua, besides the revenue from other enterprises at
46 THE VANDEEBILTS.
the same time. In the will contest, March 15, 1878,
Jacob J. Yan Pelt, who had known the Commodore for
lif tj years, said : " I remember when the Commodore
went off with his family in the North Star. I asked him
if he had everything fixed. He said yes, and added :
'Yan, I have got eleven millions invested better than
any other eleven millions in the United States. It is
worth twenty -five per cent, a year M'ithout any risk.'"
In 1853, thinkin.g he deserved a holiday, he sold out
his Nicaragua route to the Transit Line, and celebrated
his commercial success by going to Europe in the world-
renowned North Star, the largest pleasure steam-yacht
that had ever been coifstructed. It was a vessel of two
thousand tons, palatial in capacity and equipment. Ac-
companying him were his wife, and eleven children.*
It was an exhibition to Europe of a notable specimen
of republican institutions. The steamer was the largest
that liad ever been afloat at that timcf It was con-
* 1, Pliebe Jane, wife of one of her father's steam-ship captains ;
2, Ethelinda, wife of D. B. Allen, a retired merchant ; 3, AVilliam
H. ; 4, Emily, wife of W. K. Thorne ; 5, Eliza, Mrs. Osgood ; 6,
Sophia, wife of Daniel Torrance, a Montreal merchant; 7, Marie L.,
wife of Horace F. Clarke ; 8, Frances, wlio died at the age of forty ;
9, Maria Elecia, wife of N. La Ban ; 10, the wife of Captain Barker ;
11, George, the yonngest,
f Tlie steam-yacht North Star was built exjiressly for the pleasure
excursion to Europe, by Commodore Vanderbilt. It was 260 feet
long on the keel, 270 feet on the spar-deck, had a breadth of beam
of 88 feet, and was 28 feet G inches deep. It was furnished with two
lever-beam engines, and had four boilers, each 24 feet long. The
main saloon was fitted up with satinwood with just sufficient rose-
wood to relieve it. Tlie furniture was of rosewood carved in the
.style of Louis XV., and upholstered with figured i)lush velvet, a
green ground filled with llowers. The two sofas cost $o50 each ; the
THE GREAT YACHT CRUISE. 47
strncted on American models, by American workmen,
in an American ship-yard, and was commanded l)y the
man who was at once the owner, captain, designer, and
builder, himself the most remarkable .of American
products, for he liad risen to his position without tho'
aid of ancestry behind him or influential friends about
him, and was travelling in an ocean palace, the centi-e
of a flock of children equal to those of patriarchal times.
His story, repeated from nation to nation, did much to
stir the hopes and hearts of millions of peasants and
turn their eyes across the western sea. Everywhere
Vanderbilt and the North Star were received with hon-
ors. It was difficult to make the people of Europe be-
lieve tliat he was not a titled personage ; for in no other
four couches $300 eacli ; aud the six arm-chairs $50 each. There
were ten elegant state-rooms connecting with the saloon, each with a
large ghass door, the plate being 40 by 04 inches, and costing $100.
The berths were furnished with silk lambrequins and lace curtains.
Each room was in a di3erent color, as green and gold, crimson and
gold, orange, etc. Forward of the grand saloon was a magnificent
dining-room. The walls were covered with a preparation of "lig-
neous marble," which was polished to a degree of mirror-like briglit-
ness that marble is incapable of receiving. The panels were of
Naples granite, resembling jasper, and the surbase was of yellow
Pyrenees marble. The ceiling was white, with a scroll-work of pur-
ple, li_ght green, and gold surrounding medallion portraits of Webster,
Clay, Washington, Franklin, and others. The china was of ruby
and gold finish, and the silverware was the finest that could be had.
With the exception of a chaplain and family physician with their
wives, the passengers in the North Star were all members of the
family of Captain Vanderbilt, twenty-three persons in all. The cost
of this excursion was half a million of dollars. The party visited
Southampton, London, Stockholm, up the Neva to St. Petersburg,
then back to Gibraltar, and on to Naples, Malta, Athens, Constanti-
nople and Alexandria. [For further, see Appendix C]
48 THE VANDERBILTS.
way could tliey account for the magnificence and ele-
gance in wliicli lie moved.
In Southampton he was honored with a ceremonious
dinner at wliich two hundred sat down, many of theui
the best known publicists of England. At Boulogne,
Marseilles, and Genoa he was received with deep and
wide-spread interest, and saluted by the assembled ship-
ping. At St. Petersburg the Grand Duke Constantine
and the Admiral of the Russian Navy visited the ship
and obtained permission to have drawings made of her
model.
At Constantinople the officers of the Sultan were
equally inquisitive, and tendered to the Commodore
many compliments, doubtless in view of the existing
difficulties with " the Bear of the North," and the need
of American sympathy in the preparations being made
for that Crimean War which broke out the next year.
At Leghorn, under the dominion of Austria, the
North Star was regarded as a spy, and was evenbelieve(i
to be laden with munitions of war for the enemy at the
Bosphorus. So it was placed under surveillance, frowned
on by the guns of an Austrian num-of-war, and when
the visitors walked abroad in Leghorn they were es-
corted by a military officer for fear of unpleasant acci-
dents, with a crowd of the ununiformed sMrri hovei'ing
about them.
On the i-eturn of the party to New York, the Com-
modore rounded to in front of his old home at Stapleton,
and gave a royal salute to his venerable mother, who
lived in the little brown house upon the slope — the
mother whose wisdom and frugality had supplied him
with $100 to buy his first " periauger." Then he went
W. II. VANDERBII.T.
ruNisniisrG the transit company. 49
off in a boat and paid Iior an affectionate visit before
proceeding on his way. Within three months the old
lady died, expressing in her last words the pride and
pleasure she felt in the love of lier rich and successful
son. [See portrait.]
He now found himself in trouble M'ith the Nicaragua
Transit Company, to which he had sold a controlling
interest in his short route for the transportation of Cali-
fornians. The men to whom he sold had got rich, and
now refused to pay him according to the terms of the
contract. To prosecute them under the forms of law
would be an interiuitional affair, and would involve great
expense and nmch time. So the Commodore Avrote them
a note, which for brevity and energy recalls those mar-
velous epistles of twenty words which Napoleon uttered
when he wrote to the King of Prussia, " The success of
my arms is not doubtful. Your troops will be beaten."
The steamship general now wrote :
Gentlejien : You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue
you, for law is too slow. I will ruin you.
Yours truly,
CoKNELius Van Derbilt.
He kept his word. He put on another fleet of
steamers, and in two years the opposition line was ir-
retrievably bankrupt. Vanderbilt remained in the Cali-
fornia shipping business nine years more, making money
all the while, and accumulating not less than $10,000,000
in the business. At this time a remarkable character
appeared on the Central American stage — the filibuster.
Walker. Vanderbilt refused to transport his men or
munitions. Needing some money to carry out his revo-
4
60 THE VANDERBILTS.
lutionary schemos, lie seized upon tlie Yanderbilt fran-
chise, and arbitrarily confiscated it and resold it to
creatures of his own. Yanderbilt managed to save his
steamers from capture, and as soon as possible he brought
them again under the protection of the stars and stripes ;
for he had another large venture on his hands -which
needed attention.
When he returned from Europe he found the Cri-
mean war already broken out. The Cunard line of
steamers had been withdrawn for service between Eng-
land and the Black Sea. Collins was running a weekly
line of very good American steamers, but this was only
half the service required, and Vanderbilt offered to
form a partnership ^\^tll him and put on two more
steamships. Collins declined ; he feared to let the ter-
I'ible man get a foothold on his property,
" Very well," said the Commodore. He then went
to Washington and offered to put on two Atlantic
steamers, running once a fortnight, if Congress would
pay him for carrying the mail the same that the Eng-
lish steamers had been getting— 116,000 a trip. The
Collins line (American) was running, and receiving for
the mail $33,000 a trip, and Mr. Collins now visited
Yanderbilt to beg him not to bring down the price.
"If you will charge $33,000," said Collins, " I will back
your bill with my whole Congressional influence, and
Ave can pass it."
"No," said the inexorable Commodore; "my motive
is a patriotic one. If an Englishman can carry the
mails for $10,000, 1 can. I won't admit that a Bi'itisher
can beat us."
"It is not business, Connuodore," said the man of
AN OCEAN" LINE OF STEAMERS. 51
subsidy, " to take ^16,000 when yon can get twice that.
1 can't make it pay as it is."
" Then yon are probably in a business that yon don't
understand," persisted the Coniniodoro ; " let nic try it."
In response to Collins's ui-gency he substituted another
proposition, whieli he called a " compromise," to carry
the mails for it;19,750 a round trip, and agree that he
should not be paid anything if he failed to beat the
Collins steamers every trip.
But he could not get even this measure through Con-
gress. The Collins subsidy influence was too strong.
Yet he was not embittered, and when the Arctic was
lost he offered his rival the North Star for nothing, till
he could replace her. Then he calmly went to work,
built three Atlantic steamers, finer and faster than any
in the world, and organized a new line from Xew York
to Havre. These vessels were the Ariel, the Harvest
Queen, and the never-to-be-forgotten Yanderbilt ; and
their accommodations were so palatial, and their speed
so great, that they became the favorites of travellers.
The ocean races of this time were most exciting, and
attracted world-wide attention. The racers of the Col-
lins' line were the Arabia and Persia, and those of the
Havre line the Yanderbilt and the Ariel. The Commo-
dore's steamers made the quickest time nine trips out
of ten.
Then he proclaimed his grand coup. He offered to
carry the foreign mails for nothing. This struck terror
to the heart of Collins. President Pierce vetoed his
subsidy, and the " Collins Line " disappeared from the
ocean.
Yanderbilt did not seize upon the Atlantic cari-ying
52 THE VANDERBILTS.
trade as it was expected he would do Avlien lie got such
a firm hold of it. He v;as not a man of sentiment or of
chimeras. There was nothing Quixotic about him. He
carefully examined the business, and concluded that it
" wouldn't pay to push it." So he sold some of his ves-
sels, transferred some to other lines of travel, and grad-
ually began to withdraw his money from shipping, where
it must always suffer from European competition, and
invest it in railroads which were protected fi'om the ri-
valry of half-paid Italians and Scandinavians. When
the Kebellion broke upon the country, a good many of
his investments had already been transferred from the
water to the land, so that his prosperity suffered no
shock.*
He was now an old man ; but his usefulness was not
3'et over. When the rebel ram, Merrimac, burst out of
its hiding-place, and made such fearful havoc among
* In 1818 Mr. Vauderbilt attended to the building of tlie steamer
Bellona, of wliicli lie was fifterward Captain. He afterward bxiilt
many other steamships, as follows: In 1820, the Caroline; 1821,
the Fanny ; 1822, the Thistle and Emerald ; 1824, the Swan ; 1826,
tiie Citizen ; 1827-28, the Cinderella, Bolivar, Clifton, Clayton,
Union, Chamjiion, New Champion, Nimrod, Hunchback, Living-
ston, Director, Cleopatra, Westchester, Sound Champion, Linnaes,
North Carolina, Governor Dudley, Vanderbilt, and Gibraltar, the
four last for the regular mail line between Washington and Charles-
ton. Then followed the Gladiator, Kill von KuU, Central America,
Sylph, Westfield, Augusta, Wilmington, Red Jacket, Traveller, Hugue-
not, Graysia, Hannah Burt, Eastern, C. Vanderbilt, and Commodore,
the last two forming the great Boston line, via Stonington. He next
placed on the route across the Isthmus eight steamships, and the five
vessels that ran between Havana and Matanzas. He also built the
Prometheus, Daniel Webster, Star of the West, Northern Light, and
North Star. At this time he gave employment to more men than any
otlier one man in the country.
HEADING OFF THE MERHOIAC. 63
onr frigates in Hampton Roads, great was the conster-
nation in AV^ashington. Ericsson's little Monitor, arriv-
ing at Fortress Monroe in the nick of time, had driven
the monster into his cave, hnt it was feared that he
would emerge again presently and continue tlie devasta-
tion.
Thurlow Weed was at the Capital at the time, and he
telegraphed to Commodore Yanderbilt, with whom lie
had already been associated in the work of sending sol-
diers to the front. The Commodore went at once. On
liis arrival, he was taken into the presence of the Presi-
dent, whom he found in great distress and alarm. His
attention was called to the condition of affairs at Fort-
ress Monroe, and Mr. Lincoln asked :
" How mnch will you take to stop that rebel ram
and keep it away ? "
" No money will hire me to do it," said the visitor. " I
will not make money out of the sorrows of my country."
The President was perplexed and silent, but the Com-
modore presently said: "I have a ship that I believe
will take care of that devil. If you will man it I will
take the command, and go down there and do the busi-
ness up myself. I ask only that I may be free from the
bossing of the Xavy Department."
Instant relief was felt and expressed. He returned
to i^ew York on the first train, and in thirty-six hours
lie was steaming past Fortress Monroe into the mouth
of the James River, and the admiral in chai'ge looked
inquiringly and admiringly at the steamer whose
shadow loomed over the water like a great cloud. Tlie
Commodore was then sixty-seven years old, and the ship
was his sturdy namesake, the Vanderbilt. She was the
54 THE VANDERBILTS.
pride of his lieart, tlie concentrated result of all his
matured knowledge of ship-building.
lie showed his credentials. The officer in charge
asked him what he proposed to do if the Merrimac
should reappear. " Run her down," he said, " as a
hound runs down a wolf ; strike her amidships and
sink her."
" How can 1 help you ? "
" Only by keeping out of the way when I am hunt-
ing the cutter."
The Merrimac was seen no more. She kept her hid-
ing-place. After the danger was over, the Commodore
returned home, and was superseded by a naval officer.
He wrote and offered the vessel to the government till
the war should be over, and the offer was gladly ac-
cepted. Wlien the Alabama commenced her ravages,
the Yanderbilt, now equipped as a war-vessel, went after
lier and hunted her for twelve months.
At the close of the war, during which Vanderbilt
had made great contributions, and had given the life of
his favorite son, the government, instead of returning
the borrowed vessel to her owner, had her mustered into
the United States Navy, and formally returned thanks
for tlie present !
The followino; are the resolutions of Cono-ress :
" WIte}'eas, Cornelius Vanderbilt, of New York, did, during
the spring of 1862, make a free gift to his imiDerilled couutiy of
his new and stanch steamship Vanderbilt, of five thousand tons
burden, built by him, with the greatest care, of the best mate-
rial, at a cost of $800,000, which steamship has ever since been
actively employed in the sei-vice of the republic against rebel
devastations of her commerce, and
THANKED UY CONGRESS. 65
" inm'eas, the said Covnelius Yandorbilt has in no manner
songht any requital of this magnificent gift or any official recog-
nition thereof ; therefore
" BESOii\'ED, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks
of Congress be presented to Cornelius Vanderbilt for his unique
manifestation of a fervid and large-soulod patriotism.
"Eesolved, That the President of the United States be re-
quested to cause a gold medal to be struck which shall fitly
embody an attestation of the nation's gratit^ide for this gift,
which medal shall be forwarded to Cornelius Vanderbilt ; and a
copy of it shall be made and deposited for preservation in the
Library of Congress."
An "appropriate" medal was struck of solid gold,
weio'liing six oimces, and measuring three inches across.
On the reverse is the likeness of the donor, or, ratlier,
of tlie former owner of tlie vessel, and the legend " A
grateful country to her generous son," and on the ob-
verse, in has reliefs the figure of Columbia with Xep-
tune laying his trident at her feet, and the motto, ^'' Bis
dat qui tenipori dat " (he gives best who gives quickly),
and in the back-ground a correct outline of the steamer
Vanderbilt.
The Congressional Committee authorized to present
him with the resolutions and tlie twenty-five-dollar
medal had rather a stormy time of it. lie rehearsed
the particulars of the theft, and asked them if that was
the way a great and noble nation ouglit to conduct itself.
Some of them declared that they liad misunderstood,
and wanted to return the vessel. " Xo ! devil take your
impudence ! " shouted the Commodore, " keep her. I
don't care about a little thing like that ! "
Commodore Vanderbilt was now one of the richest
56 THE VANDEEBILTS.
men in Xew York, l^early a linndred vessels answered
to his call. His keels fretted every sea. lie never
speculated, but always bought property to improve it.
He was not content unless everything that he owned
prospered. The magnates of Wall Street began to look
at his great wealth with an inquiring eye, for when the
Rebellion broke out he was worth not less than twenty
millions of dollars.
CHAPTER VII.
TWENTY YEARS A FARMER.
William at New Dorp, Staten Island — The Farm — Energy and Econ-
omy— The Seat on tlie Fence — A Mortgage and Consequent
Wrath — " Four Dollars a Load" — A Spurt on the Road— A New
House — The Farm Pays.
AYhen, ill 18412, William II. Yanderbilt went to his
farm on the southeast shore of Staten Island, at the
foot of the lane leading from the New Dorp chnrch to
the beach, he was no better off in this woi'ld's goods
than his farming neighbors. Indeed, he was poorer
than most of them. The house to which he took his
yomig wife, and in which he lived till ISO-Jr, was a small,
square, plain, two-stoiy structure facing the sea, with a
lean-to at one end for a kitchen. All told, it could hardly
have contained more than five rooms — about as many
as that in which, two generations before, his grandfather
had reared his family at Stapleton, five miles north
across the fields.
The little farm was a part of the neglected barrens of
Staten Island, and needed abundant fertilizing and care-
ful tillage to render it fruitful. Fortunately, it proved
tolerably easy to cultivate. It was almost as level as a
house-floor, without a stone or stump, and the soil a thin
sandy loam. Then, as now, there were but few trees on
the place, and these mostly clustered about the front of
58 THE VANDEEBILTS.
tlie house, or fringed the lane leading up to the road.
Then, as now, all of these shore farms had a hit of
woodland back on the hills, sufficient to furnish fence-
rails and fuel for the winter's fires.
From the first, Mr. Vanderbilt determined to make a
success of farming. He was poor, but he meant to be
better off. The house was small, but he resolved that
it should be larger. The land was poor, but he planned
how to enrich it and make it profitable. He was un-
known and unnoticed, but he meant by-and-by to be on
a social and financial equality with his neighbors.
His method was novel in that region. He never
worked much with his own hands, following the plow
or hoeing corn, but he took care that those whom he
employed did a good day's M'ork, and he was always
master of the situation. He was what is called " a gen-
tleman farmer ; " l>ut he gave his undivided attention to
the business in hand, and got as much as it was possible
to get out of his narrow acres.
One-of his old farm-hands say^ : " He was a hard mas-
ter to work for. He would hire fresh hands in the
spring or during haying ' on trial,' and naturally they
would take care to produce a good impression with their
first day's work. At night Mr. Vanderbilt would count
the number of rows of corn they had hoed, or the
number of bales of hay they had pressed, and then re-
quire them to do the same amount of work every day.'^
He would tolerate no shirk on the place ; and if a man
did not come up to his requirements, he was paid off
and discharged.
" Billy," said the Commodore, visiting him one day,
" I think you work your men too hard."
AN EXACTING BOSS. 59
" They are willing to work hard if I have the money
to pay them," was the I'eply, and the old millionaire M^as
no doubt secretly pleased.
" He was a downright square man," says one who
worked for him for twenty years, " sociable, reliable,
honest, prompt to pay, quick to recognize merit. I don't
want any better boss."
lie looked sharply after liis men, and allowed none to
idle. His favorite occupation was to sit upon the top
rail of the fence surrounding the field, and whittle a
stick or read a newspaper while watching the men. All
the neighbors laughed at this method of tilling the
earth, and even the workmen had their quiet fun over
it. One of these, still living, tells a story to the young
farmei"'s disadvantage. He was directed one afternoon
to repair the fence where they were planting corn, and
he adjusted the top rails with their sharp edges up. Mr.
Vanderbilt came out in the morning as the men went to
work, and walked all round the field looking for a com-
fortable place to sit.
" How's this ? " he shouted to the fence-builder.
" What did you put all the rails on this way for — sharp
edge up ? "
" Because," answered the man, as his fellows began to
titter, " so's folks won't be coming along and sitting on
'em and wearing 'em out."
He was already fond of horses, and at times lie rode
behind the mowing-machine ; and every afternoon
about four o'clock he went for a drive along the smooth
roads of Staten Island. Society, finance, the great city,
the world beyond the bay, seemed to have no attrac-
tions for him. He was essentially a domestic man, lived
60 THE YANDERBILTS.
largely in the midst of liis farnilj, and spent all his
evenings at home. On Sniidays he took his wife and
his growing children hehind liira, and had a spin np
the island to the Episcopal clinrch at Clifton, passing
the little Moravian clmrch of his ancestors on the way.
The farming experiment was a success. He had in five
years transformed the wastes of his little farm into a
blooming garden. The seventy acres returned a fair in-
come, and enabled him to support liis family well, and
to keep the best horses on tlie island. But he was am-
bitious to enlarge the fiekl of his operations, and through
a friend he applied to his millionaire father for a loan
of $5,000.
" No ! " was the answer. " It is just as I expected.
He is a lazy spendthrift, and will never amount to any-
thing."
William then borrowed $6,000 of a neighbor, gave a
mortgage on liis farm for it, and bought enough of the
adjoining land to give him three hundred and fifty acres.
He also enlarged his house. The neighbor of whom he
borrowed the money was more talkative than discreet.
In the grocery down at the village he took the large
note from his pocket and exhibited it, casually remark-
ing: "Some folks says that Cornele Yanderbilt is wuth
two million dollars or more, and there's folks that be-
lieved it. Well, mebby he is '; but you can't tell how much
them New Yorkers is wuth — nor how little neither."
The old man heard of the speech, and the next Sun-
day he drove down to New Dorp and asked his agricult-
ural son to go outriding with him. The invitation was
accepted, and a conversation ensued, which was told of
afterward by the unhappy son.
REPROACHES AND HELP. 61
" Billy, have you borrowed money of that old
fool ? "
" Yes, father ; I couldn't help it."
" You know what I think of such things ? "
" Yes, father ; but "
" Bill, you don't amount to a row of pins ! You
won't never be able to do anything but bring disgrace
upon yourself, and your family, and everybody con-
nected with 3'ou. There's nothing to you, and Tve
made up my mind to have nothing more to do with
you ! "
Wlieu he had a chance to speak the young farmer re-
marked that he had done nothing to be ashamed of ;
that the mortgage was a business operation, and he
could and should pay it off when due ; that he had al-
ways tried to please his father, and should need no
money from liim at any time.
The next morning the Commodore sent him a check
for the 86,000, with the remark that he was '' lending a
little on real estate himself just now," and orders to his
son to pay off the mortgage before he slept.
In farming William II. Vanderbilt gave his atten-
tion chiefly to hay, corn, potatoes, and oats. Sometimes
he raised annually some 1:00 tons of timothy, 1,500 bar-
rels of potatoes, 1,000 bushels of corn, and 10 aci-es of
oats. Some years he had a good-sized patch of cab-
bages, the product of which he sold ia Clifton. He M'as
not a " truck-farmer," growing only enough vegetables
for his own nse, and keeping enough cows to supply his
family wants.
At first he took his hay and corn up to Xew York on
echooners, and sold them in open market ; but when
62 THE VANDERBILTS.
liis father became interested in the horse-rail way he
had a sure market, at top prices, for all he could raise.
During the war he made money rapidly, selling all of his
hay to the Government at Camp Scott, on the island,
where Sickles's Brigade was formed, and disposing of
his potatoes at the rate of $0 a barrel.
In a bargain made about this time he got ahead of
his father and turned toward himself, temporarily at
least, some of that gentleman's admiration. His fertil-
izing matei'ial he obtained from the city, and one day
he got some from the Fouilh Avenue stables and car-
ried it down on a scow\ The next day he saw his father
and asked him how much he would charge for ten loads.
"What'll you give?" asked the Commodore.
".It's worth $4: a load to me," said the farmer.
" Good enough, I'll let yon have it for that," answered
the railroad man, having a very decided impression that
the price named was at least twice as much as the stuff
M^as worth.
Kext day he found his rustic son with another scow
just loaded for home.
" How many loads have you got on that scow, Billy ? "
asked the Commodore, in excellent humor.
" How many ? " i-epeated the son, feigning surprise,
" one, of course."
"One! why there's at least thirty ! " the old gentle-
man exclaimed, inspecting it curiously.
" Xo, father, I never put bnt one load on a scow — one
scow-load ! Cast off the lines, Pat ! "
The senior Vanderbilt made no reply. He would let
it go so, and Bill should have the rest of it. He was
struck dumb with a mixture of cham-in and frratiiica-
THE COMMODOr.E ASTONISHED. 68
tion. The workman "who narrates the incident a<l<ls:
"The Commodore wa'n't no gret hand to stan' aronnd,
and 1 never see him stan' still so long before as he stood
that afternoon on the dock, looking at thort scow goin'
across the harbor." He was probably sizing np " Billy "
anew, and wondering whether he might not make a
railroad man after all.
At one time Mr. Yanderbilt was deeply interested in
a gentleman's clnb, of which he was made president, and
which had a trotting-coni-se on his farm, near the beach.
ISTone bnt members were admitted, and these consisted
of the well-to-do farmers of the island. Yanderbilt's
liorses were considered the best.
He had conformed to his father's taste in I'aising
choice stock and good horses. He became very fond of
horse-flesh, and had a pair that he felt sure nothing on
the island could pass. He was not in the habit of tak-
ing anybody's dust. One day when he was out on the
road exercising his favorite span, and passing every-
thing upon the waj', he suddenly became half conscious
of rolling wheels behind him. The half consciousness
of rolling wheels soon became full consciousness of ap-
proaching wheels. " Aha ! " he said to himself, " some-
body around here has got a new team. I'll show
them ! " And he drew tighter those leathern conductors
which convey the purpose of a driver to an intelligent
and spirited horse, and as liis speed increased he re-
sumed the conversation with his companion. In a jnin-
nte he felt that the wheels were gaining on him, and he
uttered to his team that sound of encouragement which
the horse knows so well, " t — ck ! t— ck ! " following it
with a " G'-long ! " The buggy spun over the smooth
64 TJIE YAXDERBILTS.
road, and "William complacently thought that the myste-
rious wheels had vanished. Kot so. Their solid thump
behind him grew painfully distinct, and he drew from
the socket the whip and gave a couple of smart cuts to
those astonished horses that had not been struck before
in a year ; and he remarked to his guest, " They are not
feeling very well to-day." No use ; the spinning vehi-
cle buzzed nearer and neai'er, the noses of the mysteri-
ous steeds M-ere opposite his seat. He half turned and
glanced at them out of a corner of his eye, then hauled
up and exclaimed, " Why, father ! It's you, is it ? I
M'ondered who on earth it could be ! "
" Yes, it's me, Billy. Them's good horses of yours,
but you must give 'em some more oats before you go
out racing ! "
Mr. Yanderbilt took no part in politics or public af-
fairs, and is not known ever to have made a speech in
his life. In 1855 he reconstructed the old farm-house
of five rooms, and made large additions, more than
doubling it in size ; the whole forming a country villa in
the Italian style, with tower, piazzas, bay-window, etc.
He used to regard it as the finest house in the country,
and expected and hoped to end his days there. Within
these walls all of his children were born, and there he
spent the happiest days of his life.
He M^as no longer a poor farmer. He had proved a
success. Years before he M'as called by his father to
engage in those vast affairs which finally crushed the
life out of him, he had become an independent man — a
farmer of ample means and plenty of money for all his
wants, who afforded himself the luxury of a coachman,
tine horses, and various sorts of ec^uipages. !Now and
A SUCCESSFUL FARMER. 65
then a large entertainment was given at the farni-
liouse, with a city caterer ; trees were liung full of Chi-
nese lanterns, and guests were present from all parts of
the island.
When he finally abandoned the farm to go to Xew
York, it was yielding him an income of §12,000 a year,
or SI, 000 a month, or 83-i a day, or 81.-1:2 an hour
(in the impressive method of calculating revenues which
lias of late come so much in vogue\ contrary to the pre-
dictions and expectations of the exacting and skeptical
millionaire.
CHAPTER VIII.
WILLIAM'S APPRENTICESHIP.
Tlie Staten Island Railroad — Its Ruin and Regeneration — Death of
Captain George — An Obedient Son — New Schemes.
Four or five jears before tlie war an event occurred
having an important bearing on this history. Largely
through the efforts of William II. Vanderbilt the Staten
Island Railroad, thirteen miles long, was built, skirting
the eastern shore of the island from Vanderbilt's Land-
ing. It was a great public convenience, and was indis-
pensable to the development of the island, but shortly
it was well-nigh M-i-ecked by the gross mismanagement
of its officers and directors. It was overwhelmed with
debts and embarrassments ; and, as Mr. Vanderbilt was
one of the most prominent of its projectors and stock-
holders, and his father was a large owner, it was unani-
mously decided to make him receiver of the bankrupt
road. It is reported and understood that the proposition
came from his father, who still had a lingering cui'iosity
to know whether there was "anything in Billy." AVith-
out hesitation the farmer accepted the ti-ust. lie had
had no experience as a railroad manager, but he possessed
hard sense and business capacity, and there M'as general
confidence in him.
He went at the Nvork Avith much enero-v. He re-
FIRST RAILROAD MANAGEMENT. 67
dnced expenses at once ; practised rigid economy ; stopped
all leaks ; discovered new sonrces of patronage ; con-
nected tlie road with New York by an independent line
of ferry-boats, and began to pay off the claims. The
little road was without money, without credit, without
materials, without organization ; but he introduced sys-
tem, and in two years of the hardest times he had paid
off the last dollar of indebtedness, and put the company
on a secure and permanent financial basis. Then, by ac-
clamation, he was made President of the road and con-
tinued successfully to administer its affairs.^ It ma}'-
well be believed, as is alleged, that his father looked on
with astonishment. Chagrin may even have been mixed
with his surprise, and a suspicion that he might have
made an erroneous estimate of the qualities of his son.
It was probably at this time that he began slowly to
revise his old conclusions. " Is that the fool of the
famil}' ? '' he said to himself. " Or have I made a
mistake ? "
Another thing happened which seriously affected the
Commodore. His youngest son, the West Point cadet,
George, in whose high future he had great hopes, went
to the war, rose to the rank of captain, and broke down
from exposure in the field in front of Corinth. He had
been one of the most athletic young men that ever
graduated from our military college ; he was tall, pow-
erful, and on his twenty-second birthday lifted a dead
weight of nine hundred pounds. But the hardships of
the war were too much for the young captain, and he
was now sent to Europe to save his imperiled life. He
* When he took hold of the road it was worth less than nothing,
and in five years its stock sold at $175 a share.
68 THE YANDERBILTS.
lingered in the Riviera, bnt got worse ratiier than better.
His father, now thoroughly alarmed, sent William to
Europe to take care of him. The two brothers traveled
together a year, to no good end, and the yonng soldier
died at Paris.
Already there -were nnmerons evidences that "Wil-
liam H. would win his obdurate father's confidence at
last. After his railroad Receivership, they saw more
of each other, and the son was ti-eated M-ith somewhat
less reserve. He was prudent and obedient, as he had
always been. He stooped to conquer. From his boy-
hood he had given instant and willing submission to the
despotic will of his father, and had made boundless
sacrifices to please him. Most men would have burst
defiantly away from the repressive control and imperious
requirements ; but he doubtless thought that for the
chance of becoming heir to $100,000,000 he could affoitl
to remain long in the passive attitude of a distrusted
prince.
It was known to the Commodore's business asso-
ciates at the office, that the way to please him was to
agree with him. When his favorite watch was criti-
cised by some visitor as being " too fast," the railroad-
king is reported to have exclaimed, " Guess not ; liow is
yours, R ?" calling to a clei-k in the next room.
" Same as yours, Commodore ! "' replied the sapient
youth.
W^illiam H. was almost equally acquiescent. He tiied
in every possible way to please his father. It is related
that when tiie famous trip to Europe was made in the
North Star, the father and son were walking the deck
one day, both smoking energetically, as usual.
FROM SEA TO SHORE. QO
"1 wisli 3"on wonldrrt smoke, Billy; it's a bad habit,"
said the father ; " Til give you $10,000 to stop it."
"Why, I didn't know as you objected to it, father,"
said the man of thirty. " You needn't hire me to give
it up. Your wish is enough. 1 will never smoke
again." And off the blue Canaries he flung his last
cigar into the sea. But his father smoked till he died.
Such a son was sure to make his way at last, through
even an iron- plated distrust.
The Conmiodore was much afflicted by the death of
George, and, though the proud man probably did not
confess it to himself, his heart turned thenceforth more
warmly toward the successful farmer of Staten Island.
About this time Harlem Railroad stood at three cents
on a dollai", and there was no- sale. Charles W. Sand-
ford, its counsel, viewing with alarm its deplorable con-
dition, sought an interview with the Commodore for the
purpose of urging him to become a director, and to give
the property the benefit of his great executive ability.
Yanderbilt shook his head, and was with difficulty per-
suaded to embark in the enterprise. Finally, however,
lie consented to take a little interest if Daniel Drew
would go in Avith him. " Uncle Dan'l " consented. They
invested.
1 Seeing that more money would thereafter be made
on the land than on the sea, the Commodore had sold all
his ships to Allen & Garrison for three million dollars
in cash, and had put it into railroad stock. He w\^s now
nearly seventy, the Psalmist's allotted age, and every-
body said it was high time for him to retire, and live a
quiet life during the evening of his days. He had ac-
cumulated, men said, not less than twenty millions of
70 THE VANDEKBILTS.
dollars. It was enough. He ought not to risk it in
speculations, and it was not likely he would do such a
mad thing. Some laughed and shook their heads, and
said, " Like other old men, the Commodore fancies that
he is as young as ever, and it would be just like him to
rush into the railroad business, which he knows nothing
about, merely because he has succeeded in steamboat-
ing, which was his trade ! "
There was sense in what was said. It was fair and
reasonable to assume that a man who had proved him-
self so superior to all others in one important sphere of
activity, and had practised it with rare success for more
than half a century, could not, when past the allotted
age of man, learn the methods and acquire all the dif-
ficult details of an entirely new business. But this was
not an ordinary man, and he could not be judged by
ordinary rules. As a matter of fact, this giant of
achievement had just entered upon the most brilliant
period of his life, and he doubled his wealth four times
during the next fifteen years.
CHAPTER IX.
THE HARLEM CORNER.
Into Railroads — Harlem at 3— Buying to Keep — Public Sympathy —
Aldermen Set a Trap — Get Caught — Six Rules of Management —
The Legislature in Trouble — Harlem at 285! — Fights and Con-
quers the Central — No Sympathy Needed.
The Commodore was a novice in the railroad realm,
but he took a little tnrnin Wall Street in hissixtj-ninth
year.* He went to buying stock in the Harlem Road.
He did not bny it to speculate by selling it again, but he
bought it to hold it.
Indeed, he was not a speculator. None of the Yan-
derbilts have ever been speculators in the Wall Street
sense, and neither the Commodore nor his son was a
member of the Stock Exchange, whei'e gamblers and ad-
venturers howl at each other and wildly play battledore
and shuttlecock with the table of valnes. The Com-
modore did not believe in buying or selling invisible
things. And he did not believe in selling the same
thing that he bought. He bought opportunities, and''
sold achievements. Pie bon<»;lit nest-errors, and sold
* It is related of the Commodore that, being solicited to subscribe
to start the Harlem Road, in 1882, he abruptly declined, explaining :
" I'm a steamboat-man, a competitor of these steam contrivances that
you tell us will run on dry land. Go ahead. I wish you well ; but
I never shall have anything to do with "em ! "
72 THE YANDERBILTS.
chickens. He bought roads that were thriftless and in
disorder, and he sold them when they had become
models of order and thrift ; or, oftener, he did not sell
tliem "at all, because he could make them pay moi'e than
anybody else could. Duiing a stress of affairs once, a
reporter called on him at his office, Xo. 5 Bowling Green,
and a brief talk was had, as follows:
" Good morning, young man."
" What do you say about the panic, Commodore ? "
" I don't say anything about it."'
" What do you think about it, then ? "
" 1 don't think about it at all."
"What would you say about it if you thought about
it. Commodore ? "
" How can I tell ? " said the interrogated magnate,
laughing. " See here, young man, 3'ou don't mean to
go away till I say something. Very well ; I'll say some-
thing. Don't you never buy anything you don't want,
nor sell anything you hain't got ! "
This was his settled principle. He skinned the wolves,
but not the " lambs." He played a strong game, but it
was not the game of the juggler. So ]iow he went into
Harlem stock, in the winter of '62-'63, from an honest
conviction that it was a good thing to buy and own. This
was the first railroad built running out of Kew York
City in any direction, and duiing its earlier years it
went only up into Westchester County and stopped.
Even thus it was the wonder of that time. But it had
fallen into the hands of the incompetent and the dis-
honest ; it had been badly managed and looted ; its
credit was gone ; its roadbed was shaky ; and its stock,
which went at $3 a share in 1857, and was worth only
DIPS INTO harlp:m. 73
$6 a share in 1S50, and $8 or $9 in ISGO, sold not mnch
liiglier when lie began to buy lieavily.
Wlien he had advanced a considerable sum of money
to the road, tlie stock doubled in value under the
magic of his name, and before spring grass was green
it sold at 30. This was more than it M-as worth, the
"knowing ones " said ; and when he went on buying
right and left, they exchanged sym[>atlietic nods and
said, " His second childhood ! This dabbling in I'ailroads
spi'ings from the morbid, irrepressible activity of old
age, and will end in his ruin." The world had accepted
him as the greatest steamboat manager that ever lived,
and it could not comprehend that he was equally great
at everything.
Along toward Apiil a rumor was in 'the air that the
Commodore had got some new franchise, or advantage,
but nobody seemed to know exactly what it was. Stock
crept up to 50. Suddenly, on the evenhig of April 21st,
the Common Council of the City of Xew York passed
an ordinance authorizing him to build a street railroad
all the way down Broadway to the Batterj' ; and next
d*ay, when the brokers heard of it, up went Harlem to
75 at one jump, then crept along to par. The Commo-
dore and his friends felt rich, and he was elected Presi-
dent of the road on May 19th ; but the game was not
yet finished.
Late in June a curious phenomenon was noticed by
close observers : the very xVldermen who had been so
generous with their franchises began to sell Harlem
short — that is, sell it for future delivery at a pi ice lower
than the price then prevailing. These men had made
up their minds that they could all get rich by selling the
4
74 THE VAIS^DERBILTS.
stock short, and then repealing the ordinance they had
just passed giving the street-railroad franchise to the
Commodore. They let their confidential friends into
the secret, and they gave their confidential friends the
" point," till there were a thousand men throwing Harlem
npon the market.
To the uninitiated it may be M'ell to explain this
familiar trick of stock-gamblers : When stock in Har-
lem was selling at 100, they could get plenty of people
to agree to take it in a month at 90 ; then they could
repeal the ordinance that had sent it up, and, logically,
it ought to drop to 50 or 60. By buying at these prices
and delivering at 90, they could make the difference,
$30 or $40 a share. This is what they attempted to do.
The Commodore heard of the perfidy, but he calmly
went on buying, and got others to buy for him. He
took all the "shorts" which Drew and the other " bears "
liad to offer ; and, as the total amount of the stock was
not large (one hundred and ton thousand sliai-es), the
greedy operatoi-s had, before they knew it, sold more
than existed. Then the Council rescinded the ordi-
nance, and Judge Brady simultaneously, in the Court of
Common Pleas, enjoined the laying of rails in Broad-
way, Everything looked like disaster foi' Yanderbilt.
The merry brokers kept selling short. The stock
dropped to 72, rebounded, dropped, and rose and fell
again with febrile symptoms.
At this juncture those who had sold short wanted to
deliver, and Avent into the market to buy "cheap.*'
Up went Harlem to 100, 115, 120, 130, 110, 150, 170 !
There was a panic and a howl of dismay. The shorts
could not be covered, because the Commodore held all
RUINS THE ALDERMEX. 75
of tlie stock. Seeing that the assault had been made on
him personally, he was inexorable, lie and his partnei'S
in the bull movement took a million of dollars from the
Council that week, and other millions from others, and
compelled them to make their last settlements at $179 a
share! The Common Council was ruined.
Stock soon settled again toward the former rate,
Vanderbilt sellino; meantime and makino; a o-ood deal of
money, lie strengthened his hold of the property by
associating his son William 11. with him as vice-presi-
dent. The president did not often feel the need of
consulting the vice-president as to projected ventures,
but he left to him the management of details and the
execution of the schemes he planned. William 11. im-
mediately put in practice here the same method which
he had used with such brilliant results in the resurrec-
tion of the dead little road on Staten Island. It was
found to be equally adapted to large roads and large re-
sults. They repaired the track, improved the speed,
and managed the road as a gi'eat property ought to be
managed to make money decently. Before long traffic
and travel increased, and it became obvious that this was
a good property to own. Everything combined to favor
the Vanderbilt experiment ; even the presence of deso-
lating war increased the revenues.
Commodore Yanderbilt's methods in railroad manage-
ment may be briefly summarized : 1, buy your rail-
road ; 2, stop the stealing that went on under the other
man ; 3, improve it in every practicable way within a
reasonable expenditure ; -i, consolidate it with any other
road that can be run with it economically ; 5, water its
stock ; 6, make it pay a large dividend.
73 THE VANDERBILTS.
Having Harlem Vn'oII in hand, in the fall of 1S63 the
Commodore began to buy Hudson River Raih-oad stock.
It had been going at 25. The road had never paid, and
was a foot-ball in the street. He bought everything
in the open market without concealment. He did not
want to speculate ; he wanted to make the road make
money. JN^obody understood him. He was in his seven-
tieth 3'ear, but his faculties were very alert, and he
was physically almost as lively as when he proudl}'-
stood in his own "periauger." Before many months he
had secured control of the road. He saw that the two
lines were rivals without any good result to either their
owners or the public, and he now made up his mind to
procure their consolidation.
With this purpose he caused a bill to bo introduced
into the Legislature at Albany authorizing that act. It
was an enormous project, and its value was not under-
estimated by members of the Senate and Assembly.
The owners of the Central and directors of the Erie
fought him by every device, but the Commodore went
up and engineered his own bill with results that prom-
ised high success. He secured the pledge of a majority
of the members that they would pass the measure, and
of the governor that he would sign it. Stock innne-
diately leaped up again to 75, and then to 100, 130, 150,
the Connnodore buying all he could at reasonable prices.
After he left Albany, in February, 1864, treachery be-
gan to show itself among the members who had pledged
themselves to him. They concluded, as the Aldermen
had done a year before, that they could make a good
deal more money by selling Harlem for future delivery,
and then defeating the bill, than they could by passing
THE OLD GAME TRIED AGAIN". 77
it. The gentlenifrn wlio liad cliarge of the matter re-
ported their perfidy to the Coiiiinodore, who, in antici-
pation of success, had been lieavily buying stock. He
was enraged at their trickery, but he went on buying as
usual. They carried out tlieir new progi'aniine — tliey
defeated the bilL From 150 stock fell off fifty-nine
points, and thei-e it stuck, refusing to go below 90.
A damage of millions had been inflicted on Yanderbilt
and his friends. If the gamblers had been satisfied
to deliver the stock then, they would have made a
good deal of money. But this was not at all what
they had looked for and bargained for. They ex-
pected the stock to go down to 50, giving them a clear
profit of four or five million dollars. And this was worth
waiting for. So they waited.
At this juncture the Commodore sent for John Tobin,
who had formerly been a gate-keeper of the first ferry-
house on Staten Island, but who was now worth two or
three million dollars, a part of which was made in the
Harlem corner with the Commodore during the pre-
vious summer. He, too, had been buying heavily of
the stock, paying above par for a good deal of it. They
talked the matter over.
" They stuck you, too, John. How do you feel about
it ? " asked the president of Harlem.
Tobin said he had held on to his stock ; so he should
meet no actual loss, unless he sold.
"Shall we let 'em bleed us?" continued the Com-
modore. " John, don't them fellows need dressing
down ? "
Tobin agreed that they did.
" Let's teach 'em never to go back on their word
78 THE VANDERBILTS.
again as long as thev draw breath. Let's try the liar-
lem corner."
Tobin acquiesced, and said he could spare a million
dollars for it, and the senior partner in this plot of ret-
ribution agreed to put in as much more as was needed.
To buy at par all the rest of the stock that was out of
their hands would require four or five millions of dol-
lars. They began to buv secretly but rapidly.
JVIeantiuie, the treacherous members of the Legisla-
ture, having what they considered " a sure thing," not
only sold Harlem short for all they were worth, but
confidentiall}- let their friends in, so that in a month
millions of dollars' worth had been sold to be delivered
during the summer at various prices below par, the
coalition supposing and alleging to each other that in
two months Harlem could " be bought for a song."
They were surprised that their treacliery did not
bring the president of Harlem to Albany to remon-
strate with them. Xo; he stayed at home and bouglit
stock. The bill for consolidation had been defeated,
and the conspirators, rich in anticipation, waited, ex-
pecting to see Harlem drop to " where it ought to."
To their astonishment it stood firm ; and when they
went into the market to buy for deliver}"^, there was
none to be had. They were caught as the Aldermen
had been. Great were the chagrin, alarm, and distress
of the too-cunning law-makers who had set the trap.
They Avere at once compelled to buy at whatever price
the holders chose to exact in order to deliver on "call."
The Yanderbilt pool had bought twenty-seven thousand
more shares, including contracts, than the entire stock of
the road.
THE LEGISLATURE " BUSTED.'' 79
" Put it np to 1,000 ! " exclaimed the remorseless Com-
modore, "this panel-game is being tried too often!"
It would have been easy to put np the stock to 1,000 ;
but his allies, John Tobin and Leonard Jerome, urged
prudence, for, as Jerome declared, " it Avould l^reak
every house on the street." The next day contracts for
fifteen thousand sliai'es matured, and the holders let it
go at 285 ! Yanderbilt and his chief partner gained
millions each. Many of the " bears "M'ere absolutely
ruined. There are men who were rich M'hen they went
into that " speculation," who have not yet recovered
from the disaster, and never will. The Commodore, in
telling the story nsed to say, " We busted the whole
Legislature, and scores of the honorable members had
to go home without paying their board-bills!" Drew
was among the heaviest losers, but he pleaded that he
did not understand what he was doing, and by a long
suit forced a compromise, paying $1, 000,000.
By this time a tacit understanding seems to have
crept around among the frisky "boys" of Wall Street
that the old man of three score and ten could take care
of himself, and stood in no pressing need of their sym-
pathy or protection.
An English wi-iter in Fraser'^s Magazine said of Drew
and Yanderbilt : " Between the two preference is de-
cidedly to be given to Mr. Yanderbilt, who must be ac-
knowledged to have his good traits, and to be in many
respects superior to professional speculators, among
whom he assumes the royal dignity and moral tone of a
Ggetulian lion among the hyenas and jackals of the
desert."
Touching on the same comparison, Charles Francis
80 THE VANDERBILTS.
Adams said, in tlie North American Review, in one of
that remarkable series of articles that began after the
\ periodical had felt the strong touch of Thorndike Rice:
'"Yanderbilt must be allowed to be far the superior-
man. Drew is astute and full of resources, and at times
a dangerous opponent ; but Vanderbilt takes lai'ger and
more comprehensive views, and his mind has a vigorous
grasp which that of Drew seems to want. In a wider
field, the one might have made himself a great and
successful despot, but the other \vould hardly have as-
pired to be more than the head of the jobbing depart-
ment of some corrupt government. While Drew has
sought only to carry to peifection the old system of
pirating successfully from the confidential position of
director, neither knowing anything nor caring anything
for the railroad system except in its connection with the
movements of the Stock Exchange, Yanderbilt has seen
the full magnitude of the sj-stein, and through it has
sought to make himself a dictator in modern civilization,
moving forward with a sort of pitiless enei'gy which has
seemed to have in it an element of fatality." \
A rigid system of reform meantime kffd been inaugu-
rated and enforced in the Harlem road, under the imnie-
diate eye of "William 11. Vanderbilt. lie had dismissed
incompetent men ; got rid of supernumeraries ; com-
pleted the double- track ; built new stations ; increased
the rolling-stock ; checked extravagance and looked after
small economies whose aggregate was large. Before any-
body suspected it, the road was a paying investment.
Delighted and even convinced by this result, the
Commodore placed his son l)y his side as vice-president
of the Hudson River road, and to that they strenuously
COUNELIUS VANDERBII.T.
GOES AFTER THE CENTRAL. 81
applied the same remedies. " I tell Billy," he was fond
of saying, " that if these railroads can be weeded out
and cleaned np, and made ship-shape, they'll both pay
dividends." The old man was gifted with prophetic
vision. In a few months it was earning a net profit.
This was partly the result of the great prosperity which
overflowed the whole country at the close of the war ;
but a cause quite as potent as this was the thorough
renovation which the road received from its new owner.
The Commodore did not at once renew the attempt
to consolidate his two roads, but he plainly saw how he
was hampered and embarrassed by a short line, and how
necessary it was to have a trunk line to the lakes under
one management. He began to buy stock in the New
York Central ; in fact ho put into it two of the millions
he had made in the " Harlem pool."
In 1864 the Central was controlled by Dean Rich-
mond and Peter Cagger, the remains of the old Albany
Regency. They looked with jealousy and apprehen-
sion on the appearance of several Vanderbilt directors
in their board, for they felt the approaching shadow of
the Commodore. In order to keep him away, they got
up a quarrel with him. Daniel Drew had control of the
Hudson River steam])oats, and with him the Central
managers made a league, offensive and defensive, against
the ogre from the South who coveted the line in the
Mohawk Valley, and was the dreaded lival of the boats.
During the winter, when the boats were absent, ai'med
neutrality prevailed, for the roads were equally depend-
ent on each other for an outlet ; but when the ice broke
up in the spring, the Central resumed its habit of cut-
ting the acquaintance of the railroads and shipping its
82 THE YAXDERBILTS.
passengers and freight, as far as possible, ma the river.
It sold through tickets bj way of the river and made
connection with the boats, arranging as often as possible
to arrive at Albany after the last Hudson River train
had gone.
The Commodore endured being thus discriminated
against foi- one winter. lie remonstrated, but his re-
monstrances were in vain. He proposed different forms
of compromise, but his overtures were declined. He
waited till the Hudson River froze up solid and the
boats were congealed at their wharves, then he sent out
the stern mandate, " Take no more freight from the
New York Central ! "
It was a silent order, addressed to his officers only,
and he left them to execute it in their own way. The
next train that went north did not connect with the
Central at all, did not even cross the river, but stopped
half a mile east of the bridge that leads into Albany.
The passengers — some of them members of the State
Government protested and supplicated, but to no pur-
pose. The train stopped there for the night ; the fires
were banked ; and the passengers had to walk the rest
of the way to the city, or get vehicles as the}' could.
Xo moi'e trains went to Albany, and the perishable
freight hither-bound probably suffered.
Great was the excitement. No more through fi-eight
came over the Central. Its stock went down fifteen per
cent, at a blow. The stock of the Hudson River Rail-
road kept mysteriously rising.
When the Legislature convened, it was felt to be
proper to "investigate" the arbitrary conduct of the
Conimodore in refusing to come all the way to Albany,
AXD GETS IT. 83
and, if necessary, to do something to him in defence of
the dignity of the State.
A committee snmmoned him to testify. lie went.
They asked him how he came to be gnilty of such high-
handed conduct. lie showed them an old law which
prohibited the road from running trains across the river,
a law which had always before remained a dead letter,
as it has since.
" But why did you not run the train to the river \ "
"I was not there, gentlemen."
" What did you do when you heard of it ? "
" I did not do anything.''
" Why not ? Where were you ? "
" I was at home, gentlemen, playing a rubber at whist,
and I never allow anything to interfere with me when
I am playing that game. It requires, as you know, un-
divided attention."
It was apparent to everybody that a crisis had come
in the aifairs of the Xew York Central, and the result
of it was, that the Commodore's grasp on the road Avas
tightened rather than relaxed. He made a dash for
the management in the fall of 1SG6, hut missed it, and
Henry Keep was chosen President, as a friend of all
parties. It was only a temporary makeshift, and a
year afterward Mr. Keep resigned, and the directors,
representing a large majority of the stock, sat down and
wrote to the all-conquering Commodore as follows :
New York, November 12, 1867.
C. Vanderbilt, Esq.
The \indersigned, stockholders of the New York Central Rail-
road Company, are satisfied that a change in the administration
of the Company, and a thorough reformation in the manage-
84 THE YANDEEBILTS.
ment of its affairs, wonld result in larger dividends to the stock-
holders and greatly promote the interests of the public. They
therefore request that you "will receive their proxies for the
coming election, and select such a board of directors as shall
seem to you entitled to their confidence. They hope that such
an organization will be effected as shall secure to the Company
the aid of your great and acknowledged abilities.
Yours respectfully,
Edwaed Cunabd,
John Jacob Astok, Jr.,
Bernard V. Hutton,
John Steward and others,
representing over thiiieen millions of stock.
He accepted the trust in tlie spirit in which it was
given. An eyewitness of the election tlie next month
thus describes the scene :
" The recent revolution in the Central Railroad sug-
gests the changing nature of all earthly things. Only
a short time ago the Pruyns, the Martins, the Pages, and
other leading men of the road were to be seen in the
directors' rooms, bat they passed away like a dream.
Even Erastns Corning, the beloved manager, whose fiat
was law, is here no more, and another dynasty appears
on the stage. The change M-as wrought by an agency
of the most simple character, and one from which no
such great end might have been expected. It was a
slip of paper a few inches square and containing a few
lines of written characters. The circumstances were
these. On the eleventh day of December a half-dozen
gentlemen marched into the rooms of the Company,
rooms into which this was in some instances their first
entrance. At 11.15 one of these gentlemen arose and
dropped a piece of paper into the ballot-box, and presto,
PICTURE OF THE BALLOTING. 85
the cliange is wrought, an old empire passes away and a
new empire is inaugurated. The appearance of the gen-
tleman referred to was striking and impressive, lie
was of large size and finely proportioned, a splendid
specimen of muscular and intellectual development,
with an easy bluff air which suggested the quarter-deck,
and with that peculiar at-home-ness which showed that
lie felt himself master of the situation. Such was the
sfyle of the last election of the ' Central.' At eleven
o'clock the poll was opened, and remained open for five
liours ; for five weary hours the inspectors stood guard
over the ballot-box, and during that time one vote was
received. When the poll was closed the potency of the
solitary ballot was disco vei'ed. It bore the names of
thirteen directors, and represented stock to the amount
of $18,000,000. Such was Commodore Vanderbilt's
accession to the control of the Central. He came, bring-
ing his directors with him, elected those directors, and
then received through them the management." It was
a signal triumph for a man seventy-three years of age.
Then he gave that road, too, what he vigorously
called " an overhauling." He gave it the same medicine
that he had already applied through William II. to the
Harlem and the Hudson River. He administered even
a more drastic dose. He improved it enormously in
its rolling stock, its time-tables, and its service, ballasted
anew the track, straightened out the kinks in it, and
multiplied its connections. The stock i-ose from the
moment his mysterious talisman touched it.
CHAPTER X.
THE ERIE WAR.
The Commodore Covets Erie — Daniel Drew's Little Game — The Van-
derbilt Party Buys — Drew and Gould Sell Short — Drew's Du-
plicity—Fisk Throws 100,000 Bogus Shares Upon the Market-
Dodging the Sheriff — Flight to Jersey — Surrender and Restitu-
tion.
Now a battle of magnificeut proportions took place
between the Coinraodore and those whom, by his ag-
gressiveness, he made his enemies. Having bought
and regulated the great trunk lines to the north, he
looked around to see where else he was "needed," as he
called it. The Pennsylvania was out of the State and
strongly buttressed ; but there was the Erie.
In 1859 it had failed to meet the interest on its first,
second, third, fourth and fifth mortgages, and had passed
into the hands of a ]-eceiver. It emerged in a crippled
condition, and Daniel Drew and other railroad wreckers
went for the flotsam and jetsam. " Uncle Dan'l " was
known by the dishonorable designation of the Specula-
ting Director, because he used his official position in the
Erie road to put its stock up or thrust it down, which-
ever would enable him to make money. He was a very
devout man, and occupied as much time at prayer as
Vanderbilt did at whist. He was a curious combination
of simplicity and cunning, of boldness and cowardice, of
DANIEL DREW. 87
frankness and secretiveness, of lionesty and nnscrupu-
lousness, of superstition and faithlessness. An English
critic * says of him : " Daniel Drew had for a long time
regarded Erie as his own special preserve. It was set
all over with his spring-guns and man-traps in which he
dailv caught throniirs of unwai'v intruders, and never let
them go till they had emptied their pockets into his
private coffers." lie cared nothing whatever for the
road except for what he conld make by juggling with
its stock.
Drew was naturally destructive, not constructive. So
he was always a "bear," fond of depreciating values, of
tearing down, and disappointing the liopeful. While
Vanderbilt was fighting for his property, as narrated in
the preceding chapter. Drew was planning a deep game,
and was selling Erie short. To liis great grief, the stock
kept going up. Promptly he developed his game.
Drew, in his official capacity of Treasurer of Erie bor-
rowed S3,500,000 in cash of Drew in his private capa-
city as Individual Speculator, giving him as security
28,000 shaves of capital stock hitherto nnissiied, and three
million dollars' worth of bonds alleged to be convertible
into stock. Then Di'ew the Treasurer obligingly con-
verted the bonds into stock at the request of Drew the
Speculator, and when the latter had sold as much stock
at current prices for future delivery as he could induce
anybody to buy, he threw the 50,000 shares on the mar-
ket. There was consternation, distress, and terror.
Stock went down in two days from 8^7 to 850, and
" Uncle Dan'l " pocketed the difference in millions of
dollars and presented a new Methodist Church to his
* In Eraser's Magazine.
88 THE VANDERBILTS.
Bishop. Charges of malfeasance hi office were brought
against him.
This man, who begged off from liis indebtedness the
previous year, M^as still treasurer of the Erie and virtu-
ally at its head. The road was acting as a guerilla, cut-
ting rates very sharply and without system or reason,
and Vanderbilt wanted to prevent that. It was owned
by nobody, was a foot-ball in Wall Street, falling first
into the hands of one set of speculators and then an-
other; it made rates and broke rates, not in the interest
of the public, or of the road, but only of the speculators
of the hour, who effected heavy combinations Avhen they
wanted to put the stock up, and drove the corporation
to the verge of a receivership wlien they wanted to
force the stock down. Erie had been the barometer of
the market, but it was the butt and derision of the
street.
This recklessness seemed to be injurious to everybody,
and the Commodore made up his mind that the only
way to bring order out of chaos was to " absorb " the
road and run it himself. This, he always alleged, was
his motive, but he may have been somewhat influenced
by a subsidiary purpose, always attributed to liim, to
corner Erie and take millions out of the "bears," as he
had done in the " Harlem pool."
At any rate he went at it in the old way and obtained
stock, beginning in the summer of 1867, his brokers buy-
ing laro;e blocks of the coveted stock, and he electino;
some of the directors. Early the next year he formed
an alliance with a knot of speculators who controlled
the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, and forced the
cunning treasurer of Erie to come to terms. At the
YANDEKBIl/r BUYS MILLIONS. 89
next election Drew was left out of the Directory. That
night he went and made a personal appeal to Yander-
bilt not to ruin him ; he shed tears at the picture which
he conjured up of the beggaiy about " staring him in
the face," and the Commodore yielded. A New Hamp-
shire director immediately resigned at his request, and
the lachrymose millionaire was restoi'ed to his old posi-
tion, he agreeing to i-epresent Vanderbilt's interests and
give the market an upward tendency. His presence in
the Board was more full of perils than the admission
into the beleagured capital of that ancient animal which
neither of the schemers had ever heard of — the Trojan
liorse. He had made a large fortune through his con-
nection with the road. " Them air Erie shears," liad
been alternately depressed and advanced by liiin, and
liad been made to pay tribute to " Uncle Dan'l " when-
ever they passed through his hands. He had no idea
of allowing his giant rival to capture the goose that laid
his golden eggs. Drew was not a strong man. He was
parsimonious, ambitious, timid, emotional, and possessed
of a low cunning. By his retention on the Erie Board
Gould and Fisk came into power. They had little
monej', but one had brains and the other a cheek of
brass.
The purchase of stock went on. Vanderbilt had a
majority of it, but he M-anted it all, so that he could
put his own price on it. Then came rumors of Drew's
treachery and of an intention to issue more stock. This
was in obvious and wanton violation of law, and must
be prevented. Hostilities began in court. Judge Bar-
nard enjoined the Erie Directors from issuing any more
stock, and ordered Mr. Drew to return to the treasury
90 THE VANDERBILTS.
one-fourth of that already ont. Judge Balcom, of
Bingliauiton, ordered a stay of these proceedings. A
New Yoi'k judge forbade any meeting of the Erie Di-
rectors unless Mr. Vanderbilt's representative was re-
stored to his seat. Judge Barnard forbade the conver-
sion of any Erie bonds into stock.
This was deemed a victory for Yanderbilt, and he
continued to buy fast and much. The price rose with
a bound to 50, 60, 70, and 80. When it reached S-i the
Yanderbilt party had nearly two hundred thousand
shares in their possession, and the stock was virtually
cornered. Drew, Gould, Eisk, and their backers and
allies, had been " bearing " the stock with all their might
— selling short for future delivery — and when it persist-
ently rose, it looked as if they were irretrievably ruined.
But, still in charge of the machinery of the Company,
they had an audacious trick in reserve which was quite
beyond the Commodore's experience. As he had a large
majority of the stock, getting control of the property
seemed a result not very difficult to attain to a man who
had wrought so many commercial miracles. He did not
dream that the plot of Gould and Eisk and Drew ren-
dered his project impossible of realization. But so it
proved. He was dealing with no ordinary men.
One hundred thousand shares of new stock was signed
in blank and deposited in Drew's safe. On March 10th
the contracts for the delivery of stock generally culmi-
nated. The court had enjoined the Secretary from
issuing any more stock, but early on the morning of the
eventful day he directed an employe of the road to
take the books of stock from the office in \Yest Street
to Pine Street. While on his way the messenger was
THE BOGUS STOCK. 91
robbed ! Jaines Fisk met him outside the door, wrenched
the books away from him and ran away with them.
They were taken in tlie bokl conspirator's carriage to
liis office in Broad Street, and thrown on tlie market.
Over ten million dollars' worth of the stuff, manufac-
tured for the occasion in defiance of law and the Court's
decree, were sold to all comers.
Yanderbilt went on buying till he was loaded np with
the so-called " stock," which had no legal existence, lie
took it in million-dollar blocks. His allies and brokers
were John Tobin, Frank "Work, Kufus Hatch, William
Heath, and Augustus and Richard Schell. " Over-issue
of Erie ! " was the rumor on the Street. When the
Commodore wanted more money he sent that bold and
i-eckless financier, " Dick " Schell, to negotiate with the
banks.
" We can't lend on Erie," they said, " there is an il-
legal issue of stock, and Erie isn't worth anything."
" What will you lend on ? " inquired Schell.
" Central — that's good," they answered.
Schell inquired, and found out that they all liad Cen-
tral.
" Very well, gentlemen ! " said Scliell, as if by author-
ity ; "if you don't lend the Commodore half a million
on Erie at 50, and do it at once, he will put Central at
50 to-morrow and break half the houses on the Street !
You know whether you will be among them."
Thereupon they made the loan, and the intrepid Com-
modore went on buying. It was like trying to dip out
the ocean. The manuj^acturer gayly remarked to confi-
dential friends, " If this printing-press don't break
down, I'll be if I don't give the old hog all he
92 THE VANDEKBILTS.
wants of Erie." The printing-press was strong, and he
succeeded. It is a wonder that even Yanderbilt, rich as
he was, was not driven into bankruptcy by these desper-
ate gainesters. AVhen the exposure was first made his
best friends supposed he was mined past liope. Not
quite so bad as that, the sequel proved, but he was be-
hind six or seven millions of dollars. Tobin, ex-presi-
dent of the Central, lost $2,500,000. Half of tlie buy-
ers were absolutely driven to wreck. But the chief vic-
tim of the conspiracy had some money yet unexpended,
and a- great deal more pluck.
Drew, risk, and Gould had the assurance to go to their
offices next morning, but they soon heard that warrants
for their arrest were out, and then a strange sight was
seen : " At ten o'clock on the morning of the eleventh,
the astonished police saw a throng of panic-stricken
railroad directors, looking more like a frightened gang
of thieves disturbed in the division of their plunder,
than like the wealthy representatives of a great corpora-
tion, rushing headlong from the doors of the Erie office
and dashing off in the direction of the Jersey City Feriy.
In their hands were packages and files of papers, and
their pockets were crammed with assets and securities.
One individual bore away with him in a hackney coach
bales containing $6,000,000 in greenbacks ! *
"The attempted 'corner' was a failure, and Drew
was victorious — no doubt existed on that point. The
question now was, could Yanderbilt sustain himself?
In spite of all his wealth, must he not go down before
his cunning opponent ? When night put an end to the
conflict Erie stood at TS, the shock of battle M'as over,
* Charles Fraucis Adams in Nortli American Review, 18G9.
IX PERIL OF BAXKRUPTCY. 93
and the astonished brokers drew breath as they waited
for the events of the morrow. . . . As usual in these
Wall Street operations, thei-e was a grim humor in tlie
situation. Had VanderbiJt failed to sustain the market,
a financial collapse and panic must have ensued which
would have sent him to the wall. lie had sustained it,
and had absorbed a hundred thousand shares of Erie.
. . . Yanderbilt had, however, little leisure to devote
to the enjoj^ment of the lunnorous side of his position.
The situation was alarming. His opponents had carried
with them in their flight seven millions in currency,
which were withdrawn from circulation. An artificial
stringency was thus created in Wall Street^ and while
money rose, stocks fell, and unusual margins were called
in. Vanderbilt was carrying a fearful load, and the
least want of confidence, the faintest sign of faltering,
might well bring on a crash. He already had a hun-
dred thousand shares of Erie, not one of which he could
sell. He was liable at any time to be called upon to
carry as much more as his opponents, skilled by long
practice in the manufacture of the article, might see fit
to produce. Opposed to him were men who scrupled
at nothing, and who knew every in and out of the
money market. With every look and every gesture anx-
iously scrutinized, a position more trying than his then
was can hardly be conceived. It is not known from
what source he drew the vast sums which enabled him
to surmount his difficulties Nvith such apparent ease.
His nerve, however, stood him in at least as good stead
as his financial resources. Like a great genei'al, in the
hour of trial he inspired confidence. While fighting for
life he could ' talk horse' and play whist. The man-
94 THE VANDERBILTS.
ner in wliicli he then emerged from his troubles, serene
and confident, was as extraordinary as the financial re-
sources he commanded."
The Commodore now did two things : He at once
sold out all the genuine stock he held, and he put in im-
mediate and vigorous action all the enginery of the law
for the punishment of the conspiratoi'S, whom he called
by much harsher names, and threatened with the peni-
tentiary. He procured attachments against their prop-
erty and warrants for their personal arrest, and the in-
dignant Barnard sent liis most active oiScers after them.
They had hastily fled to Jersey City, carrying with
them 1^7,000,000 of the Commodore's money, and there
Fisk, Gould, Drew, and others remained all summer, at
a refuge which became known as " Camp Taylor."
Xot only did most of them avoid arrest, but they
Ansited Albany clandestinely, and by the use of the money
they had got from the Commodore secured the passage
by the Legislatui'c of an act authorizing the issue of bogus
bonds! — similar to an act to legalize counterfeit money.
Courts were appealed to for their protection. Two
judges became implicated in charges of bribery, one of
whom was impeached, while the other more prudently
resigned. Tlic attention of the whole country was
aroused by the tunnilt of the combat. The Jersey City
exiles tried in vain to compromise ; but all the fighting
qualities of the Commodore were np, and he sent them
word that unless they refunded every cent th-ey had
stolen he would have them in jail if it took his last dollar.
At last he triumphed. The banishment to Jei-sey and
the pressure of public condemnation became a double
burden, too great to be borne, and Di-ew came in one
THE PLOTTERS SURRENDER. 05
Sunday and surrendered. He agreed to '* do the fair
thing," and asked for mercy, making an appeal of the
most pathetic natui'e to the Commodore. As a matter
of liistoi-ic fact, he went to Washington Place and spent
half of the night weeping, as usual, over his miserable
condition.* It succeeded. About the only soft spot tJiat
the Commodore had in his nature was a sentimental
willingness to help Mr. Drew out of scrapes. Drew was
t])ree years his junior, and was dreadfully ignorant and
illiterate, and Yanderbilt regarded with a certain sort of
fraternal pride a man who had " made himself,"' and
from a common laborer had got to be worth $18,000,000.
So when the unfortunate magnate unlocked the foun-
tains of sympathy and promised to behave and do just
what Vanderl)ilt wanted done, if he would " let up,''
the overture was received magnanimously. He made
restitution, and a settlement M'as effected. As a wit-
ness in court, subsequently. Drew testified, "Yanderbilt
alius tole me that I acted very foolish in goin' to Jersey
City ; I tole him I didn't know but Avhat I wus circum-
stanced in an ockerd light.*"
Shortly afterward Gould and Fisk followed his ex-
ample. They surrendered. Yanderbilt was relieved of
50,000 shares at $70, receiving $2,500,000 in cash and
$1,250,000 in bonds of the Boston, Hartford and Erie
at $80. He was to receive a further $1,000,000 out-
right for the privilege thus secured of calling on him
for his other 50,000 shares at $70, any time within four
months.
This bargain was consummated one morning, while
* Dauiel Drew's constant premonitions of poverty were at last re-
alized, and when he died he left not a dollar's worth of property.
96 THE TA^DEEBILTS.
they wei'e still shadowed bv tlie police. Jnst before
daylight, Gould and Fisk crept across the river with
piles of documents and bonds in their buggy, and
wended their quiet if not contrite way to Washington
Place. As a witness in one of these interminable
Erie suits subsequently, Fisk told the story of this early
visit in his own droll way. Inferring that the Commo-
dore would not yet be up, Gould counselled a decent de-
lay, but Fisk boldly rang the bell, and went straiglit np
to the Commodore's bedroom.
" The Commodore was sitting on the side of the bed
with one shoe off and one shoe on," began this observ-
ing and facetious witness. " He got up, and I saw him
putting on the other shoe. I remember that shoe from
its peculiarity : it had four buckles on it. I had never
seen shoes M'ith buckles in that manner before, and I
thought if these sort of men always wear that sort of
shoe I might want a pair. lie said I must take my
position as I found it ; that there I was, and he would
keep his bloodhounds (the lawyers) on our track ; that
he would be damned if he didn't keep them after us if
we didn't take the stock off his hands. I told him that
if I had my way I'd be damned if I M'ould take a share
of it; that he brought the punishment on himself and
he deserved it. This mellowed him down. ... I
told him that he was a robber. He said the suits would
never be withdrawn till he was settled with. I said
[after settling with him] that it was an almighty rob-
bery; that we had sold ourselves to the devil, and that
Gould felt just the same as I did."
Tlie issue of bogus bonds and the illegal " compro-
mise" by which the conspirators escaped punishment
THE COMMODORE UNHARMED. 97
Iiad cost the Erie road in all about nine millions of dol-
lars, and to this amount they were afterward compelled
to make restitution.
This Erie venture had cost Vanderbilt a million or
two which the above restitution did not cover, and it
operated as a warning to him. He declared, in monosj-I-
labic Saxon, that he would never touch Erie again, and
" never have anything more to do with them blowers,"
and he never did. The Legislature, at its succeeding
session, passed an act forbidding the consolidation of
the Erie and the Central— a rightful and needful pro-
hibition. Thenceforth there was wholesome compe-
tition between the two great trunk systems of Kew
York State.
Wall Street looked upon the Commodore as badly crip-
pled before he emerged from this battle-royal, and was
greatly astonished to see that he always bore himself
with his usual composure and courage, and seemed to
have as much money as ever.
5
CHAPTER XL
TROPHIES OF VICTORY.
Twenty-five Million Dollars in Five Years — William's Way — Consoli-
dation Succeeds — Freight Depot on St. John's Park — Dedication
of the Commodore's Monument, the Bronzes — Watering Stock- —
What is It, and Whom does it Rob ?
The financial world was disappointed and astonished.
The audacious Commodore had not " gone under." On
the contrary, he had demonstrated his ability to hold
his own against all comers. After he had passed far
more than an average life-time in familiarizing himself
Avitli marine transportation, and had learned that com-
plicated business to the minutest detail, he had, at three-
score and ten, changed the whole purpose of his life and
transferred all of his wealth to railroads, in the man-
agement of which he had had no experience. Practical
railroad men predicted that he would lose ashore the
fortune he had made afloat.
He had turned their prophecies to derision. He had
learned his new trade as easily as Mezzofanti learned a
new language, or Blind Tom a new tune. His hair was
silvered, and the crow-step twinkle had come to the cor-
ners of his eyes, but in the first five years of his raili-oad
ventures and experiments he had made a clear profit of
not less than twentv-five million dollars.
CONSOLIDATION. 99
With his son AVilliam at his side, now quite estab-
lished in his confidence and pursuing careful business
methods that received his cordial approval, the railroads
he had bought rapidly continued to improve. In two
years he advanced to the iCentral road 82,000,000
above the stock he bought. '*' lie burned np its old
cars, sold its old locomotives, threw out its old ties,
put on new cars, new locomotives, new ties, new rails,
and made it what it is to-daj, one of the best-reg-
ulated and most thoroughly-stocked roads in the State
of Xew' York." lie believed that the road inust pay if
well equipped and well conducted. And he backed his
opinion with his money. '
The next fall (1S69) lie went to Albany again, and
asked for the privilege of consolidating the Hudson
Kiver and the Xew York Central Railroads. The
"bears," whose claws had been caught in his Harlem
scheme, stood oif at a very respectful distance, and did
not offer their assistance in any waj', and the act was
passed on Xovember Ist without serious opposition.
About the next thing he did was to buy outright from
the city St. John's Park, on Hudson Street, formerly the
centre of aristocratic residence. He paid 81,000,000
for it, and he erected there a gigantic freight depot
for the Hudson River Railroad. In the western pedi-
ment of this imposing structure he erected Albert De
Groot's famous bronze has-relief^ an ambitious allegory
of Industry, emblematical of the Commodoi-e's remark-
able career. The artist was the son of Captain Freeman
De Groot, who commanded the Cinderella on Van-
derbilt's line. The device was erected with jf formal
celebration, and cost $250,000.
100 THE VANDEEBILTS.
Tliese iiieniorial bronzes, now buried in the business
heart of the city below Canal Street, were unveiled on
November 10, 1869, in the presence of some ten thou-
sand people. The day M-as observed in Xew York by a
display of flags on all the public buildings, as well as on
the shipping in the two rivers. The exercises at the
unveiling consisted of music by the Seventh Regiment
Band ; a prayer by Bishop Janes, of the Methodist
Church ; an address by Oakey Hall, Mayor of the city,
aTid a poem by William Ross Wallace. Admirals Gordon
and Stringham, of the Xavy, were present, and out of
compliment to Commodore Vanderbilt, twenty-five vet-
eran sailors from the United States receiving ship Ver-
mont were detailed to haul up the heavy canvas when the
bronzes were revealed to public view. When this had
been done, and the Commodore's pennant was run upon
the flagstaff, it was found that the bronzes consisted of
a statue of the Commodore, larger than life, standing in
a central niche, flanked on either side with an immense
field of bronze devoted to the story of his life, its works
and achievements. The figure of the Commodore is
rather stiff, and is dressed in the fur-lined coat he was
fond of wearing. " As a likeness," says Horace Greeley j-
in liis paper, at the time, "the statue signally fails to do
justice to that physiognomy, one of the finest in America,
which has never yet been rendered M-oi'thily by any
photograph, bronze, or picture that we have seen."
The field on the right, or southern side of tlie statue,
is devoted to the marine period of Commodore Vander-
bilt's life, while that on the left, or northern side, illus-
trates his railway life. The Nation, speaking of the
work, said : " There is about it a curious appropriate-
THE r.KONZE MEMORIAL. 101
ness and fitness to the exploits and fame it is to cele-
brate/''
While these bronzes, said to be the largest in the
world, do not rank high as works of art, they tell in a
very plain manner the story of the life of Commodore
Vanderbilt. In the marine section there is the image of
the boat in which, as a yonngman, he carried passengers
f I'om the Battery to Staten Island and back. There is also
one of the vessels of the Pacific Mail line-, and a' correct
representation of tlie great steamship Yanderbilt, wh''ch
he gave to the United States G€)vermi:tent du''i!)g flre'^nV-ii
conflict. Piled in the foregronnd, and around the feet of
the statue, are various objects, representing, symbolically,
facts and events iu his career, such as a major and minor
engine, anchors, cables, pilot-Mdieel, cotton-bale, etc.
The northern section of the bronzes contains what may
be called a panoramic view of the Hudson Piver Rail-
way, with bridges, tunnels, mountains, trains going up
and down the river, etc., with glimpses of the Hudson
and its river boats, all witnesses to his enei-gy and busi-
ness sagacity. Few men have their statues set up during
their life-time. The Iron Duke and George Peabody
are modern instances. But the. courage, tenacity, ca-
pacity for toil and energy^ crowned with success, won for
Commodore Yanderbilt great respect from his fellow-
citizens during his life. Said the Tribune at the time:
'• We fully recoo-nize and pay tribute to his bi'oad fore-
sight, patient judgment, and resistless energy of will ; and
in honoring him, we honor the commercial enterprise,
commercial sagacity, and commercial success which
make him the 'realized ideal' of -more people than al-
most anv other living; American." ,
102 THE VANDERBILTS.
Tens of thousands of the residents of the great
citj have never seen this unique memorial, for it is
masked by high business blocks on a street which they
never traverse. As a monument for the public eye it
might almost as well be in the depths of the Adii'on-
dacks.
The Commodore made William II. Vanderbilt vice-
president of the consolidated system, and it profited at
oncB'f'om his Ihcibugh executive management and at-
tention to details.
'Tn3 vvritcr' iu J^fd'se7'''s, says: "These roads the Com-
modore certainly managed with great skill, \llis ad-
ministrative ability is immense. He has introduced
vigor and thoroughness into every department, and the
public are well pleased with the fruits of his labors.
lie is ambitious of the fame of conducting his roads in
the best possible manner, and he takes such a pride in
their appearance and appointments as a hunting gentle-
man takes in his stud."
Then he hastened to dilute the capital of all his roads
enormously, pretty nearly doubling his previous wealth.
When he was elected president of the Hudson Kiver
Kailroad its capital was $7,000,000 only ; when he
became president of the Central it had a capital of
$28,000,000. Early in 1869, he declared a tremendous
dividend of new stock to all stockholders. Ko less than
eighty per cent, was added in a lump to the estimated
value of Hudson Kiver, and one hundred and seven per
cent, to the estimated value of Xew York Central. In
other words, the capital stock of the two roads was in-
creased from $35,000,000 to $86,000,000, and then to
),000,000. As they proved to be worth it, it put co-
WHAT IS STOCK-WATERING ? 103
lossal profits into the pockets of the president and his
friends. One night, at niidTiight, lie carried away from
the office of Horace F. Chirk, his son-indaw, §6,000,000
in greenbacks as a part of his share of the profits. And
he luid $20,000,000 more in new stock.
This was the gigantic stock-watering operation wliich
called down on the Yanderbilts the denunciation of a
good many who were not partners in the transaction,
and which is still regarded by the uninformed and the
iinthiidcing as " a pure steal." *
What is stock-watering? It is simply the conclusion
and declaration of a man that his property is worth
more to day than it was yesterday. He buys an old,
broken-down horse, for instance, and pays $20 for it.
He takes some chances. It may die on his hands, but
he resolves to save it and make money on it, if possible.
He gives the animal the best of care, feeds it well,
grooms it carefully, and in a year it recovers from its
lameness, acquires a glossy coat, and is sound and w^ell.
He then puts a new price on his horse, and asks $200
for it, Noticing that it has spirit and a good form, he
speeds it on the track and finds, to his surprise, that it
can go in three minutes. He now says, " If any man
wants that horse he must pay $1,000 for it." He has
"watered " his horse. Has he robbed anybody ? Has
* When the Commodore's portrait first appeared upon the bonds of
the Central, a holder of some called one day and said ; " Commodore,
glad to see your face on them bonds. It's worth ten per cent. It
gives everybody confidence." The Commodore smiled grimly, the
only recognition he ever made of a compliment. "'Cause,'' ex-
plained the visitor, "wen we see that fine, noble brow, it reminds
us that you never'U let anybody else steal anything ! "
104 THE VANDEEEILTS.
lie not a riglit to charge for it what he pleases, so long
as nobody is compelled to buy ? *
So Yanderbilt bought roads— not to sell, but to im-
prove. They were all crippled when he bought, and
they were afflicted with every pernicious disease that
sick railroads ever have. lie administered heroic treat-
ment : He lopped off every extravagance ; removed
ornaments from the locomotives ; increased the tracks
and the carrying capacity ; combined half a dozen short
railroads and made them into a single long one, and
rolled half a dozen Presidents and Boards of Directors
into one ; opened new outlets and new feeders ; made
every man in his employ do a whole daA-'s work ; and
thus, roads which had been the toys of gamblers and the
preserves of bankrupt politicians grew to valuable prop-
erty in his liands, and showed that they knew their
master.
They had been treated exactly as the broken-down
army horses were treated that were turned out upon the
farms of the State during those same years, lie had
bought the roads, and he had put value into them, as
truly as a cabinet-maker puts value into wood when he
makes it into a chair. Was it not his privilege to put a
price on his own property ? It was twice as valuable in
1869 as when he bought it ; was it " robbery " for him
to charge twice as much for it ? If he had not bought
* In a careful estimate concerning this matter, Charles Francis
Adams computed that in 1870 " $50,000 of absolute water " had been
poured out for each mile of road between New York and Buffalo. In
other words, that Commodore Vanderbilt's brain, brought to bear on
this ramshackle tlioroughfare, had added $50,000 a mile to its abso-
lute value.
W. K. VANHKRHTT.T.
HE CHEATED HIS WEALTH. 105
it it would not have been worth $50,000,000 in 1869.
Was he not fairly entitled to the extra millions, and had
lie not earned them as truly as a man who wheels sand
from a sand-bank earns his daily dollar?
Before he bought the Central, a six per cent, dividend
had been nominally paid, but much of the tinie this had
been borrowed. When he had reconstructed the roads
on a business basis he made them so serviceable that he
more than doubled their value. Indeed, he increased
their nominal value from $36,000,000 to $90,000,000,
and paid annually eight per cent, on that! If he had
not watered the stock their augmented value M'ould have
been the same, but instead of paying eight per cent,
on $90,000,000 he would have paid twenty per cent,
on the $36,000,000. If he had watered the stock with-
out being able to pay dividends on it, the watering
would have made no difference in its value. The prop-
erty was property he had created, and without him the
bulk of it would not have existed at all.
5*
CHAPTER XII.
HABITS AND CHARACTER
Methods of Work — Location' in Various Years — Keeping Accounts in
His Head — Punctuality — Close at a Bargain — Whist After Dinner
—Tells a Story of His Mother— Death of His Wife.
His success was not more remarkable than the ease
witli which he superintended his extensive affairs. At
ten or eleven in tlie morning, having glanced through
twp or three newspapers, he came out of his house on
Washington Place, and drove in a light, no-top buggy to
his office in Bowling Green. There, in an hour or so,
aided by a single clerk, he transacted the business of the
day, and after giving some hints to his son, William H.,
returned for his afternoon drive up the Blooniingdale
Poad. He always despised show and ostentation in every
form. Ko laclvcy attended hiui : he held tlie reins
himself. With an estate of forty or fifty millions to
manage, nearly all actively emplo^'ed in iron-works
and railroads, he kept scarcely any books, but carried all
his larger affairs in his head, and managed them without
the least apparent effort or anxiety.
He had already occupied a large number and variety of
offices. Being asked where his first was, he answered,
with a laugh, " On the head of an upturned flour-barrel
on the wharf. I kept my steamboat accounts there for
FROM PLACE TO PLACE, 107
a year, and took my cold dinner daily on that same
barrel."
But as early as 1837 lie had an office in South Street.
From there he moved the next year to !No. 39 Peck Slip,
to the little room np the first flight. His agent was D,
B. Allen, a son-in-law, and his clei'k Lambert Wardell.
The Commodore was not much of the time in the office.
lie detested the routine of office work ; declared that
the ledger was a meaningless humbug, and kept his per-
sonal reckoning in a little book which he carried in his
vest-pocket.' 'He hired men whom he thought he could
trust, and then let them do their part of the business in
their own way, accounting to him only for net resultsJ
" How much money is there over to-day ? " he would
inquire of his agent, and ascertaining, would put it in
his pocket and carry it away with him.
From Peck Slip he moved to Xo. 34 Broadway, about
1842, and was burned out by the great fire three years
later. Being roofless, and the city being a tumult of
ruins and rebuilding, he took possession of an old shanty
on an East-side wharf, and kept his office there all win-
ter.
In the spring of 1846 he found fairly comfortable
quarters at Xo. 8 Battery Place, and remained till 1855,
when he transferred his office to Xo. 5 Bowling Green,
and thence, at last, to JSio. 2 West Fourth, in the rear of
his house, where he stayed till he left his office for the
List time.
At eighty he was still as straight as an Indian, with
the elasticity of vigorous manhood in his step, and a
face of remarkable beauty and strength.
He owed a good deal of his robust health, doubtless,
108 THE VANDERBILTS.
to his fondness for driving. Ue possessed, too, the en-
viable power of leaving his business absolutely in his
office, and never letting it intrude on hours of recreation.
Out on the road behind a fast team, or seated at whist
at the Club-House, he entered gayly into the humors of
the moment. lie was rigid on one point only : not to
talk or hear of business out of business hours.
He was a good stoi-y-teller, and an interesting con-
verser concerning matters within his knowledge, but he
could seldom be coaxed or induced to make a speech.
After-dinner oratory is mainly the result of practice,
and he never practised.
lie could express his meaning with force, brevity, and
clearness, and some of his letters are models of that sort
of composition. lie never said a word too much. War-
dell, who was at his side for a whole generation, says :
" In dictating a letter to a clerk I never saw his equal."
But pen and ink always had him at a disadvantage. His
English was even worse than Xapoleon Bonaparte's
French. He always wrote of the reservoir in which
steam was generated as the " boylar," and a letter of
his is still extant in which he asks a friend to " com
down and sea the widdow."
He could not endure the office or office work, and never
spent more than an hour a day there, except for conver-
sation. He insisted that most letter-wi'iters were idiots
and used ten times as many words as were necessary. If
a letter of more than fifteen lines were handed to him
he would struggle through three oi- four lines and then
toss it impatiently to a clerk with, "Here, see what this
(expletive) fool is driving at, and tell me the gist of
it ! "
HIS PUNCTUALITY. 109
He never kept money by hiin in lai'ge sums, but al-
most always invested it the very clay it was received,
and generally had made the arrangements beforehand.
He made it a point never to lose a dollar in interest
thi'ongli lack of promptness.
" On one occasion," says E. H. Carmick, the Commo-
doi-e's associate in some large transactions, '"he and I
went to Washington, and lived together at Willard's
one winter. We wanted to see John M. Clayton, and
arranged to go and call on him on a certain evening.
When the night came dense darkness came with it, and
it rained pitchforks. I said to the Commodore, ' We
can't go now ; wait, and if it slacks np we will go over.'
I shortly missed him, and inquiring for him, found that
lie had gone to Clayton's. When it cleared away, about
9 o'clock, I took the stage, and went over to Capitol Hill,
where the distinguished Senator lived. I went in and
found him, and the Commodore with him, playing whist.
' I didn't suppose you would come in such a pouring
rain,' I said. ' Cai'mick,' he said, 'between you and me,
that's the way I got ahead of some of the other boys.
I never failed to keep an engagement in my life.' "
He rarely ever alluded to his fortune, and never boast-
fully ; but Mr, Carmick says : " We were sitting in the
liotel vestibule one night in 1S53, with not much to talk
about, when the Commodore said suddenly, ' Who's the
second richest man in Xew York, Carmick '{ — next after
Astor ? ' "
" I saw what he was thinking of, but I said, ' Stephen
Whitney, I guess.'
" ' How much is Wliitney worth ? ' he asked.
" ' Oh, he must be worth 8T,000,000,' said I.
110 THE VANDEKBILTS,
"'H — m!' he exclaimed, 'he'll have to be worth a
good deal more than that to be the second richest man
in New Yo]-k.' "
He did not appear to understand the cause of his
own prosperity, and perhaps he really did not under-
^stand it.
1^ Being asked one day what he considered to be the
secret of success in business, he I'eplied :
" Secret ? There is no secret about it. All you have
to do is to attend to your business, and go ahead.", J
He would doubtless have sympathized with the great
composer who, being asked to define genius said :
" Genius ?— industry ! "
When asked on another occasion to tell the secret of
his success, he replied : " Never to tell anything I'm go-
ing to do till I've done it ! " |
Like Astor, Stewart, Drew, Dean Richmond, and
other wealthy men, he was close at a bargain, and
watched his pennies more carefully than the average of
his fellows. When he was worth $50,000,000 he econ-
omized in the snme old way, and in making out certifi-
cates of stock, would always lump as many shares as
possible together, in order to save the twenty-five cents
internal-revenue tax on each certificate.
His personal habits of daily life, after his seventy-fifth
year, underwent little change. He still rose very early,
and took a light breakfast, skimming the morning
papers at table. These, indeed, were about all that lie
ever read, excepting "Pilgrim's Progress," which he en-
joyed conning over and over.
After breakfast he would go to his ju'ivate office,
around on Fourth Street, and there stay dispatching busi-
WIILST, AND A STORY. Ill
ness and eliattiiig ^vith friends till 11 o'clock. Then he
would inspect his liorses in the adjacent stable, and those
whom he liked were asked to attend the inspection.
After this ceremony he returned home, to chat with liis
children or grandchildren and dress for dinner. The
afternoon furnished him an opportunity to drive np tlie
island, and his turn-out was one of the finest on the road.
Supper was served at 6 o'clock.
He ate sparingly at all times, and of the plainest and
most wholesome things ; rarely took wine, and generally
retired at 10 o'clock.
At both office and house he was easily accessible ; he
never refused to see any caller, however humble, but he
had uncommon discernment, and if the visitor lacked
a sufficient errand he was capable of being sharp, and
even rude, exclaiming : " Come ! speak quick and be
off ! "
He spent at least half of his evenings at home, but he
was as fond of whist as Talleyrand, and insisted upon
" the rio-ors of the o;ame " like Mrs. Battle. Therefoi-e
it was that he was a member of three clubs in which
whist was considered the great social duty. The party
at Saratoga, where he spent a portion of every summei-,
was very exclusive. A stranger was never taken into
the game, and seldom permitted to watch its progress.
On account of his early association with sailors, pro-
fanity was an established habit of his life. If he did
not swear very wickedly, he swore frequently ; indeed,
it was found that he often indulged in forbidden forms
of speech when quite unconscious of it.
Dr. Deems relates a surprising and amusing instance
of this. He was dining there one day, and sitting, as he
112 THE VANDERBILTS.
usually did, at the Commodore's left, when his host told
a story of his early life.
" I had just finished the Caroline, my first steamboat,"
he began, as he carved the beef, " and I was mighty
proud of her, I tell you ! When the last bit of paint
was dry, I liired a caterer to spread a banquet in the
cabin — just a bang-up dinner — nicest lie could get.
Then I h'isted the flags and Avent over to the island to
see motlier. I went and got 'er and fetched 'er down to
the wharf — I remember it, Doctor, as if 'twas only last
week — and I escorted lier aboard and shosved her the
gay decks and the engine, and the galley, and finally
took 'er into the cabin, where the banquet was spread,
and set 'er down at the head of the table. I never see
anybody so astonished as she was when I told her it was
all mine. ' Cornele,' she asked, looking up, ' whei'e the
d 1 did you git this dinner ? ' "
" I don't believe a word of it ! " exclaimed the Doctor.
" AYhat do you mean ? " asked the narrator, flinging
down his knife and fork.
"You've got up the 3'arn,'' persisted his guest. "I
don't believe you had any boat, or any dinner, or that
your mother was there, or anything al)Out it."
" You mean to tell me I lie ? " exclaimed the Com-
modore, flushing to the roots of his white hair.
" I am not permitted to use such language at 3'our
table," answered the clergyman ; " I am your guest.
But- when you tell me that that pious woman, your
mother, on coming on board your boat, said, ' where the
d 1 did you get that dinner ? ' I know better, and it
throws doubt on the whole story."
" Aw I " exclaimed the raconteur, in disgust ; " I'm
DEATH AFTER THE GOLDEN WEDDING. 113
mad at myself that I don't break off tliat mean, low,
dirty habit. It's a shame ! I wish you'd always correct
me when I swear, Doctor.''
The Commodore met with his greatest earthly loss in
the death of his wife, on August IT, 1808. It occurred
at the residence of Horace F. Clark, her son-in-law, where
she was visiting. Her husband hurried to her side
from Saratoga, a few days before her death. She was
a noble woman, with strong qualities, supreme affection,
frugality, self-denial. She had borne thirteen children,
and had reared twelve of them to adult life. For more
than half-a-century she had been the charm of her hus-
band's home, the sharer of his anxieties and his labors,
acquiescent and patient under the sway of his dominant
will and in the presence of his trying moods. The fact
that she lived harmoniously with such an obstinate man
bears strong testimony to her character. She was buried
in the Commodore's tomb in the Moravian Cemetery at
Xew Dorp,* in the midst of a crowd of affectionate
friends.
She was of simple tastes and habits, and never learned
to feel quite at home amid the great and splendid city.
She clung closely to the acquaintances of her youth, and
used to tell those incredulous and amazed hearers that
the happiest days of her life were those spent in hard
work in the half-way tavern at Xew Brunswick, and
that she liked the house that her husband had built on
Staten Island, with all the children romping on the lawn
or swarming in to teaze her with their innumerable
wants, far, far better than the prim mansion on Wash-
ington Place.
* Among the pall-bearers were A. T. Stewart and Horace Greeley.
CHAPTER XIII.
FAMILY MATTERS,
His Grandchildren — Cornelius, Jr., and William K. at Work — The
Thorn in the Flesh — Horace Greeley- — " Cornele's Wife " — The
Commodore Marries at Eighty — His Wife's Influence.
By this time most of the eleven survivors of the
thirteen children of the Commodore wei'e married, and
had children of their own to take care of.
"William II. had made rapid inroads upon his father^s
confidence, until he was completely trusted to carry out
all the details of his schemes. He was not allowed to
share his business secrets : nobody was. Being asked,
two or three years since, if he could furnish much
material for a life of his father, he answered, " Ko,
none ; I knew nothing about him. As to his business
methods, I never understood them, and if he had
thought his overcoat did he would have burnt it up ! "
The man who was now his father's predestined heir
lived in a handsome house at Fifth Avenue and Fortieth
Street, with his growing family. His father M'as regard-
ing anxiously liis two oldest grandsons, Cornelius and
"William Kissam Yanderbilt, already emerged into man-
hood. In fact, he had regarded them anxiously and
incredulously for many years, and did not liesitate to
express his opinion that those "youngsters" Avould be
" spoilt." Spoilt by petting and indolence, he meant.
THE BOYS AT WORK. 115
The Commodore had an idea that most boys were
doomed to be mined, and that nothing on earth could
save them except hard and disagreeable work. To pnt
them at some severe service about as soon as they en-
tered their teens, and compel them to support themselves
— that was his panacea for the evils that beset youth.
" If a boy is good for anything you can stick him
down anywhere and he'll earn his living and lay up
something ; if he can't do it he ain't worth saving, and
you can't save him." That was his inflexible rule. He
had applied it to both William and " Cornele," his sons,
and now he urged its application to his grandsons.
Their father was not loth to adopt the rule, for he
thought there was something in it, so when the eldest,
Cornelius, was sixteen years old, a clerkship was obtained
for him in the Shoe and Leather Bank. He served veiy
faithfully and soon mastered the work required of him.
John M. Crane, president of the bank, says : " I do
not now see much of Mr. Yanderbilt, as our paths lie
apart, but when he was here he was, I think, the most
single-minded and conscientious worker I ever saw.
He was not merely honest — most bank clerks are that
— but he was intellectually precise, and worried if a cent
were missing in the accounts. He M-as thoroughly fair-
minded, too, and always did exactly as he agreed, show-
ing, in every way, not only a careful bringing up but a
kindly nature."
It is related that one of his uncles, going to Europe
for the Commodoi'e, invited the lad to accompany him,
and agreed to pay his expenses. It was a rare chance.
The young clerk applied to the president for leave-of-
absence. "Yes, you can cro ," was the answer; '• but of
116 THE VANDERBILTS.
course yon will lose your salary for the two months."
Cornelius found that this would be 8100, whereupon ho
immediately discarded the temptation and remained
through the summer at his desk. Cornelius was in the
Shoe and Leather Bank three years, going into the
Treasurer's office at the Grand Central Depot in 1865,
when he was twenty-one years old. His next younger
brother went to school more, but in 18T0 he left the
Academy at Geneva, Switzerland, returned to New
Yoi'k, and joined his brother in the office. Both were
put at the bottom, and compelled to learn the tedious
routine of the business.
The Commodore's second son, Cornelius Jeremiah,
was a thorn in his flesh and a source of constant annoy-
ance. Since he ran away in his eighteenth year, and
fled to California as a sailor, and his father retaliated
by locking him up as a lunatic, the two had been on the
worst possible terms. Indeed, they scarcely spoke when
they met, except for mutual reproaches. It is not sur-
prising that such a rare specimen of vigorous energy,
thrift, and virility as the father was — a king among men
— lacked patience for this flaccid, nerveless, shiftless,
reckless son ; this sickly epileptic and spendthrift. Xo
two men could be more unlike. To see each other was
nmtually exasperating. The son was accustomed to ap-
ply to his father, wlien speaking of him to others, all
the uncomplimentary epithets in the thesaurus, and the
old gentleman would complain, " I'd give one hundred
dollars if he never'd been named Cornelius ! " A hun-
dred dollars, curiously enough, was usually about the
highest limit of his offers of imaginary bonuses for the
unattainable thiuiis which he wanted.
"CORNELE" and GREELEY. 117
Cornelius Jeremiah was a tall, angular, tliin, cadaver-
ous-looking man, with faded eyes, tawny hair, and scrag-
gly beard, nervous, suspicious, petulent, and almost con-
tinually in bad health, lie was known, more than once,
to fall in a lit at a gaming table, recover, and play on.
For nearly a score of years he lived away from home
on an allowance, and obtained access to his father only
throug-h tlie intercession of friends — of tenest of the
young man's mother. Her heart always warmed to-
ward him, and frequently she gave him money to pay
his debts incurred in gambling or other imprudence.
In these straits, when he could no longer get at home
the money he needed, he was in the habit of boi-rowing
it of some of the friends of his father. One of these
whom he found most useful for his purpose M'as that
careless and generous philosopher, Horace Greeley,
who at any time found it more agreeable to give than
to refuse, and more easy to give at once and get rid of
the suppliant, than to spend time ascertaining what he
did with his money. It was difficult for the waywai'd
■ man to get money from his father in his frequent emer-
gencies, but Mr. Greeley's pocket was always on tap
without any unpleasant questions. So the editor of the
Tribune got into the habit of lending " Cornele " hun-
dreds and even thousands at a time — sometimes ten
thousand at a time, Nvhen his own family sorely needed
the money.
The Commodore heard of this, and supposing, of
course, that Mr. Greeley was being deceived and would
look to him for reimbursement, determined to put a stop
to the outburst of mistaken liberality. So, climbing the
crooked little wooden stairs on Spruce Street one day, and
118 THE VANDERBILTS.
marching with heavy tread into the sanctum, wliich
was always open, he greeted the editor abruptly with,
" Greeley, I hear you are lending Cornele money."
Mr. Greeley took time to finish the sentence he had
begun to write, and then drawled out, " Yes ; I have let
him have some."
" Well, now, I give you fair warning that you needn't
look to me. I won't pay it ! "
" Who the devil asked you ? " rejoined Greeley. " I
haven't, have I ? "
Not another word was said on either side, and the
wrathful Commodoi-e stalked out.
When Mr. Greeley died, in 1872, the Commodore re-
lented somewhat — sufficiently to send to each of the edit-
or's daughters a check for $10,000 ; an amount which was
found to be much needed.
It is not known that " Cornele " ever did but one
thing that pleased his father : that was when he married
Miss Williams, of Hartford, a lady whom the old gentle-
man liked. He not only approved the choice, but he
liked the idea of his son's settling down in marriage.
He thought that such a step might have the effect of
straightening out a career that had been very zigzag,
and his youngest son might at last cease to be, as he
called him to his face whenever they met, " a disgrace
to the family."
But when the young husband ventured to ask for
money to build a house in Hartford, it was refused.
" ]^o, Cornele," was the answer ; " you've got to show
that you can be trusted before I trust you." Then the
wife was induced to repeat the request. He had some
little confidence in her judgment and honest}', and he
THE COMMODORE MARRIES AGAIN. 119
frankly told her so, adding, " How much can you get
along with ? "
" Ten thousand dollars," was the reply.
He drew his check for it and handed it to her, advis-
ing her to make it go as far as she could.
A few months later she made her appearance again.
He was not surprised, and doubtless said to himself,
" Here she is again ; wants S5,000 more."
" Well, what now ? " he said.
" Nothing," papa ; only I've brought back $1,500 ; it
was more than we needed, and I've brought you what's
left."
The Commodore was thunderstruck. Such a tliino-
had never before happened to him in the whole course
of his life. Perhaps it was guileless innocence on her
part, and perhaps it was far-sighted shrewdness; at any
rate it worked to a charm. Thenceforth " Cornele's
wife " could get anytiiing out'of her father-in-law.
This lady died ten years before her husband, and left
liini a very helpless creature. He was confined to an
allowance of $200 a week, and spent most of his time
complaining of the stinginess of his father for giving
liim such a niggardly pittance.
Just after the war a Mrs. Crawford moved to New
York City from Mobile, Ala., where the fortunes of
the family had been badly shattered by the conflict.
With her came her daughter, Frank A., a young woman
of uncommon intelligence, refinement, and pei-sonal at-
tractiveness. She was tall, handsome, graceful, and well
educated, and she supported herself here by teaching
music. On her father's side she Avas related to ex-
Yice -president Crawford, and one of her great-grand-
120 THE VANDERBILTS.
fathers was Samuel Hand, a brother of Commodore
Yanderbilt's mother, Pliebe Hand.
This last relationship was the cause of an acqnaint-
ance springing np with the Commodore and his children.
Nothing was thought of it till a year after the death
of Mrs. Yanderbilt, when the widower and Miss Craw-
ford encountered each other at Saratoga. It was the old
story — a walk on the balconies, a drive in the moon-
light, a jocular exchange, a laughable challenge to mat-
rimony from the venerable suitor and at Jast a serious
proposal.
He entertained a good deal of doubt whether Miss
Crawford would accept him, and communicated his ap-
prehensions to one or two confidential fiiends. But she
did, after thinking of it a proper length of time. Then
he wrote to her with charming naivete : " You are mak-
ing a gi'eat sacrifice in marrying me. You have youth,
beauty, virtue, talent, and all that is lovely in a woman,
and I have nothing to give you in return ! "
Miss Crawford said she would marry him if he would
send for Dr. Charles F. Deems, her Xew York pastor.
The Commodore telegraphed to him, but he was absent,
and it was determined not to make a telegraphic seai'ch
for him. A trip to Niagara was proposed and agreed
to ; they made a rapid journey, crossed to Canada, and
in the town of London, half way to Detroit, a young
Wesleyan minister was summoned and the marriage
cei'emony was performed.
Two friends who had accompanied them in their droll
elopement, Augustus Schell and Superintendent Tilling-
hast, of the Centi'al, were witnesses of tlie marriage.
Then they returned to New York. Being spoken to
FREDERICK W. VANDERBII.T.
A srccESSFUL vp:nture. 121
about it, tlie lively old bridegroom said, " I didn't want
to raise a iioise in the United States, so I slipped over
to Canada and had it done up in a jiffy, and I guess the
knot was well tied."
The Commodore never bought a coat-of-arms or even
searched for one, and he did not boast of his '' blood,"
yet he seems to have had a strong prejudice in favor of
his own, for the ladies whom he selected for his wives
were both his cousins.
The marriage was received with surprise and consider-
able disfavor by other members of his family. They of
course thought they knew better than he did about such
mattei'S, and they remarked to each other and even to
their friends that it was hardly necessary for him to
take another spouse. Old saws were quoted to his dis-
advantage.
But the graceful intruder possessed both amiability
and tact, and she brought her whole fund of attractions
to bear in winning the hearts of her new relations. It did
not take long for her to make herself beloved, as she
liad always been respected. To be the young wife of
the leading millionaire of the country w^as a trying role,
but she was equal to its exactions, and she brought to
the old man much happiness and solace during his re-
maining years.
Nay, more ; she introduced a new element of Chris-
tian gentleness into his home, and even modified his
character and habits. For her he yielded to the claims
of a wise charity. For her he tried to tone down the
rough language which he had picked up about the wharfs
in his youth. For her and with her he began to go to
church. Di-. Deems has written : " The religious germ
6
122 THE VANDERBILTS.
planted in his youth was to be developed under the
kindly cultivation of a yonnger nature, strange to his
long antecedent career. It was the mission of his second
wife to rescue from its burden of worldliness the intrin-
sic goodness surviving in liis soul, and to inspire the
benevolent deeds that crowned his days."
The Doctor tells of an incident illustrating this change
in the old man's moods :
" I went in one day and found him on the sofa in
tears. ' Why, what's the matter, Commodore ? ' I asked.
' Oh,' he said, ' I've been a-swearing again, and I'm sorry.
I'd ought to stop it, my wife such a pious woman and
you and other religious folks coming to see ns, and it's
a shame that I don't.' I told him that such a battle was
about the same as a victory, and that God probably
looked at the heart rather than the lips."
After his second marriage he took more pains about
appearances than ever before. He grew more gentle
and acquiescent and manageable. He acquired some re-
spect for conventionalities. He substituted new carpets
for the old ones which he had hitherto thought good
enough. He ceased to attend spiritualistic "seances"
and to communicate with Captain George and Fhebe
Hand through that precarious avenue. He M'ent no
more to the Manhattan Club, and even quitted his card
clubs. After that, his friends of the social quartet liad
to come to the house if they wanted to play whist with
him. His children weie all married off, and he had
more than thirty gi'andchildren, to whom, for the first
time in his life, be began to play the part of mysterious
generosity and personate Santa Claus at Christmas.
CHAPTER XIV.
FATHER AND SON.
Buying New Roads Westward — Building the Grand Central Depot —
William H.'s Office Habits— Overwork— A Glance at His Mail—
A Good-Natiired Pessimist — The Complacent Commodore.
All of Commodore Yanderbilt's railroad interests were
now prosperous under the joint management of him-
self and liis son. In November, 1SG9, on the consol-
idation of the Hudson River and Central, he became
President and William H. Vice-president of the system
— one of the largest and most important corporate en-
terprises in the world. The stock, which i-anged from
T5 to 120 in 1867, now touched 200, although the amount
was doubled.
The Commodore had always been averse to going
west of Buffalo. " If we take hold of roads running
all the way to Chicago," he was M-ont to say, " we
miofht as well g:o to San Francisco and to China." But
circumstances are stronger than logic, or any one man's
will, and they now compelled liim to modify his purpose,
or at any rate his conduct. The same conflict of rival
interests that made it necessary to drive Corning, Pruyn,
and Keep out of the Central, and extend his manage-
ment to Buffalo, now commanded a union with the
Lake Shore and Michigan Southei-n to enable him to
hold his own among the trunk lines.
124 THE VAISTDERBILTS,
His son-in-law, Horace F. Clark, had made some large
operations in Lake Shore as early as 1870, had become
its President, and had bolstered up its stock in the mar-
ket because of his relationship to " the Railroad Em-
peror."^ He died suddenly in 1873, and the Commo-
dore finding himself obliged to sustain the property,
concluded that the easiest way to do so was to buy
it. This, in a few years, made necessary the acquire-
ment of the Canada Southern and Michigan Central,
which was accomplished under the immediate adminis-
tration of his son. These auxiliaries of the New York
Central were imposed by the purchase of the Great
"Western by the Grand Trunk, and they gave " the Yan-
derbilt system" a needed terminus in Chicago.
During these years, too, the Commodore, now almost
eighty years old, began and pushed to completion the
vast enterprise by which the northern railroads obtain
entrance to New York City. He obtained a charter
from the Legislature authoi'izing the erection of an im-
mense Union depot at Fourth Avenue and Forty -second
Street, and giving him the use of the avenue thence to
Harlem (previously occupied only by the surface rails
of the Harlem Railroad) for an elaborate series of un-
derground or viaduct tracks conducting into the very
heart of the metropolis the trains of the Central and
Hudson River, the Harlem, and the Kew Haven and
Boston lines. The old man's brain was as accessible
to new ideas as ever, as is evident by his adoption of
iron trusses springing from the ground for the support
of the immense roof of the depot, which was one of the
very latest facts in the development of the use of iron
in building.
WILLIAM H. AT WORK. 125
The legislative enactment " allowed " the cit}' to as-
sume one-half of the cost of the spacious subterranean
way, and upon the acceptance of this provision by the
aldermen, the '* Fourth Avenue Improvement," as it
was called, was immediately begun. This remarkable
achievement is too recent and too well known to need
particular description. It cost $6,500,000 for the su-
■perbly constructed viaducts, tunnels, and bridges. One
hundred and fifty trains pass through them daily, and
the success with which the whole is managed is the
marvel of eno-ineerino-.
The completion of a side-cut from the Hudson River
Railroad, at Spuyten Diiyvel, following the creek of that
name to Harlem, thus furnishing a continuous branch to
the Forty-second Street Depot, was the culmination of
the stupendous project which has its origin in a brain
covered with the silver of four-score years. The Com-
modore was now ably seconded by the indefatigable
labors and constant vigilance of William H., whom he
had learned to trust implicitly and even advise with,
but he did not relinquish a jot either of his responsibility
or his power.
William H. Yanderbilt had learned a good deal in ten
years. He was not a brilliant original thinker and bold
planner, like his father, but he was, unlike his father,
careful, methodical, and industrious in familiarising him-
self with routine work. Indeed, this prodigal devotion to
details was his weakness. He resolved, on entering the
office of the Yanderbilt roads as their Vice-president, to
acquaint himself thoroughly with the practical working
of each department. He would not only mark every
check, see every bill, revise eveiy contract, and inspect
126 THE YANDERBILTS.
every voucher of the finance department, but he would
make himself master of transportation, construction, and
equipment ; he w-ould examine every engine, know every
engineer, keep watch of the coal-bin, find out what a
new culvert ought to cost, have an eye on the ticket-
office, stop all the leakages in the repair-shops, supervise
the purchases of steel-rails and chestnut ties, look into
the printing-office — in fact, he M'ould find out evevy-
thing there was to know. He attempted the impossi-
ble : a tremendous work, for which the eyes of Argus
and the hands of Briareus would have been too few.
Is^o one man could do what he laid out for himself.
For a few years he adhered to his determination. He
penetrated into every nook and corner of the system.
He had become suspicious of others in his management
of the Staten Island farm, and now he did not try to
keep his suspicion from the knowledge of his employes.
He investigated every part of the vast business, moving
swiftly, and making his appearance unexpectedly. The
immediate result was a steady improvement in the mor-
ale of the men, and in the effectiveness of the roads.
Trains were on time. There was no hocus-pocusing of
contracts. Stealing was reduced to its lowest terms.
Mr. Vanderbilt did not object to desk-work, but he
had not that genius for shirking which has saved so
many lives — the ability to turn over the easy routine
work to other and cheaper men. If there was a letter
to write he did not want to dictate it — he wanted to
write it. He answered with his own hand all the let-
ters he could. He did his woi'k laboriously, and per-
formed a vast amount of drudgery which executive of-
ficers usually assign to clerks. He insisted in reading
GLANCE AT HIS LETTERS. 127
liis own business correspondence, although snrronnded
by men who liad attested their fidelity to his interests
by many years of service. He could not be induced to
employ a phonographer, or permit others to dictate let-
ters for him. lie tried to take np the whole establish-
ment and carry it at arms' length. This making him-
self a slave of minor details which he might have and
ought to have shifted upon others, constantly tended to
increase his irritability and to break down his health.
In conversation he was sometimes abrupt and brusque
to the vei'ge of rudeness, but he did not possess the power
of annihilating an impudent applicant with that impei'-
ious scorn and majestic insolence of which his father
■was a master. He was a pessimist of a cheerful sort,
and thought men and women, as a rule, "a pretty bad
lot ;" generally expressing his opinion of the aggregate
in a good-humored, chaffing sort of way, which implied
distrust rather than dislike. Whoever has a chance to
look into the eleven bulky volumes of bound letters
which William H. Yanderbilt preserved as racy samples
of their kind — letters from rascals, proposing shady
schemes ; from charlatans and cranks, offering " valuable
assistance ; " from " socialists," threatening to kill him at
a specified time and place; from women by the hundred,
inclosing photographs and asking to see him ; fi-om min-
isters begging for churches, and mendicants of every
degree begging for themselves — will come to the con-
clusion that his low opinion of human nature had a most
reasonable foundation. He thought everybody in the
world was ready to take advantage of him, and looked
upon every stranger as either a foe whom he had yet to
meet or a suppliant whom he must yet refuse. But his
128 THE VANDERBILTS.
large fund of buoyancy and bonbommie saved bim from
falling into a petnlent niisantbropy.
Botb be and bis fatber bad tbe experience of otber
ricb men in enconntering flunkies at every turn. Con-
scions tbat tbeydid not know everytbing by a good deal,
tbey wanted to obtain an bonest opinion from tbose witli
wbom tbey came into contact. Mr. Depew says : " I
bave frequently seen a look of distress on Mr. Vander-
l)ilt's face Avlien be was talking witli a number of friends,
because be could see tbat tbey were evidently trj'ing to
learn tbe bent of bis wisbes, so tbat tbey migbt follow
bim. Wbat be M'anted was an bonest expression of per-
sonal opinion, and be found few men independent
enougb to give bim tbeir real opinions if tbey differed
from Ills own. He knew tbat bis judgment was not in-
fallible, and be was anxious to learn tbe real trutb about
tilings and to obtain tbe candid opinions of otbers in
regard to tbem. He migbt differ witli a man and con-
test bis reasoning, but bis own opinion was often modi-
fied by wbat otbers said."
Like Ills fatber, he was perfectly democratic in bis in-
stincts. He was easily accessible to any visitor mIio bad
a rigbt to bis attention, and all were treated alike
wbetber worth millions or nothing at all. He wanted
no preposterous coat-of-arms. He never wore jewelry
or made any show of his wealth, and always dressed in
plain black.
He was anxious above all things to be considered a
good fellow ; be did not care about being thought a
great man, and be did not wish people to bumble them-
selves before him. It was this feeling which made bim
so popular on tbe road among horsemen, who consiiiered
SUMMARY OF CAREER. 129
themselves quite as good as lie was, and talked with liim
on terms of perfect equality. This was, indeed, his
safety valve, as there at least he was able to obtain the
expression of unprejudiced opinion.
The father and son, at last united in interest and
sympathy, now controlled the great northern trunk line
to Chicago. They had laid four tracks on the Central,
two exclusively for passengers and two for freight, giv-
ing the line indefinitely expansive powers. The freight
trains could be run continuously, like an endless chain,
and carry grain enough to load two hundred vessels a
day, while the safety of passenger transfer was brought
to a maximum.
Commodore Vanderbiit, now eighty-one years old,
looked back at his achievements with complacent satis-
faction. "I have made a million dollars every year of
my life," he said one dav, " and tlie best of it is that it
has been worth three times that to the people of the
United States." It was true. If he had put liis money
at interest when he was seventy, and sluggishly con-
tented himself with the income, he would have bene-
fited the counti-y but little. Instead of that, he aroused
to a new vouth, began to search for something that
needed rebuilding and renovating, laid his hand on the
badly-managed railroads of his native State, prostrated
by war and crippled by speculators, put together the iso-
lated fragments, reconstructed' and equipped them anew,
rescued them from poverty and contempt, reduced their
passenger and freight rates, and devised and executed
improvements that placed his system at the head of
the locomotive traffic of the planet, lie had one contin-
uous road nine hundred and seventv-cio-ht miles in leno;th.
130 THE VANDERBILTS.
with side lines greatly increasing tins total, represent-
ing an aggregate capital of $150,000,000, of which he
owned one-half. Old age was on him and death con-
fronted him, but he did not ]-est. He went on develop-
ing, strengthening, maturing, finishing, to the last.
He was, in his eighty-fiist year, a superb specimen
of physical and intellectual manhood. Whei-ever he
moved he attracted as much attention as the President
or General Grant. Tall in stature, stately in beaiing,
his eye as bright as ever, his step still fi-ee, a slight con-
sciousness of his extraordinary career expressed in his de-
meanor, Mith thirty-three grandchildren around his feet,
and increasing tenderness taking possession of his heart
and warming his face and his words, he held the fore-
most place, like some patrician patriarch, among the
seniors of the commercial world.
CHAPTER XV.
THE COMMODORE'S CHARITIES.
•
His Opinion of Beggars — Tlie Way He Gave — Careful About Money
— Meets Dr. Deems — Gives the Church of the Strangers — The
Tennessee University.
Commodore Vandeebilt was not natnrally a philan-
thropist. The school of advei-sity in which he was
trained — penniless boy, hoatnian, skipper, steamboat
captain, sliip-owner— was not calcnlated to turn his sym-
pathies toward the. weak and destitute. A too fierce
fii>-ht with jS'atnre almost alwavs tends to harden the
lieart rather than to soften it. It was strong men whom
he liked and sympathized with, not weak ones ; the self-
reliant, not the helpless, lie had always worked hard
and saved ever}' penny that he conld, both as boy and
man; "Let others do as I have done," he said, "and
they need not be around here begging." He felt that
the solicitor of charity was always a lazy or di'unken
person tr^-ing to live hy plundering the sober and in-
dustrious.
The conclusion was not quite aecui'ate, but the intui-
tion was right. There were important exceptions to his
rule, but he had not time to hunt them up and provide
for them. It was not understood then, as it clearly is
now, that the promiscuous alms-giver on the city streets
J 32 THE VANDERBILTS.
does far more evil than good ; that hap-hazard charity
creates more paupers than it relieves ; * and that it is
the duty of every citizen to refnse to yield to that
wounded emotion, heavenly in its origin but pernicious
in its action, that inclines him to drop a nickel into the
extended palm as the easiest way of getting rid of a
suppliant and gratifying liis own untutored moral sense.
Darwin's felicitous phrase, " the survival of the fittest,"
"though invented had not yet been popularized, but the
Commodore instinctively felt that the average result of
charity was to promote the survival of the uniittest, and
that about the only way to do any permanent good was
by teaching the indolent to be industrious, the unskillful
to be expert, the extravagant to be economical, the slug-
gish to be ambitious — in short, by teaching the weak to
help themselves.
He always had an eye to this sort of person among
his old acquaintances, and did not hesitate to give gen-
erously where the gift would stimulate the recipient to
self-reliance. The people of Staten Island know of
scores of instances in which he quietly attempted thus
to lend a needed hand. His most persistent applicants
for money were clergymen, and for them he felt an
aversion not unmixed with contempt. As a rule he dis-
* Gerrit Smith gave so liberally and unreservingly that hundreds
lost their self-respect througli his largess, and some of his neighbors
were turned into beggars. Herbert Spencer tells of a great bequest
to an English village, which so demoralized the people that Parlia-
ment had to intercede and cancel the gift. It is notorious that as the
poor-rates in England increase pauperism increases ; and that in
those cities where all the able-bodied jioor are compelled to work for
the public the number of those who solicit alms is reduced tliree-
quarters.
HIS IDEAS OF CHARITY. 133
missed tliem abruptly, sometimes rudely, and once,
when he had been annoyed persistently by a need\' par-
son, he presented hin* with a free ticket to the AVest
Indies and never heard of him again.
One rule the Commodore had that was inflexible.
He never put his name to a subscription paper for any
purpose whatever. One day E. H. Caridick, his old
partner in Nicaragua schemes, met him on Broadway.
They talked about affairs in Washington for a moment,
then Carmick said, "Commodore, I have something here
that you'll be interested in,'' pulling out a suT^scription
paper. " I want to build an asylum on Staten Island
for broken-down merchants, where they can always have
a warm home and plenty to eat. Roberts is going to
give $10,000. Aspinwall and Astor are in it. We
want 3'ou to give a lot down on your old place."
The Commodore heard him through, and then said,
"No, Carmick ; you ought to be about better business !
Don't you know that about half the people's ' broken
down ' one way or another, and that if you was to roof
Staten Island right over, it would be filled up before you
could turn around ? "
One reason why he gave no more in such i-easonable
ways as that above mentioned is that the acquisitive
liabit of a life was so strong on him. Pie did not see
that it was safe to let his expenditures keep step with his
increasing wealth. " Something may happen," he kept
saying; and, in fact, something in the shape of financial
disaster came very near happening two or three times
in his life and shipwrecking him. So he kept saving,
and denying himself what his money would buy ; con-
stantly cheating himself for the sake of others. Only a
134 THE VANDEKBILTS.
few years before his death he had some internal trouble
for which the doctor recommended champagne. " Cham-
pagne!" exclaimed the liftj-millionaire ; ''champagne!
I can't afford champagne ! A bottle every morning !
Oh, I guess sody water'll do ! "
Advancing years, inclining him to stay at home more
and more, atld the presence of a helpful and intelligent
companion in his second wife, effected something of a
change in his character. One day he said, " Frank,
where is that Doctor Deems I've heai'd you talk about ?
— the one that you wanted to have marry us? "
" I haven't seen him since we came back to town,"
she answered ; " he used to preach to strangei-s around
in the University Building."
" I should think he might call on us," said the Com-
modore.
Somebody told the Doctor. " I have never run after
rich people," he said. " I have not avoided them, but
when a man, conspicuous for wealth or position, desires
to know me, he must seek me. If I am expected I Mill
call."
He was cordially received, contrary' to the experience
of most clergymen. They talked freely and frankly.
The Commodore turned the talk upon the Doctor's
work and hopes. They met often after that. One even-
inorthe convei'sation turned on clerical bci^ai'S, the host's
O OCT' '
pet aversion. The Doctor depi-ecated the whole business.
"Now liei'e I am," he said. " I have been preaching
for two years within ear-shot of the Commodore. My
little rooms have been ovei'run. People have said to
me, ' Why don't you see Mi-. Lenox, or Mr. Stewart, or
Mr. Astor, or Commodore Yanderbilt, and get some of
DK. DEEMS. 135
them to bnild you a Church of the Strangers?' ^STot I.
The Coinniodore will bear me witness that 1 have never
solicited a dollar from him for any object on earth."
" Xo, he never has, Fraidc," he said, turning to his
wife ; evidently thinking the better of his visitor for the
abstinence.
" And 1 never shall, as long as there is breath in my
body," said the visitor.
The Commodore obviously did not quite like the re-
mark, but the Doctor went on, " For if he has lived to at-
tain his present age and has not got sense enough to see
what I need and grace enough to send it, he will die
without the sight." The speaker's impressions of the
Commodore were not favorable. He regarded him as
an unscrupulous hoarder of money, who merely aimed at
accumulating an immense fortune, but had little concern
for the human race.
Dr. Deems was at this time thinking of purchasing
the Mercer Street Presbyterian Church edifice, hoping
to pay for it somehow, and a report of this had got
to the Commodore's ears. One Monday evening, at the
close of a call, he asked his visitor to come around soon.
The reply was that every evening for a week was occu-
pied, but the next Saturday evening he went.
The Commodore offered to buy the Mercer Street
Church for him. The Doctor says that he "fired up in
a minute," because he supposed the donor had some sin-
ister motive, either wanting a chaplain he could use, or
desiring to get hold of the building for business pur-
poses. His benefactor reassured him.
" After the discharge of the lightning of my anger,"
says the Doctor, "I felt that a sort of April shower
136 THE VANDEEBILTS.
was coming. Mj ejos were moistening. It seemed a
wonderfnl Providence, for you know we always think it
is a wonderfnl Providence if it runs with our ideas. I
extended my hand and said, ' Commodore, if you give me
that church for the Lord Jesus Christ, Pll most thank-
fully accept it.'
" ' Ko,' said he ; ' Doctor, I wouldn't give it to you
that way, because that would be professing to you a re-
ligious sentiment I don't feel. I want to give you a
church. That's all about it. It is one friend doins:
something for another friend. Now, if you take it that
way, I'll give it to you.'
" We both rose at the same moment, and I took his
hand and said, ' Commodore, in whatever spirit you give
it, I gi'atefully accept it, but I shall receive it in the
name of the Loixl Jesus Christ.'
" ' O, well,' he said, 'let's go in the sitting-room and
see the women ! ' "
It was some time before the property could be got ;
and one day the Commodore's clerk, Mr. AVardell, called
and said, " Doctoi-, here is a package containing $50,000
in money from Commodore Yanderbilt." The follow-
ing conversation took place :
Pauson. " Don't you know what this is for ? "
Clekk. " No, sir ; 1 don't."
Parson. " Didn't the Commodore tell you ? "
Clerk. " No, sir."
Parson. " Shall I give you a receipt ? "
Clerk. "No, sir."
Parson. " Why don't you take a receipt ? "
Clerk. " The Commodore didn't ask for any."
The Doctor wanted the church given to trustees, but
GEORGE W. VANDERBILT.
GIVING HOSTAGES TO LEARNING. 137
tlie Commodore refused, saying, " No, you hammer away
at some of them fellows about their sins and they'll turn
around and bedevil you so that you will have to quit.
I'm going to give it to you yourself."
'' And from that day forth," testifies the Doctor, "he
always treated me as one gentleman treats another who
has done him a very great favor."
After the <rift of the Church of the Strangers the in-
timacj between the Commodore and the Kev, Dr.
Deems grew. There is a manuscript memorandum in
M'hich the Commodore's wife kept record of his sayings
in his last days, in which he expressed his confidence in
and love for this clergyman, and his delight that his life
had been spared to see the University started, and his
hope that he should live to see a wise way to do more.
The story of how the University came to exist is as
follows :
Commodore Yanderbilt and Dr. Deems were chatting-
together one evening at the residence of the former in
Washiugton Place, when the conversation turned upon
education. "I'd give a million dollars to-day. Doctor,"
exclaiuied the Commodore, " if I had j^our education ! "
"Is that your honest sentiment. Commodore?"
gravel}' asked the doctor,
"It is," was the reply. " Folks may say that I don't
care about education, but it ain't true ; I do. I've been
among educated people enough to see its importance.
I've been to England, and seen them lords, and other
fellows, and knew that I had twice as much brains as
they had maybe, and yet I had to keep still, and
couldn't say anything through fear of exposing myself."
During this last remark, Horace F. Clark, son-in-law
138 THE VAT^DERBILTS.
to the Commodore, slipped into the room unobserved
by the latter, who happened to be sitting with his back
to the door.
" Well ! " he exclaimed, " I am glad to hear you
admit at last. Commodore, that there is some benefit in
an education. You've always spoken to me as if you
thought it nothing."
The Commodore turned toward him, and, assuming a
stern look, replied. " I seem to get along better than
half of your educated men."
" JS^evertlieless, you have made the admission at last,"
continued Mr. Clark. "Dr. Deems has drawn it out of
you for the first time, and I am a witness to it."
With this Mr. Clark prudently withdrew.
" If these are really your sentiments," Dr. Deems
went on, " then yon must let me tell you that you ai'e
one of the greatest hindrances to education that I know
of."
" Why, how so ? " asked the Commodoi'e with surprise.
" Why, don't you see, if yon do nothing to promote
education, to prove to the woi-ld that you believe in it,
there isn't a boy in all the land who ever heard of you,
but may say, 'W^hat's the use of an education ? There's
Commodore Yanderbilt ; he never had any, and never
wanted any, and yet he became the richest man in
America.' "
"Will they say that ? " asked the Commodore with
evident feeling ; and then he added, " But it isn't true.
I do care for education, and always have. But what
shall 1 do ? "
" Show to the world your true sentiments," replied
the Doctor.
THE VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY. 139
" IIow ? " was the response.
" Well," replied Dr. Deems, " liere you ai'e proposing
to build a nionunient to Washington to cost a million of
dollars. Such a monument will not add one iota to
Washington's fame. A monument on every street-
corner in America would not do it. Suppose you take
that money and found a univ^ersity."
" A university ! " exclaimed the Commodore.
" Yes, why not ? The Vanderbilt University, per-
haps." This was the first time the name of the new
university was ever spoken. The idea was new and valu-
able— worth considering. After further conversations
on the subject the Commodoi-e abandoned the plan of
a magnificent monument to Washington, and finally re-
quested Dr. Deems to canvass the question of founding a
Moravian University. Naturally his heart turned toward
the persecuted Church of his ancestors, and liis first
thought was to form a great college for its benefit. Di-.
Deems took up the task and thoughtfully went over the
whole field of the Moravian Church in America. The
result was communicated to Commodore Yanderbilt,
who found no one in that body to whom be could en-
trust so great a work. But he did not altogether give
up the idea of founding a universit^^ The subject still
continued to be occasionally discussed, and gradually
the harvest grew I'ipe for the reaper.
Many years before the incidents nan-ated above, when
Dr. Deems was a clergyman in the South, he had an in-
timate friend. Rev. Dr. McTyeire, editor of a New Or-
leans paper. Since Dr. Deems had come to Xew York
Dr. McTyeii-e had been made a Bishop of the Southern
Methodist Church. In early life in Mobile he had been
140 THE VANDERBILTS.
pastor of Miss Frank Crawford — Mrs. Commodore Van-
derbilt — and liad married a distant relative of hers.
Mrs. Yanderbilt liad very great affection for this friend
of Dr. Deems and knew that Deems had the greatest
confidence in McTyeire's ability and integrity. Tlie
Bishop was concerned in founding a university in the
South. It occurred to Dr. Deems that he was the man
the Commodore needed, and that it would help to allay
the animosities between the Xortli and the South en-
gendered by the Civil "War, if the Commodore would
put his college in that section. Tliese ideas were
warmly sliared by Mrs. Vanderbilt. How to bring the
men together was the question. In the Spring of 1870,
Di-. Deems had tried to secure an invitation for the
Bishop from the Commodore, and was aided by Mrs.
Vanderbilt, but it failed. As the intimacy grew between
the Commodore and the pastor the time was finally ripe,
and the invitation secured. The impression made on
the Commodore by the Bishop was such as Mrs. Yan-
derbilt and Dr. Deems had anticipated. This was in
March, 1873. The Bishop one day hurried over to the
Doctor's study radiant with the news that the Commo-
dore had offered $500,000 to a university to be founded
at Nashville.
He returned home rejoicing and commenced the
M'ork, and prosecuted it vigoi'ously. Subsequently the
Commodore gave $100,000 moi-e. Then some influence
had been bi'ought to bear on him to make him feel that
the institution would probably be sectarian. The Doc-
tor showed him how much better it was that a college
should be under the care of some (church with a great
denomination to back it, and brought him to that view,
SATISFACTIOiV. 141
and sliOM'ed him that a college with the name of Yan-
dej'bilt would be a shabby thing without at least a million
of dollars in buildings and endowment. After further
thought the Connnodore agreed to give the other
S400,000, which he arranged before his death. He never
regretted it. One of the last expressions of his life was
his telling his wife how glad he was that he liad done
it, and how satisfied he was that he had put it in the
hands of men he so entirely trusted.
CHAPTER XVI.
DEATH OF THE COMMODORE.
Taken 111 at Eiglity-two — Great Public Interest — The Vigilant News-
papers — Reporters Besiege the Invalid — Death After Eight
Months— A Simple Funeral— The Will.
The three ricliest men in America at this time were
Commodore Yanderbilt ; A. T. Stewart, who was nine
years his junior, and William B. Astor, who was two
months his senior. Mr. Astor died in November, 1875,
and Mr. Stewart in A})ril, 1876, and less than a
month thereaftei", on May 10th, the third and most con-
spicuous in this triumvirate of wealth was taken ill and
confined to his room.
Great was the excitement. Newspapers published
extras with such bits of fact or rumoi- as they could
gather. Reporters hiy in wait for the doctor and am-
bushed the minister, and newsboys yelled under the
windows of No. 10 Washington Place, •' Commodoi'e
Vanderbilt dying ! "
The venerable patient felt exasperated that such lib-
erties should bo taken with him, and, when a reporter
called next morning, he crawled out of bed and shouted
down the stairs, "I am not dying! The slight local
disorder is now almost entirely gone and the doctor says
I will be well in a few days. Even if 1 was dying I
THE KEPORTEIIS' VIGIL. 143
should have vigor enough to knock this abuse down
your lying throats and give the undertaker a job ! "
The protest did no good. The papers had columns
daily about his various ailments, about how much he
was worth, and how long he would live, and what effect
his death would have on the stock market, and who would
get his money. Every week some paper announced that
lie was dead. All summer he lay in the sweltering heat,
and lived on. His iron constitution was doing battle
for him against a conspiracy of a dozen diseases.
On August 3d he experienced a relapse so i-adical
and severe that even his physicians concluded that his
last hours had come. At midnight his life Avas de-
spaired of, his pulses fluttered feebly, his feet grew cold,
his heart intermitted its beats, and the family, brother
and sisters, children and grandchildren, gathered around
the bed to bid him a long farcM'ell. Then he turned over
toward the wall and went to sleep. The next morning's
papei's recorded his death, but he rallied and got up.
That brigade of enterprising and courteous gentlemen,
the New York reporters, had a very lively time of it
during the Centennial summer. Every daily had to
liave a relay, that one might be perpetually on guard
at the house.
As wet autumnal days came on, presaging the cold of
winter, the score of reporters who had swarmed around
the front steps, found the position more and more un-
comfortable. They made better arrangements by hir-
ing a large front-room across the street, and thus put
the distinguished invalid in a state of siege. One of
thenj has told the curious story of that unique vigil :
how they whiled away the weary hours with chess and
144 THE VANDERBILTS.
cards and books; how they tried to establish some regu-
larity of beer and lunches; how they effected an organi-
zation to save unnecessary expenditure of effovt, appoint-
ing a guard to constantlj^ watch the door aci'oss the way
through the slats of the closed blinds ; how they had a
picket and a patrol outside, waylaying everybody that
emerged from the house ; and how impatient they be-
came for a change of some sort — any sort — in the pa-
tient's condition.
There was another relapse and another, and a council
of physicians was called. Again he rallied, and passed
the " golden cycle " of Christmas holidays safely, and
emei-ged upon the Xew Year. On the aftei-noon of
January 3d he was placed in his rolling-chair and
wheeled to the sitting-room, seeming to enjoy the ti-ip.
The sick-chamber was on the southeast corner of the
second floor, and there he had been for eight months.
At two o'clock on the morning of the 4th a change for
the woi'se took place, and the members of the family
were summoned. William II. Vanderbilt arrived at live
o'clock, and shortly there were gathered about the bed
of the dying man his children, grandchildren, and great-
grandchildren. Four able physicians were in attendance,
and Rev. Dr. Deems came at nine o'clock. The (.^om-
raodoi-e comprehended the fact that his last day had
come, and spoke to all his descendants, calmly bidding
them good-by.
Singing was suggested, and he immediately assenting,
Mrs. Crawford led in his favorite hymns, " Come ye
Sinners, Poor and Needy," " T^earer, my God, to Thee,"
and " Show pity. Lord." II is face brightened up and
he feebly joined in the singing. Just before ten o'clock
DEATH AFTER EIGHT MONTHS. 145
lie asked Dr. Deems to pray Mith him ; lie seemed to
follow the prayer, and at the end ti-ied to repeat the bene-
diction. He said, " That's a good prayer,'' and grasped
the Doctor's hand, adding, " I shall never give np trust
in Jesus : how could I let that go ? "
At 10.30 A.M. he ceased attempting to speak ; he lifted
his right hand and closed his own eyelids, became for a
few moments unconscious, or at any rate unresponsive,
drew one deep breath and died. He expired peacefully
and apparently without pain. Exhausted nature slept
the long sleep.
Among those present were his wife, and her mother,
Mrs. Crawford ; Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Yanderbilt and
their children ; Mrs. Daniel Torrance and husband and
daughter ; Mrs. J. B. Allen ; Mrs. George A. Osgood and
husband ; Mrs. JST. B. La Ban ; IVIrs. James M. Cross and
husband ; Mrs. William Iv. Thorn and husband ; Mrs.
Meredith Howland and husband ; Mr. C. X. De Forest ;
Mrs. S. D. Barton ; Mr. E. D. Worcester, Secretai-y of
the Central Road, and Elliott F. Shephard.
The Commodore's brother. Captain Jacob Yanderbilt,
and his sister. Miss Phebe Yanderbilt, were not pres-
ent, being with another sister, Mrs. Charlotte Egbert,
who was lying at the point of death at her home in
Tompkinsville, S. I."
The Commodore had exhibited tremendous vital force,
and two of his physicians had died during their attend-
ance upon him.
The funeral was held at 10.30 a.m. the next Sunday,
* This was his oldest sister, after whom his first sloop was named,
then the wife of Captain De Forest. She died the day after the
Commodore.
7
146 THE VANDERBILTS.
in the Clinrch of the Strangers. In accordance with liis
express request and direction it was extremely simple,
and characterized by a lack of display and parade, lie
had often condemned the fashionable folly which op-
pressed the poor with expensive funerals, and had al-
leged that the rich were responsible for it. lie would
not have his funeral stir np such pernicious ennilation
and rob the poor of their hard earnings. So he had said,
" ]S^o flowers at my funeral ; not one ! N^o costly badges
of mourning ; no crape for showing off ! " The injunc-
tion was obeyed.
By his express command the Grand Central Depot
was not draped in mourning, nor were there any sable
trappings or somber festoonery on cars or locomotives.
Among those who attended the funeral were Daniel
Drew, Thurlow Weed, Samuel Ward, Gordon W. Burn-
ham, Marshall O. Boberts, ex-Governor Morgan, Beter
Cooper, Charles O'Conor, and Frank Leslie, all since
dead, though it was only nine years ago.
Dr. Deems said at the funeral that the deceased lacked
only two things : early scholastic culture and intimate re-
ligious relations during the middle and main part of his
life. The last he regretted, but Nature, by giving him
a M''onderful intellect, compensated for the first in part.
His remains were deposited in the vault of the old
Moravian cemetery wdiich his ancestors of the "United
Brethren " had helped lay out at New Dorp, and in
which most of their bodies lay. lie himself had given
fifty acres of land to the cemetery.
Commodore Yanderbilt had never connected himself
with a church, and was, in his convei'saticm, an invlig-
ious man ; but he had never thought about dogmatic
AN ENORMOUS BEQUEST. 147
theology mncli, aiul li;ul never ceased to l)clievc M'liut
liis pious mother had taught when lie was a child. The
doctrine of a supreme being, a devil, a heaven, a hell,
an atonement, he regarded as settled facts, as undenia-
.ble as the multiplication-table. Whenever lie spoke of
Jesus Christ serious!}' and deliberately he always alluded
to him as " Our Saviour," and lie reverently called the
Lible " the Holy Scriptures."
He had as great a horror of being thought an infidel
as Daniel Drew had, and often declared that lie
" wouldn't trust with a dollar " a man who doubted the
inspiration of the Bible. During his last illness, as he
lay on the lounge and Doctor Deems was fanning him
one day, he said, " I don't want any misunderstanding
about this business. You haven't converted me. I
didn't need converting. I always believed in the truth
of these things you preach about. You haven't had any
more effect on my belief than that fan has ! "
The public had not doubted what would be tb.e gen-
eral character of the will. William H. Yanderbilt, be-
ing the oldest son and the only one fitted by habits and
training to take care of it, would undoubtedly inhei'it
the bulk of the property. In this all were agreed.
AVlien the will was produced in the Surrogate's Court,
four days afterward, it was found that the general con-
jecture was correct. ]S«^ot far from $90,000,000 was left
to William H. Of the bequests to all other persons,
amounting to $15,000,000, one-half went to the four
sons of the principal heir, and the oldest son, Cornelius,
whose progress the decedent had watched and approved,
got much the largest share.*
* See Appendix D.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE COMMODORE'S SUCCESSOR.
Industrious and Prudent — Compromises witli Foes — Dealing with.
Laborers — Contest of the Will — The Quarrel Ended — Generosity
and Human Nature— Accurate Business Habits.
William II. Vandeebilt, now fifty-six years old, was
thorouglil}' equipped for ]iis new role. It involved no
radical change in his methods or his life. He imme-
diately took charge of the property, and became presi-
dent of all the roads, where he had before been vice-
president, but his relation to affairs was not materially
modified. His service had never been perfunctory. It
had been an honest devotion to the intei'ests of his
father's property. The only difference seen in 1877 was
that his great vigilance and energy in administration
were increased ; he merely worked harder where he had
always before worked hard. He felt the weight of the
additional responsibility^ and he resolved that his father's
apprehension that he would lose the property should not
be realized. What he lacked of his fathers genius and
brilliant audacity he would make up in greater industry
and cautiousness.
The first year was si<!;nalized bv the viirorous warfare
in west-bound freight-rates between the trunk lines.
Mr. Vanderbilt favored compromise. This was proba-
SACRIFICES FOK PEACE. 149
blj the wisest tiling to do, but it showed that he did not
possess the strenuous temper of his father. The Coniino-
dore's enei-gies would have been bent, not to making
compacts with rival systems, but to making conquests of
them. lie recognized no equals, lie would have so
extended his own system as to nuike all others confess-
edly snboi'dinate, reducing them to the rank of local
roads. Or, if this were found impracticable, on account
of some other possessing better natural facilities for the
chief highway across the continent, he would liave boldly
abandoned his own lines and transferred his capital and
liis abilities to another as readily as he deserted sails for
steam, or ships for locomotives. He was far-sighted
and had a broad horizon, lie knew no rest and wanted
none.
Kor did the son care for rest, but he wanted peace.
He was not pugnacious, or happy in the midst of con-
flict, and about the first thing he did was to put an end
to the freight-rate chaos that had lasted for years, and
establish an ari-angement with his rivals that would en-
able him to avoid the continual battle, the din of M'hich
was one of the j^leasures of his father's life.
Truce was hardly declared before the railroad strikes
and riots began. One of the results of cutting rates
had been that the companies had been unable to main-
tain their scale of wages, and the Hudson Kiver and Cen-
tral had in July made a reduction of ten per cent. There
were 12,000 men in its employ, and apprehensions be-
gan to be felt, in view of the febi-ile condition of the
working-classes, that trouble migiit result from the re-
duction. An attack on the Grand Central Depot was
threatened, Mr. Yanderbilt was in Saratoga, and call-
150 THE VANDEEBILTS,
iiig some directors and officers into conference, a plan
Avas devised, adopted, and put into execution. He sent
out hy telegraph a proclamation that the Kew York
Central and Hudson Iliver Railroad Company would
give to its employes $100,000 ratably, except to the
executive, departmental, and clerical forces. At the
same time he promised a restoration of the ten per cent,
as soon as the business of the road justified the action.
Out of the 12,000 men less than 500 gave trouble, and
the old wages were eventually restored.
During the early j'ears of his absolute control of the
property, he did all he could to avoid friction, and re-
duce the chances of rate-cutting on the part of rival
roads.
But all did not go smoothly. There were angry mut-
terings about the will. WiUiam H. Vanderbilt had re-
ceived at least $90,000,000, while to the unfortunate sec-
ond son, Cornelius J., the testator bequeathed only the
income derived from $200,000, with the condition that
he should forfeit even this if he began a contest of the
will. For years " Cornele " had been virtually banished
from his father's house, occasional interviews being ob-
tained only through the intercession of his mother or
sisters. Even on his death-bed, the Commodore said
he did not care to see his wayward son. The feeling
was reciprocal, and the latter took apparent pleasure in
rehearsing to knots of listenei's the story of his wi'ongs,
and details of his father's life M-hich M'ere probably the
oftspring of a sick man's disordered fancy.
" Why doesn't he give me a chance ? " the exiled
epileptic would ask in an angry whine. " Everybody
admits that I know more than Bill docs, even if I don't
COISTTEST OF THE WILL. 151
know very much. AMij doesn't father put nic in charge
of some little branch road somewhere and see what I
could do ? "
But the fatlier remained unrelenting, and he had em-
phasized his distrust in his will. As to the merits of
the division of property, public opinion was mainly on
the side of the chief legatee, but many who did not know
the pensioned son thought that injustice had been done
him. There were greedy and need}' lawyers to fan the
controvers}', and the result at last was a contest of tlie
will. For a yeai* the public was regaled with foreshad-
owings of the evidence at hand to prove the testator's
mental incompetency to make a will, and it revealed
nmch of family matters that was not entirely pleasant,
and a tremendous inventive faculty on the part of the
contestant. The public appetite was whetted, and the
public eye on the qui vive for scandal when, to his
credit, Mr. Vanderbilt compromised by giving to his
litigious brother the income on §1,000,000.*
At least two of the sisters had sympathized with
" Cornele's " suit, and had given him aid and comfort,
neither of them liking the legatee, and one of them
not having been for years on speaking terms with him ;
but now, in addition to the bequests made to his sis-
ters, William II. voluntarily added $500,000 to each
from his own portion.
Pie drove around one evening, and distributed this
splendid largess from his carriage, he himself carrying
the bonds into each house in his arms and delivering
* A year or two later, on April 3, 1882, Cornelius Jeremiah Yander-
liilt was shot dead in his room at the Glenham Hotel, and it was sup-
posed that the shot was lired by his own hand.
152 THE VANDEEBILTS.
them to each sister in turn. The donation was accom-
panied by two interesting incidents. In one case the
husband said, " William, I've made a qnick calculation
here, and I iind these bonds don't amount to quite
$500,000. They're $150 short, at the price quoted to-
day." The donor smiled, and sat down and made out
his check for the sum to balance.
In another case, a husband, after counting and receipt-
ing for the $500,000 followed the generous visitor out
of the door, and said, " By the way, if you conclude
to give the other sisters any more, you'll see that we
fare as well as any of them, won't you ? " The donor
jumped into his carriage and drove off without replying,
only saying, with a laugh, to his companions, " Well,
what do you think o' that ? "
The money which " Cornele " had borrowed so ]-eck-
lessly of Horace Greeley had never been repaid, and
knowing that the too-generous editor's daughters were
in need of it, Whitelaw Reid, his successor on the
Trihune, began timely and vigorous negotiations which
resulted successfully. It was made one of the conditions
of the compromise of the law-suit that $G0,000 should
be at once paid to them, and the condition was fultilled.
Negotiations for the purchase of the Canada Southern
began before the Commodore died, but remained to be
completed. Now Mr. Yanderbilt, in consideration of
paying the debt resulting from a default on its bond-in-
terest, was given a majority of the stock. A joint com-
mittee representing the two companies agreed upon a
basis of reorganization, the old bonds being exchanged
for new, bearing three per cent, interest for five years
and five per cent, thereafter, the interest on the new
INCREASING THE FORTUNES. 153
issue being guaranteed for twenty years Ly the New
York Central road. The Michigan Central was pur-
chased in open market.
Mr Yanderbilt's financial methods showed that he
regarded the fortune that had been left him as a trust,
and he took good care not to dissipate it. He took few
chances. His father was never more careful about in-
terest than he. He allowed nothing to go to loose ends.
He compelled strict accounting, and never gave any man
with whom he had dealings a dollar that was not his
due. He was never penurious, but he always made close
calculations.
At one time when he "was in Europe, he wrote home,
" We are being cheated out of our eye-teeth, and have to
pay at least double prices everywhere, because we are
supposed to be rich. We have to put up with the over-
charges, for it is the only way to get through Europe.
But it makes me mad all the same."
When in active control of aifairs at the office he fol-
lowed the unwholesome habit of eating the midday
lunch at his desk, the waiter bringing it from a neigh-
boring restaurant.
He paid his bill for this weekly, and he always
scrutinized the items with proper cai-e. " Was I hei-e
last Thursday ? " he asked of a clerk at an adjoining
desk.
" No, Mr. Yanderbilt ; you stayed at home that day."
" So I thought," he said, and struck that day from
the bill.
Another time he would exclaim, sotto voce, " I didn't
order coffee last Tuesday," and that item would vanish.
These instances are mentioned as illustratinu; his care-
154 THE VANDERBILTS.
fill and accurate business habits, the prime secret of his
success as a raih-oad operator and owner.
All these years the growth of the country was unpre-
cedented. Ev^erj' day brought across the sea new citi-
zens to cultivate and populate the West, and the incom-
ing ship was a feeder of his roads, and the quarter-section
of prairie-land turned up to the sun and planted with
wheat increased his revenue.
The vast fortune left him by his father was visibly
growing, and he soon began at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-
first Street the construction of a palace commensurate
with his income, and the establishment of a gallery of
modern art adequate to grace so spacious and luxurious
a mansion.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE MANSION.
The Style and Cost — Six Hundred Workmen and Sixty Sculptors —
Description of the Rooms— The Vestibule — The Picture Gallery
— Hoping to Live There Ten Years — Leaves in Five.
The finest and most costly private residence in
America is the brown-stone house on tlie northwesterly
coi'ner of Fifth Avenue and Fifty-first Street, standing
on a lot fronting 100 feet on the avenue, and extending
back 150 feet. The whole block between Fifty-first and
Fifty-second Streets was secured, and on this Mr. Van-
derbilt erected this double four-story mansion.
The southern portion of this was for his own resi-
dence, while the northern building he gave to his two
daughters, Mrs. Sloane and Mrs. Shepard. His own
residence is 115x84 feet, and is built in the style of
architecture known as the Greek renaissance. About
three years wei-e consumed in building the mansions, and
the family moved in late in 1881, Mrs. Yanderbilt giving
her first reception on the ITth of January, 1882.
It was Mr. Yanderbilt's first intention to build his
liouses of light stone, with colored marble pilasters,
columns and trinnnings, but as much of the material
would have to be imported, and the carvings would take
a long time, it might delay the completion of the build-
156 THE VANDEEBILTS.
ings for a couple of years. On this account, even after
the foundations were laid, and all the plans completed,
Mr. Vanderbilt decided at the last moment to use brown-
stone, the material generally used for Fifth Avenue
residences. lie said that he was not a young man, and
that taking the average, he had a life of about ten years
before him, and that as he wanted to live in the house,
and did not wish to be ens-a^ed in buildino- all of his
days, brown-stone should be used, as it would not take
so long to work as the materials originally proposed.
Mrs. Yanderbilt was contented with her home at 450
Fifth Avenue, and never wished for a better. However
rich and opulent her subsequent surroundings, she has
still remembered, with never-fading pleasure, the quiet
home on the Xew Dorp farm, and the real friendships
formed there. She tried to dissuade her husband from
entering the uew palace. She once said to a friend, who
called upon her while the great residence was in the
course of construction :
" We don't need a house better than this, and I luite
to think of leaving it, for we have lived so comfortably
here ! I have told William that if he wants a finer
place for his pictures to build a gallery to which he
could go whenever he felt inclined ; this is too good a
liouse to leave. I shall never feel at home in the new
place."
Work was begun in 1879, and was pushed with such
energy and rapidity that the new houses were completed
in two years. More than six hundred men were em-
ployed for a year and a half on the interior decoi'ations,
and sixty sculptors brought from Europe were kept at
work the same lentj;th of time. Tlie cost of the whole
THE DINING ROOM. 157
block of houses was over two millions of dollars, two-
thirds of which should be set down to his own residence.
The designing, construction, and furnishing of the house
was left wholly to the artists whom he employed, and he
never made any contracts with them, they having carte
Manche to ransack the world and spare no money to get
what they needed. He took great interest in the work
during its progress, and all the designs were submitted
to him, from the first stone to the last piece of decora-
tion or furniture. He spent many pleasant hours in tlie
designing-rooms, and often gave the workmen money to
encourage tliem.
The drawing-room, the dining-room, and the lower
hall, are the most costly parts of the residence. The
house is entered by a spacious vestibule which stretches
between the two mansions. The ceiling of this is of
bronze and stained glass, filled in with a mosaic made
by Fecchina, of Venice, from plans drawn in New York.
The walls are of a light-colored African marble sur-
mounted by a frieze of figures in mosaic. There are
fixed marble seats in this room, the floor of which is of
marble and mosaic. The bronze doors at the entrance
are Barbedienne reductions of those by Ghiberti in the
Baptistry at Florence. These M-ere given to Mr. Yan-
derbilt by his son-in-law, Mr. Elliot F. Shepard, who
bought them at tlie San Donato sale for $20,000. They
were formerly the doors of the palace of the Prince of
San Donato, A large malachite vase stands in this ves-
tibule. It was bought for Mr. Yanderbilt, at the same
sale, by Governor J. Schuyler Crosb}-, then United States
Consul at Florence. It was given to the first Prince
Demidoff, of San Donato, by the Emperor of Russia.
158 THE YANDERBILTS.
Passing from this large outer vestibule, one enters the
private vestibule of tlie Vanderbilt residence, which is
finished with a high wainscoating of marble, and has
three bronze doors — the one on the right opening into
a small dressing-room, the left into Mr. Vanderbilt's
private reception-room, and the third door into the
main hall of the house. The great middle hall or court
extends the full lieight of the house, and is surrounded
by galleries, tier above tier, leading to the different pri-
vate living-rooms. It is lighted by nine large stained
glass windows, and is surrounded by a wainscoting
twelve feet high, in carved English oak. Eight square
pillars of dark red African marble, with bronze capitals,
support the galleries. Facing the entrance is a large
and beautiful mantel-piece of red marble and bronze,
over an open fire-place. It reaches to the first gallery,
and has on each side a life-size female figure in bronze
in high relief. The chimney-piece is of massive sculpt-
ured marble, and the effect is very fine. Carved oak
seats are placed on both sides of the door on the eastern
side of the hall, passing into the drawing-room. The
main staircase leads from the north of this hall, and is
lighted by stained glass windows by La Farge, noticeable
for the artist's management of greens and blues.
The drawing-room, which is 25 x 31 feet, has a ceiling
painted by Gallaud, of Paris. The wood-work is a mass
of sculpture, gilded and glazed with warm tints. The
walls are hung with a pale red velvet, embroidered with
foliage, flowers, and butterflies, and enriched with cut
crystal and precious stones. The lights are arranged in
eight vases of stained and jewelled glass disposed at the
corners, at the angles of the large east window, and
THE DKAWIiVG KOOMS. 1.09
at tlie sides of the door. Sonieof these \'a.scs, uplield hy
ieiiiale tigures in solid silver, stand on pedestals of onyx
with l)ronze trimmings, while the lights in the corners are
backed by mirrors, to add to their brilliancy, and rest (jn
black velvet bases. The carpet was woven in Enro})e
from special designs.
At the north of the drawing-room there is a door
opening into the library, a room 26 x IT feet. The wood-
work of this room, composed of mahogany and rose-
wood, is inlaid with mother-of-pearl and brass in an
antique Greek pattern. The book-cases, mantels, and
doors are treated in the same manner. A large table in
the same style stands in the center of the room, and all
tlie furniture corresponds. The ceiling is set with panels
containing small square mirrors.
In Mr. Vanderbilt's private reception-room the walls
ai'e fitted with a high wainscoting of mahogain', the
space above being covered with stamped leather. The
ceiling is of massive mahogany.
South of the drawitig-room there is a Japanese parlor.
In this room the ceiling is of bamboo, picked out witli
red, green, and yellow lacquer-work. The rafters are
exposed. A low-toned tapestry, with panels of Japanese
uncut velvet in curious designs, cover the walls and fur-
niture. A low cabinet of Japanese pattern extends
around the room, containing innumerable shelves, cup-
boards, and closets. At various points tliere are bronze
panels, picked out in gold and silver. There is a large
open fireplace in this room. The dimensions of this
room are the same as those of the library, 17 x 26 feet.
To the west is the handsome dining-room, in Italian
Renaissance, 28 x 37 feet. It contains an arranicement
160 THE VANDERBILTS.
of glass-faced cases, supported by rich consoles, that rest
upon a beautiful wainscot of English oak, of a deep
golden hue, delicately carved. These cases ai-e filled
with silver, porcelain, and glass. The elliptical arched
ceiling is divided into small oblong panels, carved in
relief, representing fruit and foliage decorated in various
tints of gold. The spaces at each end of the room, be-
tween the wainscot and ceiling, and the lai'ge center
panel of the ceiling, are filled Avith paintings by Lumin-
als, of Paris, representing hunting-scenes, etc. The fur-
niture is of English oak, with brass ornaments, and cov-
ered with stamped leather.
The great picture-gallery is to the west of the main
hall, and occupies the entire rear of the building. The
dimensions are 32 x 48 feet. The ceiling is thirty-five
feet high, and is chiefly formed of a sky-light in opales-
cent and tinted glass, leaded in quaint designs. A mon-
umental mantelpiece of red African marble, Avith cone
of glass mosaic-work, occupies the western wall. The
woodwork of the room is black oak, with San Domingo
mahogany for the caryatides and pilasters. The floor is
inlaid M'ith the same mahogany, and bordered with a
mosaic of Sienna and black marble in the Pompeiian
style. The walls above the wainscoting are covered
with a dark-red tapestry, to set off the pictures. Over
the doors on the north, east, and south sides are balconies
connecting with the second story of the liouse. The gal-
lery has a separate entrance from Fifty-first Street, and
the vestibule is entirely — floor, walls and ceiling — of
marble mosaic-work made in Venice. North of the gal-
lery is the aquarelle room. This is finished in Circas-
sian walnut, Moorish style, touched hei'e and there with
THE LIVING ROOMS. 161
hi-iglit colors. The conservatory opens into the gallery
from the west.
After ascending the staircase, witli its bronze banis-
ters, to the first landing, the room in the northeast
corner of the honse is the family parlor. It is finished
in ebony, inlaid with ivory. The walls are covered with
a dark-blue silk brocade, and the ceiling is divided in
small panels, with paintings of children at play.
The next room on Fifth Avenue is Mrs. Vanderbilt's
bedroom, furnished by Alard, of Paris. The walls are
of white marble, hung with silk, and the ceiling is cov-
ered with the painting, '• Awakening of Aurora,'' by
Lefebvre. The frieze is of rosewood and mahogany.
The room is twenty-six feet square.
Mr. Yanderbilt's ix)om, adjoining, is the one in which
he died. A large Turkish rug covers the polished oak
fioor, in the center of the room, and richly embroidered
hangings of golden-brown are draped from the windows
and doors of the apartment. The furniture is of polished
ebony, artistically inlaid with satin-wood, and from the
canopy of the bed hang heavy silken curtains. Carefully
selected paintings fi'om the brushes of master hands
grace the paneled walls at iiitei-vals.
Adjoining the bedroom is a dressing-room. This is
wainscoted eight feet high in glass opalescent tiles of
blue, gold, and silver tints, and gilded on the backs.
Tiie bath-tubs and basins are of mahogany and silver,
and are concealed by sliding plate-glass mirrors. A
well appointed dressing-table and a luxurious barber's
chair, comprise the furniture of this room.
The large room on Fifty-first Street is a library, fitted
up in mahogany and stamped leather. The bedroom
162 THE VAIS^DERBILTS.
intended for Miss Lelia, now Mrs. Webb, is fitted witli
rosewood, inlaid with inother-of-pearl. The mirrors
are painted with an imitation of lacework through which
peep children's heads.
Mr. Vanderbilthad expressed the hope that he would
be able to live in his palace ten years, but when five
years had barely elapsed he was bui'ied from its spa-
cious vestibule.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE ART GALLERY.
Modern French Art — Best Collection in the World — A Good Invest-
ment— Mr. Vanderbilt's Tastes and Fancies — His Visits to Ar-
tists—Abuse of Hospitality.
One of the most enduring monuments of William H.
Vanderbilt is the collection of art treasures which he
made. The value of these pictures is estimated at a mill-
ion and a half of dollars, and it is known to be the most
complete collection of works in the world representing
the best modern artists of France. The canvases number
a little over two hundred, and many are the best ex-
amples of the masters who painted them. They were
not purchased as a commercial speculation, although the
money is well invested, since they constantly increase in
value with age, and especially after the death of the ar-
tists, for Mr. Vanderbilt included a provision in his will
which should forever continue the gallery and the house
in the possession of some male descendant of his bearing
the name of Vanderbilt.
j\Ir. Vanderbilt had learned to enjoy and appreciate
works of art long before lie was able to purchase the
best. Even when he went to Eui'ope with his father in
the memorable North Star excursion, he brought
back with him for his farm-house on Staten Island a
164 THE VANDERBILTS.
couple of small but good Italian paintings. Later in
life, after lie had become associated with the Commo-
dore in business, and was living on Fifth Avenue, he
was fond of going down to the Tenth Street Studio
Building, in ]^ew York, and purchasing works by such
well-known American artists as Samuel Coleman, James
Hart, J. F. Cropsey, J. Brown, Tait, Beard and Guy.
He was especially fond of Mr. Guy, and finally gave him
an order for a large picture representing the interior of
his residence at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fortieth
Street, with himself surrounded by his family. At
the request of Mr. Guy be allowed this picture to be ex-
hibited at the JSTational Academy. There it was seen
by a horde of irresponsible newspaper critics, who per-
mitted themselves to write many things which were per-
sonal to Mr. Vanderbilt and his family, and which
proved very annoying. Some critics foiget to be judi-
cial regarding the work under review, when they happen
to know the artist or author. After this experience Mr.
Vanderbilt said he would never loan another picture for
public view, and he never did.
Mr. Vanderbilt did not continue to make a collection
of American pictures after he had come into possession
of his fortune, since he was able to buy the best and
most costly in the world. He decided, at the outset, to
procure nothing that was not important. Many of his
line pictures were painted to order. He visited Paris
frequently, became acquainted with the artists, and took
a personal interest in them. When he gave a commis-
sion, it was not unusual for him to offer a higher price
than was proposed, telling the artists at the same time
that he wanted them to do the best thev could. He
PAINTED TO ORDER. 165
often made the artists presents in addition to the stipu-
lated price. In 18TS he had four pictures painted to
order by Meissonier, Geroine, Detaille, and Rosa Bon-
lieur. These are, in the order of tlie artists named
above, ''An Artist and his Wife," 18 x 15 inches ; " Re-
ception of the Prince of Conde by Louis XIA^." ;
" Tlie Arrest of an Ambulance, Eastern Part of France,
January, 1871," 46x32 inches; and "A Flock of
Sheep."
In 1879 the following pictures were painted to order
for him, " Down by the River," by Alma-Tadenia, of Lon-
don, a work 32x68 inches; "The Portrait," by Louis
Leloir; "A Fete During the Carnival," by Madrazo ;
" Ready for the Hunt," by Rosa Bonheur, and " Ready
for the Fancy Ball," a water-color by Alfred Stevejis.
In 1880 Meissonier's poi-trait of Mr. Vanderbilt was
added to the collection ; Antoine Seitz, of Munich, added
" Homeless," and Detaille and Vibert contributed two
water-colors. In 1881 new pictures were painted to
order by Professor Ivnaus, of the Berlin Academy, and
Defregger, of Munich. In 1882 Jules Lefevre, of Paris,
painted his great picture, " Attiring the Bride," a can-
vas 69 X 9-1 inches.
Mr. Vanderbilt, like most other men of decided
character, liked to do things in his own way. He was
not niggardly in his dealings with artists, acting toward
them with the same generosity and lavishness he always
showed in the building and furnishing of his house.
But he had an independent judgment of his own, and,
regardless of the reputation of the artist, he would not
buy a work which he did not like and comprehend. If
his attention was called to a certain picture, he was apt
166 THE VANDERBILTS.
to reply, " It may be very fine, but until I can appre-
ciate its beauty I shall not buy it." For many years Mr.
Vanderbilt would not buy a Corot, since he did not see
the beauty of his work, but in the end he purchased two
small examples, because, he said, he was tired of being
told that he must have a Corot ! lie liked pictures
which told a story, with either strong or cheerful sub-
jects, such as appeal to the imagination of the ordinary
individual, and of these the bulk of his gallery is com-
posed. In this he seems to have had the spirit of the
Greek artists of two thousand years ago, the chief char-
acteristic of whose work was simplicity. According to
Professor Waldstein, of Cambridge, England, "Their
works were meant to be gazed upon, and not to be the
subject of learned commentaries ; they were intelligible
to the people, appealed to their senses, their feelings,
without the need of a verbal explanation."
He had no affectation regarding the fine arts, or any-
thing else, but was frank and simple in his manners and
conversation. He would not purchase a picture of a
nude subject, and he had a natural delicacy which made
him dislike anything bordering on the doubtful or pru-
rient, hence there are no such pictures in his gallery.
He was fond of brilliant historical pictures, and obtained
many of them. Mr. Vanderbilt may have intended, as
lias been asserted in some quarters, to use his collection
for the public good, and especially for the benefit of
American artists, but since no such arrangement is con-
templated by his will it would be profitless to discuss
Avliat he might have done. Soon after taking posses-
sion of his house in 1882, he gave several large recep-
tions to his gentlemen friends, who were invited to
HIS METHOD. 107
inspect the picture-gallery. And on a few occasions he
opened his gallery to those who iuid been invited by
card.
An anecdote is related of Mr. Tanderbilt, while in
Paris, which shows that he Avas always guided by com-
mon-sense. A Frencli nobleman wrote to him that he
had many articles of re/iu which he wished to sell, such
as Louis XA^I. f urnitui'e, Sevres china, Marie Antoinette
tables, etc. Mr. Vanderbilt went to the house and saw
the nobleman and his articles of verta. "When he re-
turned, he said,
'• There are those who are supposed to know all about
tliese things and their intrinsic value, and of the associa-
tions connected with them. AVell, I do not know all
that, and I am too old to learn. If I should buy these
things and take them to Xew York and tell my friends
this belonged to Louis XYL or to Mme. Pompadour,
and should relate all the other things which make them
valuable, I should be taking them from a field where
they are appreciated to a place where they would not
be. Perhaps I should know less about them than any
one else. It would be mere affectation for me to buy
such things."
During his visits to Paris Mr. Yanderbilt became
acquainted with many of the foremost French artists,
among others Meissonier, whom he liked well, and of
whom he purchased altogether seven pictures, at a total
cost of $188,000. The artist, in turn, appeared to like his
great pati-on, and the two got on well together. One day
in 18S0 Mr. Yanderbilt requested Meissonier to paint
his portrait. " I do not often paint portraits," was the
reply, " but I will paint one for you."
168 THE YANDEEBILTS.
While sitting for this, Mr. Yanderbilt asked the artist
which picture he considered to be the finest he had ever
painted. " The Information — General Desaix and the
Captnred Feasant," was the reply.
" Where is it ? " asked Mr. Vanderbilt.
" I have not seen it since 1867, when I painted it,"
said the artist sadly. " It is in Dresden, and belongs to
the collection of Mr. Meyer, It is lost to Fi-ance," he
added, as if he felt sore that such a fine work should
be owned by a German.
Immediately, without letting the artist into the se-
cret, Mr. Yanderbilt requested his agent to ascertain
from the owner the pi-ice for which he would sell the
picture.
" Fifty thousand dollars," came in repl3\
" Get it," was the answer, and he drew a check upon
his banker for the full amount. Mr. Meyer objected to
the check, and wanted the cash, so the next day Mr.
Vanderbilt went to the bank and drew the money, and
in a few days the picture was delivered in Paris. Then
he prepared a surprise for the artist. He had the pict-
ure placed on an easel in a room adjoining Meissonier's
studio, and at the close of one of his sittings for the
porti'ait, said,
" Meissonier, I want your judgment on a picture I
have just purchased."
" Certainly, with pleasure," was the reply. " Where
is it ? "
" In the next room," said Mr. Vanderbilt.
So they went into the room', and Mr. Vanderbilt's
attendant uncovered the picture, and behold ! it was
Meissonier's masterpiece. The effect was electric. The
HIS OWN TASTE CONSULTED. 169
artist threw up liis arms, uttered exclamations of delight,
got down on his knees before the canvas, sent for his
wife, and danced abont as only a mad French artist can.
Mr. Vanderbilt heartily enjoyed the little comedy, and
in due time had the picture sent to Xew York.
For Meissonier's picture, " The Arrival at the Cha-
teau," Mr. Vanderbilt paid 8-10,000. He made very
liberal offers to Mr. Delahaute, of Paris, for Meissonier''s
" 1814,'' representing Xapoleon with his marshals, all on
horseback, at the liead of his army, plodding on through
a deep snow, but that gentleman declined to part with his
treasure.
Mr. Vanderbilt bought his own pictures, as every-
thing else. Two or three middlemen, known as " deal-
ers," tried to enhance their reputation and increase
their business by allowing it to be understood that they
were doing his buying for liim ; but this was a mistake.
He knew what he was about, and employed them as sel-
dom as possible. In their stead, he called to his sym-
pathetic assistance several friendly connoisseurs in art,
who helped him gratuitously and impartially. He be-
gan to buy pictures quite early in life, before he could
well afford to do so, which shows that he had a natural
love for art, as he had for horses. A little picture
which Mrs. Vanderbilt prizes more than any of the rest
is a souvenir which her husband gave her moi"e than
thirty years ago, and which cost in the neighborhood of
ninety dollars. One day, when the pictures were being
rearranged in his new house, he pointed out this one to
his son George, who remarked : "I suppose, father, you
would not take $800 for that now." " Xo, nor 88,000,
or even 880,000," he replied.
8
170 THE VANDEEBILTS.
He had learned to ]ove it, and it had given him and
his wife an innnense anionnt of enjoyment wlien they
lived in the seclusion and retirement of the Kew Dorp
farm. It was this same life on a farm which enabled
him to have some sort of judgment regarding at least
two of the valuable pictures he bought ; and even when
in Paris, at the Palais Royal, or in the studios of the
most famous artists, he did not hesitate, if occasion de-
manded, to acknowledge with frankness and simplicity
liis former humble life. He once made a visit to Bouch-
eron, a famous French picture-dealer, to see a work by
Troyon, which was for sale. The subject is a yoke of
oxen turning to leave the field after being taken from
the plow. While connoisseurs spoke highly of the woi'k
they were inclined to take exceptions to the action of
the cattle, thinking it forced and unnatural.
" Well,'' said Mr. Yanderbilt, " 1 don't know as much
about the quality of the picture as I do about the truth
of the action of the cattle. I have seen them act like
that thousands of times." So, too, when he bought the
"Sower,"' by that celebrated artist, J. F. Millet, the
thing that pleased him the most was the fidelity to nat-
ure of the attitude and action of the man in the field,
flinging broadcast the seed.
Once, while in France, Mr. Yanderbilt Avent out to
Fontainebleau, to visit Posa Ponheur. He arrived
eai'ly in the morning, and took breakfast with her. The
artist and the American millionaire seemed at once to
feel in sympathy, although their conversation was car-
ried on through an interpreter, for he could not speak
French, and she was unable to converse in English.
He gave her a connnission for two pictures, when she
ROSA BOXIIEUR AND GEKOME. 171
replied that lie could only have one in a year, and the
other in two or three years, perhaps.
"Tell her," said he, "I must have them. I'm get-
ting to be an old man, and want to enjoy them."
With a woman's ready wit she laughed at him for
calling himself old, for she had discovered that they
wei'e both of the same age ? The result was that Eosa
Bonheur painted both pictures within the year,
Mr. Vanderbilt always sought for the best pictures
money could buy. Once, when visiting the collection
of M. Barbedienne, in Paris, Mdio did the bronze- work
for his house, he saw the large and beautiful " Autumn
Sunset," by Dupre, which he persuaded the owner to
part with, although he had made his will, which left all
his pictures to the Louvre. M. Barbedienne sold the
woi"k to Mr. Yanderbilt, and is said to have regretted it
ever since.
Upon another occasion, in ISSO, he visited in London a
collection, and there saw the original picture of Gerome's
" Sword Dance." He purchased it at once, and sold a
less impoi-tant picture with the same subject, by the
same artist, which he owned. The collection finished,
and the gallery filled, he took great pride in the fact
that it contained so many fine examples.
" If I were to begin to buy to-day," he frequently re-
marked, " I could not within a few years gather such a
collection if I were to spend all my fortune." He was
once asked by a famous sculptor of New York which of
his pictures he liked the best.
" I enjoy them all," was the reply.
The only private collections in America which can at
all rank with the Yanderbilt, are the Stewart and Bel-
172 THE VANDERBILTS.
mont in Xew York, and the Walter in Baltimore. There
are no liner private collections of modern works in Eu-
rope. Those of-Defoer Bey and M. Secretan in Paris,
and of Baron Schroecier and Sir Richard Wallace, iu
London, are the most valuable in Europe.
Some of the more important works in this unrivaled
collection are as follows : " Arrival at the Chateau,"
" Information," and the " Ordinance," by Meissonier ;
" Champigny," and the " Ambulance Corps," by De-
taille; "The Sower," "Water Carrier," and other ex-
amples of Millet ; " Fountain of Indolence," by Turner ;
" After the Chase," by Sir Edwin Landseer ; " Oda-
lisque," by Sir Frederick Leighton ; " Bourget," by
De Neuville ; " The Two Families," by Munkacsy ;
" The Sword Dance," by Gerome ; " A Study from
Kature," and " Gorges d' Apremont," by Rousseau ;
" Rainbow," by Jules Breton ; " Picture Gallery,"
" Sculpture Gallery," " The Entrance of the Theatre,"
and "Down by the River," by Alma-Tadema ; "Fete
During the Carnival," and " Masqueraders," by Madra-
zo; "Arab Fantasia at Tangiers," by Fortuny ; "The
Village Fete," by Professor Knaus ; "Midday," by
Jules Dupi-e ; " The Bride of Lammermoor," by Millais;
"Arab Plucking a Thorn from his Foot," by Bonnat ;
" The King's Favorite," by Zamacois ; " A Dream of
the Arabian Nights," and " Christening," by Yillegas ;
" Blindman's Buff," the " Bathers," and an oriental scene,
by Diaz ; three cattle pieces by Troyon ; a line river
view by Daubigny ; " The Good Sister," by Bouguer-
eau ; " Forbidden Books," by Vibert ; "Game of Chess,"
by Leloir ; a cattle piece by Van Marcke ; " A Hunting
Scene," and other works, by Rosa Bonheur ; line pict-
FAMOUS PICTURES. 173
ures by such artists as Clays, Ziem, Fromentin, Edouard
Frere, Schreyer, llamoii, Williams ; a fine example of
Thomas Faed ; a figure piece by Boldini ; Leopold Mnl-
ler's " Oriental Market Place," two lovely fan designs
in water-colors, by Jaequemart ; a sepia by Rosa Bon-
lieur ; " Twilight in Scotland," by Gustave Dorc ; " The
Young Mother," by Bcranger ; " The Reaper's Return
Home," by Becker; "Paying the Rent," by Erskine
Kicol ; " Rubens in His Studio," b\' Sir John Gilbert ;
" The Monai'ch Oak," by Linnell ; '* Returning from the
Fair," by Bochmann ; the "Hungarian Volunteers," by
Pottenkoffen, and a picture by Gerome called " Recep-
tion of the Prince of Condo by Louis XIY." A descrip-
tion of it was given by the artist to Mr. Yanderbilt.
" The reception takes place," says the artist, " on the
grand staircase at Versailles. This staircase no longer
exists. It was destroyed under Louis XV., but there
remains an engraving of it, very well executed, whicli
has enabled me to reconstruct it w4th truth. In the
year 1074 Conde had returned to court, where lie was
received with triumph. The King came forward to
meet him on the grand staircase, which was not his usual
habit. The Prince was going up slowly, on account of
the gout, which made him almost helpless. As soon as
he saw the monarch, 'Sire,- said he, 'I beg your Maj-
esty's pardon, to make you wait so long.' 'My cousin,'
answered the King, ' do not hurry. When one is loaded
with laurels as you are it is difficult to walk quickly.'
By the side of Louis XIV. stands his son, the Duke of
Burgundy, M'hom they called the Great Dauphin, at that
time thirteen years old. Behind him is his perceptor,
Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux."
174 THE VANDERBILTS.
For two winters Mr, Yanderbilt endeavored to sliai-e
liis treasures with the public of New York, lie opened
liis gallei'j to the inspection of lovers of art during cer-
tain days of each w^eek, and was very generous in re-
sponding to requests for cards ; but some of the more
vulgar and intrusive of his visitors insisted on helping
themselves to flowers from the conservatory, and in-
specting the private rooms of the mansion on other
floors, and this annoyance became at last so pronounced
that cards were granted only on satisfactory identifica-
tion. During the last year access to the gallery was
very difficult.
CHAPTER XX.
THE VANDERBILT FAMILY.
Captain "Jake" — His Wealth and Habits — His Children — The Sis-
ters of William H. — His Widow and Children — Their Homes and ,
Families.
Captain Jacob Vandeebilt more nearly resembled tlie
Commodore than any of bis other brothers or sisters.
Like him, he was a sea-captain, and for j'ears commanded
some of the largest and best-known steamboats on the
Sound. He was Captain of the ill-fated Atlantic,
which was lost on Fisher's Island some forty years ago,
and had he not been detained in Stonington by a matter
of business would have had charge of her on the night
on which she was wrecked. Having amassed a comfort-
able fortune, he virtuallj^ retired as a captain about 1857,
and then turned his attention to the affairs of the Staten
Island Railroad and Ferry Companj^ in which his
brother had been more or less interested, and which he,
representing his brother, with some other prominent
gentlemen, purchased of George Law. Building a hand-
some house on Grimes' Hill, Staten Island, he has re-
sided there ever since, and has been President of the
Staten Island Railroad Company almost uninterruptedly
from 1863, when AVilliam H. retired, until Mr. Erastus
Wiman obtained control of the corporation in 1883.
176 THE VANDERBILTS.
Captain Vandei-bilt is now about seventy-seven years of
age, is spare and of medium height, with gray whiskers,
and keen, piercing eyes, having all the featui-es of liis
brother. During the " flush " years of the war he
made considerable money in Wall Sti-eet, but has never
speculated on any large scale, and has been content to
live modestly and quietly in his Staten Island home.
He is probabl}' worth about seven hundred thousand dol-
lars.
His absorbing and almost sole amusement is driving,
and he has owned some famous trotters in his day, one
pair, a gift from the Commodore, standing at the head
of the 2.20 class for several years. There was nothing
the old Commodore loved better than to pass his brother
the Captain, on the road, and the rivalry between the
two was very great. Many Staten Islanders reinember
vividly the days on tlie old race-track at New Dorp,
when the Commodore and the Captain would speed their
fleet steeds around the course, and the excitement that
these brushes occasioned.
The Captain himself tells a story of how one day
while he was flying behind his fleet steeds along a nar-
row Staten Island road he heard the sound of wheels
and the regular hoof-beats of a pair of trotters behind
him. Faster and faster did his horses go, but nearer
and nearer did his pursuer approacii. At length there
appeai'ed in the near distance a bridge with only room
enough for one team to pass at a time. With true horse-
man instinct, not looking round, he felt that he had now
the advantage of his opponent ; but success was not to
be, for just as he entered upon the bridge two horses
and a driver dashed past him, taking off both wheels of
THE CAPTAIX'S FAMILY. 177
liis buggy, and the familiar form of the Commodore
was discerned guiding the reckless steeds. As he dashed
aliead, he turned slightly and remarked, " You mustn't
try to beat your brother, Jake,"
Captain Yanderbilt married a Miss Banta,an estimable
woman, who died some six years ago. lie was exceedingly
happy in his domestic relations. His children have all
received a thorough education, his two daughters being
accomplished musicians. The eldest. Miss Ellen Yander-
bilt, married Captain Sparrow Purdy, from whom she was
divorced in about three years, and who afterward died
in Egypt in the service of the Khedive, after having
proved himself a gallant officer. She married for her
second husband a Mr. Herman Csesar, who also died
about four 3'ears ago, leaving her a widow with three
children. She now resides at Xew Brighton, Stateu
Island, and is very much esteemed and liked by her
cousin's family.
His second daughter, Miss Clara Yanderbilt, married
Mr. James McXamee, of the firm of AYork, Davies &
McXamee, which has figured so largely in the Grant
& AYard case. With her husband, who is an able
lawyer and a leading politician on Staten Island, she re-
sides in a handsome house on the summit of Grimes'
Hill, about half a mile from that of her father. Jacob
H. Yanderbilt, Jr., the Captain's youngest child, is now
about thirty-two years old and a widower, his wife,
Annie Hazard, having died three years ago, leaving two
children. Mr. Yanderbilt and his children reside with
the Captain.
Miss Phebe Yanderbilt, the last-surviving sister of
the Commodore, died a vear a^o as^ed seventv-five.
8* '
178 THE VAISTDERBILTS.
Slie never married, and her sweetness of character
and disposition made her greatly heloved by all who
knew her. She was the favorite sister of both Comino-
doi-e and Captain Yanderbilt, and was widely known in
her later years as " Annt Phebe." She was well pro-
vided for in the Commodore's will, and W. H. Vander-
bilt also left her a legacy in his, which in consequence
of her death reverts to the estate. Miss Yanderbilt
lived for many years on Staten Island, but for the ten
yeai's preceding her death she made lier home in New
York witli her niece, Mrs. Head. The other sisters
of the Commodore were Mrs. Barton and Mrs. De For-
est, both of whom left large families of children, Avho
have all been remembered in the famous will.
The sisters of Mr, AVilliam IT. Yanderbilt who are
still living are, Mrs. Torrance, Mrs. W. Tv. Thorn, Mrs.
D. B. Allen, Mrs. LaBau, now Mrs. Berger, and Mrs.
Osgood. Mrs. Cross, Mrs. Lafitte, who first married Mr.
Smith Barker, and Mrs. Robert Isivens, who first mar-
ried Mr. Horace Clark, are dead. The daughters of the
Commodore were all women of fine physique and re-
niai'kable strength and force of charactei". Mrs. Allen,
who has a leading social position in Xew York, is an ex-
ceedingly handsome M-oman, Avith fine form and features
and beautiful gray hair. Her expression strongly resem-
bles that of the Commodore. Mrs. Torrance is also a
striking and attractive woman. Two of her sons are
prominent in Parisian society, and one married Miss An-
thony, who was soon divorced from him, and married Mr.
Frederick Yanderbilt, her cousin. Her daughter mar-
ried Mr. Meredith. Howland, a member of the old New
York family of that name. Mrs. AY. K. Thorn is very
WILLIAM 11.' S SISTKRS. 179
well known in Afurrav Hill society. Her eldest (laughter
married first Mr. King, and on his death, Mr. Daniel
Parrish. Mrs. Parrish's daughter, Miss King, -was re-
cently married to Mr. Alexander Baring, son of a mem-
ber of the celebrated banking firm of Baring Brothers.
Mrs. Thorn's second daughter. Miss Lena Thorn, was for
some years a great belle in New York society, and re-
cently married Mr. Gustave Kissell.
Mr. Vanderbilt's third sister, Mrs. Osgood, is widow
of the millionaire yachtsman George Osgood, wdio was
the owner of the famous yacht Fleet wing. Mrs. La-
Bau, Mr. Vanderbilt's fourth sister, who at the death
of her first husband married a Mr. Berger, has three
daughters, and is now living abroad. She is well remem-
bered from her contest of her father's will. Mrs. La-
fitte left a daugliter who died unmarried. Her second
husband is also dead. The death abroad of Mr. Robert
iS'iven, who was the second Imsband of Mrs. Horace
Clark, the fifth daughter of the Commodore, was
announced a few weeks ago. Mrs. Clark had a daughter
by her fii'st husband who married Mr. Clarence Collins,
from whom she was soon divorced. She afterward
married an Englishman, and is now living in England.
An invalid sister died unmarried on Staten Island a few
years since.
These five sisters of Mr. AYilliam H. Vanderbilt are
all of them wealthy in their own right, while some of
them married exceedingly rich men. Mrs. Allen, Mrs.
Torrance, Mrs. Thorn, and Mrs. Osgood are probaijly
the richest, Mrs. Osgood having been left a foi'tnne by her
late husband of some two or three millions.
But it is with the immediate family of Mr. Yander-
180 THE YANDERBILTS.
bilt himself that tins volume has most to do. So fre-
quently are their names mentioned in the public press,
so prominent have they become by reason of the great
wealth that is now theirs, and so greatly will their lives,
their personality, and their daily doings continue to be
of public interest, that some description of their personal
appearance and cliaracteristics may serve to dispel many
confused ideas regarding them.
Mrs. William H. Yanderbilt is rather slight of figure
and of medium height, has dark hair, hardly as yet
tinged with gray, dark hazel eyes, and a very sweet and
refined expression. Exceedingly simple in her mode of
life she rises early, devotes several hours to her household
duties, and afterward visits some of her grandchildren
or has them brought to see lier. She generally drives in
the Park in the afternoon, accompanied by one of her
daughters, and after a quiet family dinner and evening
chat with her friends retires at an early hour. She is
regular in her attendance at church, and faithful to
charitable duties. Her name does not appear promi-
nently in the list of the leading charities, although she
contributes largely to them in a quiet manner, and gen-
erally requests that her name should not be mentioned
with these contributions. Comparatively few persons
know her intimately, although her circle of formal ac-
quaintances is necessarily a large one. She is exceed-
ingly constant to her friends, and has especial affection
for those of her early married life. She has never cared
for society : devoted to her children and to her home it
has been only on account of her daughter, Mrs. Seward
AVebb, that she has entertained at all during the past
five years. Since she has had so handsome a home in
"avoid adventurers." 181
New York, Mrs. Vanderbilt has never cared to assuine
the cliarge of a country-house in summer, and with her
husband has spent the warm months at Sharon Springs
and Saratoga, returning to the city early in the au-
tumn.
Mrs. Yanderbilt has three brothers residing in Brook-
lyn. They are Benjamin P. Ivissam, who lives at 73
First Place ; Samuel II. Ivissam, of 240 Carroll Street,
senior partner of the banking house of Kissam, Whitney
& Co., 11 Broad Street, Xew York, and Peter R. Kissam,
of 76 First Place, who is a banker at 19 New Street,
New York. They are the children of the Eev. Samuel
Kissam, who died in Brooklyn in 1869. He was a
minister of the Dutch Peformed Church, and occasion-
ally preached in Brooklyn, but had no charge. Before
going to reside in Brooklyn he lived at Cedar Hill, near
Albany, of which place he was a native, and where he
preached for about twenty-live years.
" Our money doesn't make us any better than any-
body else," is a maxim on which Mr. and Mrs. William
II. Yanderbilt always insisted. So they did not try to
dictate to their children in regard to their marriages,
except to insist that the spouses should be honest and
decent. They sedulously avoided those preposterous
misalliances which are often made in our wealthy fami-
lies. They kept foreign noblemen at arms-length.
"Avoid all pretenders and people who put on airs," Mr.
Yanderbilt used to say to his children. " Avoid ad-
venturers and humbugs of e\ery sort. Don't be fooled
by appearances. We have money enough for ourselves
and for the husbands and wives you will marry, but we
haven't respectability enough, for no family has any
182 THE VANDERBILTS.
to lend." So all the children seem to have married
sensibly.
The New York World &a.y&: "The most interesting
feature of the democratic side of Mr. Vanderbilt's char-
acter, however, is illustrated in the marriage of his
children. His sons all have honest American Mdves ;
his daughters all have plain, unpretending American
husbands. There has been no attempt on either side to
connect titles with the family name by means of a
wedding-ring. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt have not fol-
lowed the example of the American aristocracy of wealth,
and put their daughters up at auction to be bid for by
seedy and needy European titles. Their boys and girls
have fallen in love and been married like the boys and
girls of any honest American mechanic. For this both
father and mother are entitled to credit."
Cornelius Vanderbilt, the eldest son, the present head
of the house, to whom his father left a fortune of $G2,-
000,000, is now forty years* of age. lie is of medium
height, M'ell-built, with an open, frank countenance,
framed by dark whiskers, and has a clear, rosy complex-
ion. Ilis hair is brown and he has the steely gray eyes
of the Commodore. He received a very thorough edu-
cation from tutors and at private schools, and his habits
of life have alwa^'S been most correct. He is greatly
interested in charitable matters, and is much liked both
in business and society. He married about twelve years
ago Miss Alice Gwinn, of Cincinnati, and they have four
children, three sons and a daughter, of whom the eldest
son is named Cornelius, and was left a special bequest of
$2,000,000 by his grandfather. Mr. Vanderbilt resides
in a beautiful house on the northwest corner of Fifth
THE VANDERBILT BROTHERS. 183
Avemie and Fifty-seventh Street, the interior decorations
and furnishings of whicli surpass in some ways even those
of his father's palace further down the avenue. Mrs.
Cornelius Yanderhilt is very petite, with a rather pretty
face, not exactly handsome, whose chief charm is a most
gracious and winning smile. She is thoroughly domestic
in her tastes, and while not averse to society does not
care mucli for it. Her manners ^re simple and unaf-
fected, and she possesses much quiet dignity, and is an
affectionate, devoted, and loyal wife. Some of her cos-
tames show remarkable taste and have been greatly ad-
mired. j\Ii'. Yanderbilt's summer home for some sea-
sons past has been at Xewport, and his recent purchase
thereof Mr. Pierre Lorillard's magnificent countrj' -seat,
'' The Breakers,'' will probably insure the permanent
location of himself and family there during the warm
months.
William Kissam Vanderbilt, the second son of the
late millionaire, is about thirty-six years of age, stoutly-
built and inclined to corpulency. His face is an open,
full one, framed in English whiskers, and his complexion
is ruddy and high-colored. He is what would be called
a handsome man, and his figure was, until the last f^v
years, a decidedly athletic one. He is fond of horses,
although not so much as his fatlier, or the late Commo-
dore. He may often be seen driving a fleet pair of
roadsters on the macadamized avenues that surround his
country-place at Islip, and he indulges in yachting at
times. As a man he is less popular with his fellows
and associates than any of his brothers. He is of a
somewhat morose disposition, but his wife thoroughly
understands him, and he is greatly dependent upon her
184 THE VANDERBILTS.
strong character and will-power. In 1875 lie was mar-
ried to Miss Alva Smith, a daughter of Mr. Smith, a
wealthy merchant of Savannah, and later of Xew York
City. Somewhat grave and reserved in temperament,
and consequently not particularly fond of society, Mr.
Vanderbilt has been induced to go out more or less by
his wife, who is an accomplished woman of the world,
and devoted to gayet_f. Mr. and Mrs, Yanderbilt reside
in winter in a white marble house, built in the style of
an old French chateau, at the northwest corner of Fifth
Avenue and Fifty-second Street, while in the summer
they occupy a beautiful country-house near Islip, L. I.
They have three children, w^ho are all still quite young.
Mrs. Vanderbilt, with her sisters. Miss Amide, Miss
Jennie (now Mrs. Fernando Yznaga), and Miss Mimi
Smith, are all well known in New Y'ork society. Mrs.
Vanderbilt is tall and slight, and is neither a blonde
nor a brunette, while her hair, although she is a young
woman, is tinged with gray. Her conversational pow-
ers are rather remarkable. She is quick at repartee,
witty, and somewhat sarcastic, and this has made her
much admired and to some extent feared in society.
Iler intimacy with Lady Mandeville, formerly Miss
Consuela Yznaga, has been of long standing.
Mr. Frederick W. Vanderbilt, the third son, now
about twenty-seven years of age, is of medium height,
lias a somewhat spare figure, with slightly reddish hair
and small mustache, and rather sallow complexion. lie
is passionately devoted to yachting, and finds his chief
pleasure in outdoor sports, caring little or nothing for
society. His fine steam yacht, Vidette, is one of the
fleetest and most elegant in every appointment in the
FIIEDEIIICK W. VANDPDUBILT. 185
flotilla of the American Yacht Cluh. He is considered
by his associates a thoroughly good fellow, entirely de-
void of any snobbishness or nonsense. His business
habits are good, and he is looked upon as an able and
safe financier. His office is in the Grand Central Depot,
and he has cliarge of the interests of the Kickel Plate
Road. Very popular among his employes, he is gen-
erally known as Mr. Fred.
His marriage was something of a romance. In the
early part of this chapter mention has been made among
the sisters of William II. Yanderbilt of Mrs. Torrance,
and it was stated that one of her sons married a Miss
Anthony, of Rhode Island, a relative of the late Senator
Anthony. She lived with him but six months, and then
obtained a divorce on the grounds of desertion. Mr.
Frederick Vanderbilt immediately became an ardent
suitor for her hand, and a year afterward married her,
greatly against the wishes of his father and mother, who
were not reconciled to the match for some time. The
young couple lived for months after their marriage in an
apartment house at Park Aveiuie and Fortieth Street,
but on the completion of the Yanderbilt palaces, Mr.
Vanderbilt, Sr,, who had meanwliile become not only rec-
onciled but devoted to his daughter-in-law, presented
the young couple with his old house at Fifth Avenue
and Fortieth Street. Mrs. Vanderbilt is herself fond of
society, and last winter entertained considerably, giving
several handsome receptions ; but her husband's aversion
to the gay world keeps her at home a great deal.
The youngest and only unmarried son is George W.,
now about twenty-three years of age. Pie is undersized,
of rather frail physique, and somewhat thin and pale, but
186 THE VANDERBILTS.
he is not in as delicate health as his appearance would
indicate. The student and litteratenr of the family, he
spends much of his time with his books, and delights in
delving among must}' tomes in old second-hand book-
stores. Pie has a large and complete library of his own
on the second floor of the Fifth Avenue palace, and by
his father's death becomes virtually the manager and
head of this house. He takes great pride and delight
in the art gallery, and is thoroughly acquainted with the
history of the paintings and the distinguishing character-
istics of the artists. Devoted to music, he is an al-
most nightly attendant at the opera. The child of his
father's mature age, he was always his favorite and con-
stant companion, entering into all his plans, and sharing
all his hopes and fears. It is understood that his father
had very ambitious views for him in a litei-ary way, as
some writings of his evinced much promise. Shortly
before his father's death he was given almost all the
Staten Island family propert}-, and Staten Islanders
look to him M'ith hope as a future and liberal patron.
George Vanderbilt is by no means an avaricious man,
and does much good in an unostentatious Nvay. The
$1,000,000 that the old Connnodore left him was
doubled by his father and presented to him on his
twenty-first birthday. The portrait we present was
taken five years ago, but he has an aversion for the
photographer, and declines to have any more taken.
The daughters of Mr. Vanderbilt are Mrs. Elliott F,
Shepard, formerly Miss Margaret Vanderbilt ; Mrs.
William D. Sloane, formerly Miss Emily Vanderbilt ;
Mrs. II. McKay Twombly, formerly Miss Florence
Vanderbilt, and Mrs. Dr. Seward Webb, formerly Miss
MR. YANDERBILT S DAUGHTERS. 187
Eliza Yanderbilt. Mrs. Sliepard is the eldest of the
daughters, and was in Europe with her husband and
children at the time of her father's death. She is tall
and dark, and while not handsome has a very agreeable
face. Her family consists of three daughters and one
son, of whom the eldest is now about fifteen years of
age. These children have been admirably educated, and
liave been brought up in princely style, having tutors
and governesses by the dozen. While in Europe they
travelled with as much ceremony and privacy as would a
royal family, and never dined at the table d'hote in any
hotel. Mrs. Shepard is a thorough Yanderbilt in her
domestic tastes, and rarely goes into society, except to
dinners, where her husband's professional position makes
attendance necessary.
Tlie second daughter, Miss Emily Yanderbilt, to
M'hom Mr. Yanderbilt left the upper one of the two
Fifth x\ venue palaces, married about fourteen years ago
Mr. William D. Sloane, one of the members of the large
carpet firm. She has a family of .several young children,
to whom she is greatly devoted. In appearance she is
tall and frail-lookino- with lio-ht hair, auburn in tingle.
Mrs. Sloane's chief diversion is the opera. As this
book goes into type Mr. and Mrs. Sloane offer to build
and endow a Maternity Hospital in connection with the
College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the offer is ac-
cepted. It will be located between Xinth and Tenth
Avenues, on Sixtieth Street, and will cost with the en-
dowment about a quarter of a million dollars.
The third daughter, Miss Florence Yanderbilt, now
Mrs. Hamilton McKay Twombly, was married in 1879.
She is a brunette of medium height, and by many con-
188 THE YAISTDERBILTS.
sidered tlie handsomest of the women of the family. Her
marriage was a good one, and met with Mr. Yanderbilt's
warmest approvah Indeed Mr. Twombly was from the
beginning his favorite son-in-law\ He leaned upon him,
and relied greatly upon his business judgment and abil-
ity. Mr. and Mrs. Twombly occupy a house built for
the latter by lier father at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-fourth
Street, and its interior decorations and furnishings are
surpassed only by those in the houses of her brother
Cornelius and lier father.
Miss Eliza, or " Lelia" Yanderbilt, as she is familiarly
known, has been married three years to Dr. Seward
Webb, a son of the late General James Watson Webb.
The courtship was a long and romantic one. Mr. Yan-
derbilt never looked with favor upon it, and it was only
after the most determined persistence on the part of the
young people that he consented to it. After their mar-
riage, following his usual custom, Mr. Yanderbilt aided
Dr. Webb in every way, and finally persuaded him to
abandon liis precarious profession and become president
of the Wagner Sleeping-car Company. The marri-
age thus far has been a happy one. It is a pi-oof of
old prejudice, however, that Mr. Yanderbilt's will pro-
vided that Mrs. Webb should not obtain control of
the $10,000,000 left her until she Avas thirty years of
age. Dr. and Mrs. Webb occupy the house on Fifth
Avenue next to Mrs. Twombly's. In appearance Mrs.
Webb is shoi-t and dark, and has a decidedly inter-
esting and pretty face. She went a good deal into
society before her marriage, but since that time has led
rather a quiet life.
These are the children of the two-hundred-milliou-
THE millionaire's CHILDREN'. 189
millionaire, and such are their individual appearances and
characteristics. As has doubtless been noticed, they are
all, botli sons and daughters, strongly domestic in their
tastes. This is all the more strange as they are possessed
of vast wealth which would so easily enable them to
shine as society leaders. But perhaps they have found
out, what many even younger than they are knoM^, that
there is not on earth a more hollow and profitless and
tiresome relation in which intelligent human beings can
mingle than that which is called modern society. They
are all well-informed, and abreast of the best thought
and aspiration of the age. The excellent education and
bringing-up that they have received is well attested by
the fact that there is not one among them who seems to
have done anything " oif color," a rare concurrence of
merit in so large a family in these lively days. They
are affectionate and devoted to their mother and to each
other, and constitute in every respect an exemplary
family.
CHAPTER XXL
SOCIAL POSITION.
What is Good Society ? — Our Plutocracy — Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt's
Great Ball — Preparations — The Guests — The Costumes — The
Display.
There lias always been some sort of aristocracy on
earth, and never, save in the case of Arthur's mythical
Round-Table, has it been composed of the most worthy
people of a community. An ideal aristocracy should
be a classifying of the noblest, most self-denying, and
most helpful men, and the most generous and refined
women, and they would be so modest as to be quite un-
conscious of their pre-eminence. The aristocracy of the
old world is mostly composed of families who have at-
tained their prominence, either recently or remotely, by
successful pillage; and their coats-of-arnisai"e mei'ely the
pictures of the castles, banners, and weapons by the skill-
ful use of which they won their wealth and rank.
American aristocracy has a different basis. Civiliza-
tion had taken such deep root when the country was
founded that brio-andao-e had become unfashionable.
Even the most gallant pirates were considered disreputa-
ble ; and Robert Kidd, instead of being given a dukedom,
as he would liave been in England three centuries ear-
lier, perished miserably and in disgrace. So in this
WHAT IS SOCIETY ? 191
country arisloci'acy lias, bv a tacit nndcrstaiiding, come
to be founded on money rather tlian on war. Yet it is
not the making of money, as one would suppose, that is
considered honorable and meritorious, but the possession
of money which somebody else made.
It is chiefly the inheritors of wealth, not tiie accumula-
tors, who are the artiflcial social leaders. When Corne-
lius Yanderbilt was born, John Jacob Astor was a
baker's errand-boy on the corner of Pearl and Frank-
fort Streets, and he spent most of his time as an itiner-
ant vender of bread and doughnuts, peddling the baking
from door to door in a basket, Peter Lorillard had not
yet built his little snuff-factory on the Bronx, A patii-
cian, in this country, is any man of good manners and
out of jail, whose plebeian father made money enough
for him to live on.
jSTew York society has become of late years so essen-
tially a plutocracy, or aristocracy of wealth, that very
naturally the Yanderbilts, with their enormous posses-
sions, have come to be looked upon by the world at large
as leaders of the Metropolitan society world. That they
could have become so by the least effort on their part
several years ago admits of not the slightest doubt, and
that they are not so to-day M'ill be generally received
with a feeling of incredulity. Yet such is the case.
With the single exception of Mrs, AYilliam K. Yander-
bilt, who was a leading society belle befoi'e she married,
the Yanderbilt women have during the last five years
been rarely mentioned in connection with the winters'
leading entertainments, and their names are not found
as often in the public prints as patronesses of this or
that ball, I'out or party, as those of Mrs. Astor, Mrs.
192 THE VANDERBILTS.
Ijelmont, Mrs. Iselin, Mrs. Scliuvler, and a score of
others. This is due to the reasons given in the pre-
ceding chapters. All the daughters of the house as
well as the sons, and daughters- and sons-in-law, with the
one exception of Mrs. William K. Yanderbilt, are such
lovers of home that the gay world has little or no attrac-
tion for them.
By the curious custom and tradition by which the
society world decides that the children of the millionaire
of 1850 are much further advanced in the social scale
than the children of the millionaire of 1880, the Astors,
Belmonts, and other leading families have assumed to
take precedence of the Yanderbilts. They can do so no
longer, even according to their own flimsy law of supe-
riority, as the death of the millionaire father admits his
children into the ranks of the social leaders of the
metropolis. Thoroughly qualified and thoroughly com-
petent to assume this position they are in every way.
Well educated, with polished manners, and all the refine-
ment that wealth, luxury, and beautiful and artistic sur-
roundings can give, their homes palaces, their business
sway powerful and extensive, they bid fair to place them-
selves at the head of our untitled social nobility.
Tlie Yanderbilts obtained their first secure foothold
in Xew York's leading society by the great fancy-di"ess
ball given by Mrs. William K. Yanderbilt in her beauti-
ful house at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-third Street on the
evening of March 26, 1883, which was an event never be-
fore equaled in the social annals of the metropolis, and
one that interested the whole country. It is impossible
to give here more than a brief outline of this truly mar-
velous entertainment, which surpassed in splendoi-, iii
rnTflSJWTTTTS VAfMr>TH".TJTiTT.T's TJF.STDKNnF..
CORNELIUS VANDEHUILT ^ND WIFE IN FANCY BALL COSTUME.
THE GREAT FAKCY-DRESS BALL. 193
beaut}', in brilliancy, and in Inxnrioiis and lavish expense
any scene before witnessed in the new world.
For weeks beforehand the costnmers, milliners, and
dressmakers, not only of Kew Yoi'k, but of all the larger
eastern cities, were engaged in preparing the richest
and most varied of garments for this wonderful enter-
tainment. Histories, novels, and illustrated books of all
periods were ransacked by the expectant guests to ob-
tain either suggestions or models npon which their own
costumes could be patterned. All else was forgotten in
society during the forty days of Lenten penitence which
preceded the event, and the most impi'obable and fantas-
tic tales and rumors of the forthcoming splendor wei-e
constantly circulated in the community. Even the daily
press became affected by the prevailing excitement
which the ball occasioned in the atmosphere, and as-
signed their ablest and most skilled reporters for two
weeks beforehand to the preparation of lists of the cos-
tumes of the guests and more or less accurate foreshad-
owings of the event. In fact they devoted more atten-
tion to it, than they have ever done before or since to
any purelj' social affair.
Although Mrs. AV". II. Yanderbilt had already given
a ball in her own palace which was largely and fashion-
ably attended, and althougli the names of two or three
of her daughters and daughters-in-law had already figured
as patronesses of the distinctive society balls of the met-
ropolis, two or three of the leaders of Xew York society,
notably Mrs. William Astor, had never called upon any
of the ladies of the Yanderbilt family. It Avas Lady
Mandeville, who with her family had been making Mrs.
W. K. Yanderbilt a visit of a year, who first suggested
9
194 THE VAISTDEEBILTS.
tlie entertainment to her hostess, and it is largely due to
her society experience, cleverness, and tact that the ball
was in every M-ay tlie grandest ever given on this con-
tinent, and one which fully established the Vanderbilt
family as social leaders. According to the genei-ally ac-
cepted story in society, soon after the first announce-
ment of the ball Miss Carrie Astor, the only unmarried
daughter of Mrs. William Astor, organized a fancy-dress
quadrille to be danced at the ball by sevei-al young ladies
and gentlemen. Mrs. Vanderbilt heard of this, and
stated in the hearing of some friends that she regretted
that she could not invite Miss Astor to her ball, as her
mother had never called upon her. This reached Mrs.
Aster's ears, and soon afterward she called upon Mrs.
Vanderbilt and they wei'e invited. Thus did the ball
break the last barriers down.
The brilliant scene was well framed in one of the most
beautiful of New York houses — the reproduction of one
of those fascinating chateaux of the French renais-
sance which are the pride of Touraine. Seen, as it was
on the night of this entertainment, under a blaze of light,
and kindled into splendor everywhere by masses of
flowers and a moving throng of varied and magnilicent
costumes, it was the most fltting fi'ame-work an artist
could have asked for a succession of pictui-es so hetero-
2;eneous, so incone-rnous in detail, vet in their ireneral
effect so dazzling and so attractive. The guests, on arriv-
ing, found themselves in a grand hall about Go feet long,
16 feet in height, and 20 feet in width. Under their
feet was a floor of polished and luminous marble, and
above them a ceiling richly paneled in oak, while over
a high wainiscoting of richly carved Caen stone hung
THE QUADRILLES. 105
antique Italian tapestries. Over this liall, to the riglit,
rose a grand stairway of the finest Caen stone, carved
Avith superb delicacy and vigor, to the height of fifty
feet.
By eleven o'clock the members of the six organized
quadrilles assembled in the gymnasium, on the third floor,
a beautiful apartment, 50 feet in length by 35 feet in
width. These quadrilles, six in number, comprised in
all nearly a hundred ladies and gentlemen, and, having
formed in the gymnasium in order, they mov^ed in a
glittering processional pageant down the grand stairway
and through the hall into a room in the front of the
house fitted and furnished in the style of Francis I.,
25 feet in width by -iO in length, whose Avhole wains-
cotino; of carved F]-ench walnut M'as brouirht from a
chateau in France, and whose ceiling was painted by
Paul Baudry. Thence the pi'ocession swept on into
the spacious dining-hall, which was converted for a night
into a ball-room, and the dancing began.
The first cpuidrille was the " hobby horse," led by
Mr. J. Y. Parker and Mrs. S. S. Howland, a daughter
of Mr. August Belmont. The horses took two months
in construction. They were of life-size, covered M'ith
genuine hides, and were light enough to be easily and
comfortably attached to the waists of the wearers. The
costumes for the men were red hunting-coats, white
satin vests, yellow satin knee-breeches, and white satin
stockings. The ladies wore red hunting-coats and white
satin skirts, elegantly enibroidered. The other quad-
rilles danced were the " Mother Goose," led by Mr.
Oliver Xorthcote and Mrs. Lawrence Perkins, in which
the famous characters of Mother Goose were person-
196 THE VAISTDERBILTS.
ated; the "Opera Bouffe," the " Star," the "Dresden
China," and the " Go-as-you-please." In the " Star "
quadrille, which was organized by Mrs. William Astor,
the ladies were arrayed as twin stars, in yellow, blue,
and white. The " Dresden China " quadrille, in which
the dancers personated those dainty porcelain figures of
the famous pottery, was perhaps the most notable of the
evening, and even the photographs in costume of those
who appeared in it are cherished as household treasures
to-day. The dancers all wore ivory-white satin costumes,
every appnrtenance of which was pure M'hite ; their hair
was powdered and dressed high. The gentlemen wore
the old German court costnme of white satin knee-
breeches and powdered wigs, while the two crossed
swords, the mark of the Dresden factory, were embroid-
ered on all the costumes.
Among the hundreds of striking and unique costumes
only a very few can possibly be noted. Mrs.W. K. N^ander-
bilt herself personated a A^enetian princess, as painted by
Cabanel. The underskirt of her dress was of white and
yellow brocade, shading from the deepest orange to the
lightest canary, M'hile the figures of flowers and leaves
were ontlined in gold and white and iridescent beads ;
her white satin train was embroidered magnificently in
gold, and lined with Roman red. The waist was of blue
satin covered with gold embroidery, and on her head was
a Venetian cap covered with magnificent jewels, among
them a peacock in many-colored gems.
Lady Mandeville, who received the guests with Mrs.
Vanderbilt, wore a costume copied from a picture by
Vandyke of the Princess Marie-Claire Decroy.
Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt appeared as the Dnke De
A ROYAL ENTERTAINMENT. 197
Gnise ; Mr. Conielins Yaiiderbilt as Louis XVI. Mrs.
Cornelius Yanderbilt went as the Electric Light, in white
satin trimmed with diamonds, and with a snperb dia-
mond head-dress. Miss Amide Smith, Mrs. ^'anderbilt's
sister, came as a peacock, in a dazzling costume of pea-
cock-blue satin, and Mrs. Seward Webb, Mr. Vander-
bilt's sister, as a hornet, with a brilliant Avaist of yellow
satin with a brown velvet skirt and brown gauze wings.
Other notable costumes were those worn by Miss AVork,
as Joan of Arc; by Miss Edith Fish, as Marie Antoinette ;
by Miss Turnure, as an Egyptian Princess, and by Mrs.
Bradley Martin, as Marie Stuart. The Due du Morny
wore a court dress ; Madam Christine Xilsson a mourn-
ing costume of the time of Henry HI. ; Mrs. Pierre
Lorillard appeared as a Phoenix, and Mr. Hurlburt as a
Spanish knight.
It was a royal entertainment, which had never before
been equaled in the social annals of America, and which
it is probable will not be surpassed for many years to
come. It was the wonder not only of the year but of
the decade, and the Yanderbilt ball will be remembered
when other events much greater in their significance
and in their bearing ou the time have been quite for-
gotten.
CHAPTER XXII.
HORSES AND STABLES
Love for Horses— Fondness for Fast Teams— Excellent Amateur
Driver— Perils of the Road— Maud S.— Summer Recreation —
The Derby— His Stables — Resigns the Reins.
William II. Vanderbilt really loved his horses. He
not only admired their performances, as his father did,
and liked them because they enabled him to go ahead
of other people's horses, but he felt and showed a warm
interest in other qualities besides their fleetness — in
their beauty, docility, and affectionate disposition. Un-
like his father, he was fond of petting and handling his
horses, and while on Staten Island he usually insisted on
taking care of the horses himself.
His penchant for fast horses increased after he moved
to New York. It was not until about 1865 that he rode
behind a really fast horse, although at that time he
owned a fair pair of his own which could make a mile
in three minutes. At that time there was a private
driving-club near Macomb's Dam Bridge, on the upper
end of Manhattan Island, frequented by such men as
Commodore Vanderbilt, Ilobert Bonner, and Colonel
John Harper. Mr. Bonner was the owner of the mare
Peerless, and noticing that Mr. Yanderbilt seemed in-
terested in her, he invited him to drive round the
FAST TEAMS. 100
track. He was astonished at lier speed, and fiom
that day manifested a growing desire to possess good
horses.
Before his father's death he made no pretence of
being one of tlie leaders on the road, but was content to
ride behind horses of considerable speed. The highest
price ever paid by the Cominodoi-e for a horse was
$10,000, for Mountain Boy. A year before he died he
bought a fast horse named Small Hopes, and this fine
animal he left to his son and heir.
After the death of the Commodore, Mr. AVilliam 11.
Yanderbilt took his father's place on the road. He
bought Lady Mac, to match with Small Hopes, and
astonished the trotting public by driving the team to a
top road-wagon a mile over the Fleetwood Park course
in 2.23^. This was about the beginning of the craze
for fast teams.
Other men pnrchased fast teams to compete with Mr.
Vanderbilt, and the excitement on the bonlevards and
avenues above Central Park, and on the Fleetwood
track was unprecedented. Among the most notable of
these was Edward and Dick Swiveller, driven by Mr.
Frank Work, the most persistent and formidable rival
Mr. Yanderbilt had on the road ; Blondine and Mill
Boy, Maxey Cobb and Xeta Medium. Mr, Yanderbilt
soon discovered that his team. Small Hopes and Lady
Mac, would not be able to maintain his prestige on the
road, and he secui-ed another team composed of the bay
mare, Aldine, and the chestnut mare, Early Hose. This
was in 1SS2. The team was driven in Hartford, Ct.,
a mile in 2.1 6A-. Shortly after this Mr. Work's famous
team beat the record, and great was the excitement
200 THE VA]^TDERBILTS.
among tlie road men. Mr. Yanderbilt now determined
to be his rival for the team record.
Maud S. had made her appearance in Kentucky, and
was developing great speed. "VVlien the mare was but
fonr years old Mr. Yanderbilt offered to give §20,000
for her if she would show a mile in public in 2.20. The
trial was made in October of that year at Lexington,
where she made a record of 2.17|^. Mr. Yanderbilt
then gave $21,000, the extra thousand going to lier
driver.
On June 14, 1883, over the Fleetwood track, Mr.
Yanderbilt took his fastest wagon-ride, behind Aldine
and Maud S., a mile in 2.15i^. The road-wagon, with
Mr. Yanderbilt, weighed nearly four hundred pounds.
This performance has not been equaled by any team. Xo
professional driver even ever drove a team as fast as that.
Tie seemed, in driving, to have a special control of his
horses. When his friends were congratulating him upon
the result, lie quietly replied : " It is pretty good for
an amateur." lie wanted his horses to be fast, was al-
ways anxious to see what they could do and he treated
them well. Of late years he paid less and less personal
attention to the stabling aiid feeding of his horses.
Having beaten the record of his rival, Mr. Work,
Mr. Yanderbilt appeared to be satisfied, and the feeling
between the two gentlemen subsided, xiniong the other
horses with excellent records M'hich he owned, were
Leander and Lysander; Bay Dick and Charles Dickens.
Fast driving has its perils, especially in the crowded
thoroughfares of a great metropolis, and Mr. Yander-
bilt experienced his share. On Kovember 7, 1878,
while he was speeding along Jerome Avenue at
TWO ACCIDENTS. 201
tlie rate of a mile in 2.-i0 his team knocked down and
fatally injured a man named Ililey, In giving an ac-
count of the accident afterward Mr. Vanderbilt said :
" On pleasant afternoons from hfty to a hundred
gentlemen congregate on Judge Smith's stoop to witness
the driving of fast horses on what is known as the speed-
ing-gronnd of Jerome Avenue. I wasdriving along on the
afternoon of November 7th, when, after coming around
a turn in the road, I saw a man about sixty feet ahead
of me and about twenty -five feet from the gutter. I at
once shouted to him, being scared at seeing him so near
in front of me. lie hesitated and seemed confused.
Although I tried my best to pull up my team, it was too
late, and my right horse struck him. I could not turn
my horse out any further than 1 did, for I cracked my
wagon in turning as it was. When I stopped my team
and looked back I never had such a sensation pass over
me before. Such an accident never before occurred to
me. I liad him taken to Judge Smith's hotel, and tried
to have the man given all the attention possible."
On October 17, 1883, Mr. Yanderbilt met with a
severe accident on tlie track at Fleetwood Park. He was
driving Maud S., and came in collision with a sulky.
lie was thrown violently to the ground, and for a while
remained senseless. He suffered a severe shock, but no
serious injury. His first question on recovering con-
sciousness was to ask whether the mare was hurt.
In the spring he was at Fleetwood Park nearly every
day, taking a deep interest in tbe trials made there by
horses belonging to his friends, or else speeding his
favorite team. The pull of the reins seemed to inspire
him, and he appeared his best when sitting behind
9*
202 THE YAISTDERBILTS.
Maud S., or his trotting team, Aldine and Early Rose, a
brisk breeze blowino; liis lont;: Eno-lish whiskers back
of his head, a flush on Iiis good-humored Dutch face,
and a cheery tone in his voice.
He always took his horses with him to Saratoga and
Sharon Springs, where he usually spent the summer
season ; and every afternoon he went to the Lake, and
there met the men wnth whom he loved to associate.
This daily drive seemed to be his greatest delight, and
if the w^eather prevented he did not hesitate to express
his disappointment to his friends. Like all classes
of the English people he loved the excitement which
driving on the road affords. He went to Fleetwood be-
cause he liked the track. He M'as fond of the excite-
ment of a pleasant brush, and the fresh air did him
good.
He had a good deal of respect for his horses, and, as
is well-known, would never use them for money -making
pui'poses on the track. Lideed, he thought so much of
his famous Maud S. that when he had decided to sell
her, she was oifered to Mr. Bonner for §40,000, although
other men stood ready to pay $100,000. Mr. Vander-
bilt said at the time, " H I sell her to the syndicate
the public will think I still own her, while if I sell her
to Robert Bonner it will be known that there is no col-
lusion between us. Then, she will never be trotted for
money, and will be sure of good care." Thereafter he
frequently spoke of Maud S. with affection and enthu-
siasm.
He did not give up the practice of driving daily with
his own hands until his health was impaired, and then
he would go out with a man in his employ, who was
AS A DRIVER. 203
careful and trnstworthy. To nse the words of Mr.
Bonner : " For one who had such varied interests to
look after, and naturally could give but limited time to
his horses, he was an excellent judge of an animal and
frequently surprised his friends by his intelligent criti-
cisms of well-known track performers that he liad seen.
In a word, Mr. Yandei'bilt loved liorses, and could drive
them well.'"
When at Saratoga, in 187-1, Mr. Yanderbilt made the
acquaintance of a clerk at Congress Hall, Matthew
Riley, since a broker on the street. Kiley always liked
a good horse, and knew something about horse-flesh, so
the two used to " talk horse," and in the end a feeling
of congeniality sprung up, which ripened into a friend-
ship that lasted as long as Mr. Yanderbilt lived. Every
afternoon, when the clerk could get away fi'om the
hotel, Mr. Yanderbilt would come around with his
horses and take him out for a drive. Says ^Nlr. Riley:
"The minute Mr. Yanderbilt got his hands on the rib-
bons he left all care behind him, just as Mand S. shows
her heels to a common horse. He was full of jollity,
and thongli he did not often tell stories himself, he
would pull up his flyers as we jogged along and listen
with a relish to a good story from one of the boys, and
when it was good he had a hearty laugh for it. He had
a wonderful faculty for controlling horses better than any
non-professional I ever saw, and he was, in my opinion,
the best double-team driver in America, amateur or pro-
fessional. In 1883 we met every day on the road, and
used to jog out to Fleetwood and then race back down
Seventh Avenue with the boys. He was driving at that
time, among other horses, Leander, his favorite, and he
204 THE VANDERBILTS.
tried to match him but conld not. Leander is a fine
fellow, and out of fifty-four races he has won thirty-
four first prizes. He is fourteen years old now, 1885,
and hasn't a blemish on him."
Until a few years ago Mr. Yanderbilt was very fond
of witnessing a well-contested trot, and generally on the
first day of the Buffalo Grand Circuit meeting, in Au-
gust, he W'ould take a party of friends from Saratoga by
special train, witness the trotting, and return at once to
the Springs. On these occasions he royally entertained
his guests.
In 1877 he visited England to witness the Derby, and
said that the sight of three hundred thousand people
looking at a horse-race was worth in itself a trip across
the ocean. When in Europe during the trotting season
he sent many cablegrams to his agents in this country,
asking about his horses. When St. Julien and Maud S.
trotted in Rochester, he had the details of the race re-
ported to him by cable, a dispatch being sent after eveiy
heat.
Up to about a year before his death, Mr. \^anderbilt
usually attended the trials of fast trotters, and could be
seen on the steps of the New York Driving Club house,
watching with interest all that was going on. He was
fond of Dan Mace, the trainer, and would spend much
time in his company talking about horses. The last
year of his life he did not go out much, on account of
poor health, and when he did it was simply for a drive
to Macomb's Dam Bridge, and home early.
He Iniilt magnificent stables on Fifty-second Street,
near Madison Avenue, at a cost for the building alone
of some $60,000. Its walls, floors, ceilings and stalls,
HIS STABLES. 205
of whicli tliere are sixteen, are all finished in polished
cheriT, ash, and black walnut. At the north end of the
stable is a large box stall, 18 x 12, built for Maud S.,
but now occupied by Aldine. The carriage house is
light and airy, with a high ceiling. Arranged in rows
-here stand a Victoria, a square coach, a landau, a d'Or-
say, a Brougham, and a small Victoria, two cutters, a
family sleigh, five light road wagons, and a tilbury.
The harness room is 12 x 12, and contains a large num-
ber of harnesses arranged in glass cases with oak frames.
The entire area, 100 x 75 feet, is given up to the pur-
poses of the stable, which includes a carriage-room,
40 X 57, and a riding-ring, 38 x 51. In this last the
horses were exercised when not in use out of doors.
This room is covered by an iron and glass dome ; be-
neath this is a marble floor, and around the outside edge
is a track of tanbark. The stable is lighted by gas, the
jets shaded with porcelain globes, decorated with horses'
heads. About the walls are hung pictures of English
racing scenes.
Almost all the exercise that Mr. Vanderbilt took was
behind his horses, and it is probable that they actually
prolonged his life for years.
CHAPTER XXIII.
WILLIAM H. VANDERBILT'S DONATIONS.
His Method of Giving — The Tennessee University— The College of
Physicians and Surgeons — The Grants — Minor Gifts — The Obe-
lisk— Public Ingratitude.
William II. Yanderbilt had no ambition to be re-
garded as a philantliropist. He had held his own
against a scheming world, to his father's astonishment,
and he had in seven years doubled his fathei-'s bequest,
to the Avorld's astonishment. With that he was measur-
ably content.
He recognized the fact that he had obligations, and
he met them without hesitation when they presented
themselves before him in unquestionable shape. Old
friends who were needy ; old associates of his father
who had been unfortunate ; employes of the Central,
suddenly disabled or afflicted — these he helped without
stint, and what he gave was given encumbered with no
tedious restrictions. He shunned subscription papers
instinctively, like his father, but if a case of suft'ei-ing
Avas laid before him by an3'body whom he knew to be
trustworthy he did not hesitate.
Tlie Commodore, like those other illiterate men — Cor-
nell, Yassar, and Johns Hopkins — had borne fervent
testimony in favor of learning, by founding auhiversity,
METilOD OF GIVING, 207
aiid the son was not slow in addinii; to the million dol-
lars the father had given. Ua added $200,000 to the
endowment, and gave $100,000 for the Theological
School. The hall built with this latter gift was dedi-
cated on May 8, ISSl, the birthday of its patron. Only
two weeks before his death, he gave his check for
$10,000 toward the formation of a library for the Uni-
versity.
Mr. Yanderbilt was pleased with approval, and far
more sensitive to pnblic opinion than his father was ;
but he was shy of any conspicuous lienors, and always
gave when he could, as above, to institutions ah'eady
founded and christened, so that his name might not be
coupled with the donation. In this spirit he made hislai'g-
est gift. In 1S64: he cast about to see where lie could
most wisely bestow lialf a million dollars where it would
minister to the sick and suffering. It would build and
magnificently endow a new hospital, to be forever known
as the Vanderbilt Hospital, and to stand as a defence and
answer tlie slanders of Socialists. But no ; he did not
want a monument — he merely wanted to give the money
M'here it would do the most good. So he gave it to an ad-
mirable institution already founded — the College of Ph}'-
sicians and Sui'geons. It was a superb endowment. And
a year aftei-\vai-d, his daughter, Mrs. Sloane, added to
the gift a quarter of a million from her own resources.
The letters which he wrote to General and Mrs. Grant
after their financial disaster, generously offering to can-
cel their obligation of $150,000 to him, and pressing
his offer with delicate insistance, won for him many
grateful expressions from all parts of the country.* The
* For these letters, see Appendix D.
208 THE VANDERBILTS.
incident extorted a sort of patronizing tolerance and
churlish admiration even from those millions who were
in the habit of denouncing every word he spoke and
disparaging everj^ generous deed ho attempted.
Among AVilliam IT. Yanderbilt's minor gifts may be
mentioned, $100,000 distributed among the employes of
the ]!New York Central Kailroad ; $50,000 toward pay-
ing the debt incurred by the Church of St. Bartholomew
when it moved to its present situation on Madison
Avenue, and $10,000 to the Deems Fund for the educa-
tion of poor young men at the University of jS'orth
Carolina. ITe has also contributed to the University of
Yii'ginia, and made almost innumerable private dona-
tions, of which the public has no knowledge.
He was plain, simple, and unostentious in his manner
of giving, and did not care to have his charities bruited
in the public prints. When Dr. Deems explained to
him the plan he had devised in relation to helping poor
young men who wished to get an education, he said,
" I like the scheme, and will give you $10,000 for j-our
fund."
Within two years afterward over fifty students had
been helped through the university by the aid of this
gift. It is known that he was very kind to his father's
old friends, and he gave pensions to many superannuated
employes. The last check he signed, three hours be-
fore his death, was for the benefit of a charity in a dis-
tant city.
When the Suez Canal was opened, in ISOO, there was
a large gathering of notable people from all parts of the
civilized world. Among the representatives from
America was Mr. W. H. Hurlburt, then editor of the
TRANSPORTING THE OBELISK. 209
New York World. He met the Khedive of Eijypt,
Ismail, and this fanctionary was the first to make the
suirgestion iookino; to the reiuov^al of the obelisk at Alex-
andiia to America, lie offered to present the monolith
to the United States, as he had given its prostrate com-
panion to England. Mr. Ilurlburt became deeply in-
terested in the project, and cast about for ways and
means for its accomplishment.
It was ten years later, in June, 1879, that the atten-
tion of Commander Henry II. Gorringe was called to the
subject. He became interested in the matter, made a
careful development of original plans, and an estimate
of the cost of executing them, which resulted in an offer
to undertake the work. A couple of months later he
received the following letter :
New York, August 4, 1879.
LiEiTENANT-CosrMANDER H. H. GoRRisGE, United states Navy.
De-^r Sir : I have learned that you have or can procure the
facilities to remove to the city of New York the obelisk now
standing at Alexandria, in Egypt, known as " Cleopatra's
Needle."
As I desire that this obelisk may be secured for the city of
New York, I make you the following proposition : If you will
take down and remove said obelisk from its jjresent position to
this city, and place it on such site as may be selected with my
approval by the Commissioners of Parks, and furnish and con-
struct at your own expense on said site a foundation of mason-
work and granite base of such form and dimensions as said
commissioners and myself may approve, I will, on the comple-
tion of the whole work, pay to you 375,000.
It is understood, however, that there is to be no liability on
my part until the obelisk shall be so received and placed in posi-
tion in the city of New York, and the same to be in as good
condition as it now is. It is understood further that this agree-
210 THE VANDEEBILTS.
ment binds also my executors and adiijinistrators ; you to accept
this proposition in writing on the receipt thereof, and agree to
execute the same, and complete the work fully in every respect
within one year from the date hereof.
Very truly yours,
W. H. Vanderbilt.
To this proposition Commander Gorringe replied :
New York, August 6, 1879.
Mk. William H. Vandekbilt.
Dear Sir : I hereby acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
August 4, 1879, relating to the removal of the obelisk from
Alexandria, Egypt, to New York, and its erection on a site to be
selected with your approval, and I accept the proposition and
the conditions named therein.
Very truly yours,
Hexry H. Goerixge,
Lieutenant- Commander, V.S.N.
Commander Gorringe had much difficulty in getting
a vessel adapted to the novel transportation, and when
he reached Egypt he found that no one, not even the
Khedive, believed that the great obelisk would be or
could be taken to America. At last the moiniment was
turned over to a horizontal position ; an iron steamer
was obtained ; its bow was removed, and the vast mono-
lith was introduced to the hull endwise. On June 25,
1880, the sliip Dessong was ailoat with her unprece-
dented cargo, and amid the cordial acclamations of
the Egyptian populace she started for America. A
fortnight later, in mid-ocean, the after crank-shaft broke,
and she had to lie still a week, JS'eptune conducting
liimself in a most kindly manner during that period.
The Dessong anchored off Staten Island on July 20th,
ITS RE-ERECTION. 211
and in tlie afternoon of*T;he same day she was moored
in the Hudson River, off Twenty-third Street.
It took one hundred and twelve days to move the
obelisk overland from the foot of West Ninety-sixth
Street, to the pedestal erected for it in Central Park, a
distance of two miles. The corner-stone, of polished
syenite, was laid with masonic ceremonies, and ou Jan-
uary 22, 1881, the colossal stone was re-erected at noon,
in the presence of ten thousand people. On the first claw
of the fourth crab, beneath the obelisk, is the inscription :
The cost of removing from Alexandria and placing on this
sijot this obelisk, pedestal, and base, was borne by William H.
Vanderbilt.
Mr. Yanderbilt paid $103,Y32 for the entire removal
and re-erection. The obelisk is of fine syenite of the
Assouan quarries. It was formerly the companion of
the obelisk now standing on the Thames Embankment.
The pair were originally erected by Thothmes III., b.c.
1591-1565, before the famous Temple of the Sun at
Heliopolis. While at Alexandria, this obelisk was usu-
ally the first and last of Egyptian monuments to be
visited by travelers. Owing to the gradual sinking of the
land of that part of Egypt the sea came to within eighty
feet of its base. It was already inclining toward the
water, and in a few years must have fallen and been
broken.
Commander Gorringe lived to write a history of his
achievement, dedicated
To William H. Vanderbilt, in recognition of the enlightened
munificence to which New York is indebted for the possession
212 THE VANDERBILTS.
of one of the most interesting monuments of the Old World,
and of the most ancient record of man now known to exist on
the American Continent.
In the preface of this work, Mr. W. II. Hurlbnrt
saj's : " But no man knows as well as I do the discour-
agements and difficulties through which success was won,
and it appears to me to be mj duty, therefore, to bear
witness here, once for all, to the absolute simplicity of
purpose and single-minded public spirit to which Kew
York is indebted for the possession of the great obelisk
of Alexandria. No arguments wei-e needed to commend
the project to Mr. Vanderbilt, whose liberality made it
practicable."
Mr. Vanderbilt's wealth was so extraordinary that his
relation to society was peculiar. His charities were never
received with a hearty good grace. When he gave
$300,000 to the University, the act was coarsely greeted
with " That's nothing for him ! " When, with royal
courtesy, he offered to foi'give General Grant a great
debt of honor, thei-e were ingrates who said " Well, he
stole the money, as every millionaire does, and it would
be only just if he were to give up ten times as much."
When he donated half a million to the surgeons' college,
and another half million to other equally needed insti-
tutions, they expressed their gratitude in " Huh ! It
isn't a quarter of what he ought to give ! "
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE MAUSOLEUM.
Original Design Rejected — Too Grand — Moravian Thrift — The Site
Secured — The Plan Adopted — A Romanesque Tomb — Granite,
Limestone, and Bronze — The Interior — Allegorical Sculptures.
When^ Mr. Vanderbilt determined to build a tomb for
his last resting-place, and for the members of his im-
mediate family, he consulted the architect of the Yan-
derbilt houses, Mr. Richard M. Hunt, and desired him
to prepare the plans. Mr. Hunt, being acquainted with
many of the most magnificent mausoleums in Europe,
drew elaborate designs for a grand and pretentious
chapel above-ground, very ornate, since he understood
that the cost would not be considered.
When tliese were submitted to Mr. Yanderbilt, he
said : " Xo, Mr. Hunt ; this will not answer at all. You
entirely misunderstood me. AYe are plain, quiet, unos-
tentatious people, and we don't want to be buried in
anything so showy as that would be. The cost of it is
a secondary matter, and does not concern me. I want it
roomy and solid and rich. I don't object to appropriate
carvings, or even statuary, but it mustn't have any unne-
cessary fancy-work on it."
The architect beoran asrain, and toned down his origi-
214 * THE VANDERBILTS.
nal intention to something far less ornamental, and the
mausoleum now being finished on the lower end of
Staten Island is the outcome. It is undoubtedly the
finest and most costly private tomb in America, and will
rank high hy the side of tlie royal tombs of Enrope.
The structure stands near the bi'ow of a hill just back or
west of the old Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp. Mr.
Vanderbilt originally intended to place it in the ceme-
tery, where so many of his ancestors are buried, but the
trustees asked more for the requisite plot of ground than
he thought it was worth. As Commodore Yanderbilt
had given the fifty acres of land constituting the ceme-
tery, they were unable to come to an agreement, and
the result was that fourteen acres of land were pur-
chased just outside of, but adjoining, the cemetery. A
much more suitable site was thus procured, and the
fine structure is placed where it can be seen to advan-
tage, and not upon level ground, with commonplace
surroundings. The tomb has a front some forty feet in
height, by sixty in breadth, and is placed against a bank
of nearly the same height, so that the sides, rear, and
most of the roof are not seen, being covered with earth
and green turf. The sides are also efi^ectually masked
by retaining walls curving outward, each nearly a quar-
ter-circle, and heavily buttressed. The result is, there-
fore, that as the visitor approaches he sees merely a
gabled front, rich in carved work, forty feet higli,
made of Quincy granite, divided laterally into a center
projected some six feet from the front walls of the
aisles.
Standing upon the steps in front of the central door-
way, an extensive and lovely view is obtained. The lit-
STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE. 215
tie hamlet of New Dor]), with its quaint and scattered
farm-liouses, including the village post-office and the
blacksmith's shop, lies at the foot of the knoll ; bej'ond
are the extensive tlatlands which gently slope to the
south shore of the island, which merges into the blue
waters of the lower Bay of New York and the silver
gray of the broad Atlantic. At the right can be seen
a sapphire strip of land known as Sandy Hook, with a
stretch of the Jersey coast beyond, while at the left
there is a full view of Coney Island, with the highlands
of Long Island stretching toward Greenwood and the
city of Brooklyn.
Every steamship and sailing craft which enters Xew
York Harbor must pass in sight of this mausoleum. It
will be the first prominent object seen on Staten Island
by those who come fiom Europe to America. The
farm where Mr. William H. Vanderbilt spent some
twenty odd years of his life lies spread out below the
tomb like a map. It is fitting that his last resting-
place should dominate the landscape he knew and loved
so well.
The style of architecture followed in the tomb is
Romanesque. Each of the three divisions of the fagade
has a door-way, in which is hung a double bronze door.
The upper part of the door is grated, to admit light to
the vestibule. The chief feature of the front is tlie
great central door-way, an arch of some seven feet in
diameter inside and twenty outside. It is splayed in-
ward, together with its supporting piers, in a curve of
nearly a quarter of a circle, to the depth of five feet.
The tympanum of the arch is filled with sculpture cut
in the solid granite, representing the emblems which
216 THE VANDEEBILTS.
signify the writers of the four gospels, with a figure of
Christ in the center. A richly-wrought string-course
traversing the entire front is continued across the open-
ins: as a transom, and the whole Held of the wall of the
central front is decorated in diaper. Another string-
course divides this from the gable above, which is dec-
orated with a mock arcade the height of the openings,
conforming to the line of the roof, after the manner of
the facade of the famous Cathedral of Pisa.
In front of the main door is a semicircular platform,
eighteen feet in diameter, on a level with tlie floor of
the vestibule, and gained by an ascent of six Steps. The
vestibule is eleven by fifty-one feet in area, and opens
through a single door-way at the center into the tomb
proper. Each side of this door-way are large tablets of
polished Quincy granite, and two of the same size at
either end of the vestibule. There is a deep arched
recess opposite each side-door, opening into the vesti-
bule, which contains a huge vase of polished granite
standing upon a pedestal. These can be used for hold-
ing flowers. Either side of the main door, in the front
wall of the vestibule, there are small doors, at the foot
of bronze staircases, which lead to the ventilating cham-
bers above the catacombs.
In the tympanum over the great door-way opening
into the tomb proper is a bas-relief showing a figure
of Christ, with angels and scroll-work, and the words, in
English text, " I am the door." This is seen from tlie
vestibule, as the tomb is entered. Inside the tomb
another bas-relief over the same door-way sliows Christ
in the act of pronouncing a blessing, with the words
" Pax Vobiscum " on a scroll.
THE INTERIOR. 217
The great room of the tomb proper is sixty by forty-
five feet, and fully forty feet high from the floor to the
top of the arches. It resembles a church built of solid
stone and richly carved, only that the side-walls are
filled with open catacombs. This room is composed of
two bays nearly square, and a semicircular apse, or chan-
cel, covered with a half-dome. The apse is raised above
tlie main floor of the tomb, and contains an altar of
stone, to be used in religious services for the burial of
the dead. The bays are covered with vaulted ceilings
resting upon arches turned between the bounding piers,
and terminating in open rings, protected by open lan-
terns visible from without, and through which alone,
with the glass nine inches thick, light is admitted to
the interior.
The great interior is an unobstructed space, and occu-
pies the breadth only of the central part of the front.
The sides of the room contain the cells or catacombs, for
coffins. Beneath each of the large arches which support
the vaulted ceiling on each side are two subordinate
arches springing from a central column. There are
eight compartments thus formed, each containing nine
cells, or seventy-two in all. A ventilating pipe runs
from each cell to the air-chambers above. The cells
are about 2 feet 7 inches in width by 2 feet 2 inches in
height, and 8 feet deep. The heads of the arches above
the cells are filled with semicircular bas-reliefs, about
8 feet by 4, illustrating scriptural subjects. Beginning
with the first, at the right of the apse, they are as fol-
lows : " The Creation of Man ;" " The Fafl of Man ; "
'' Giving the Law to Moses ; " " David Praising the
Lord ; " '' Solomon sitting in Judgment ; " " The Virgin
10
218 THE VANDERBILTS.
and the Christ Child ; " " The Crucifixion," and " The
Ascension." Rich bronze gratings, costing $60,000, and
requiring twenty tons of standard bronze, protect the
cells from intrusion. These gratings, or gates, are very
artistic and elaborate in design. They were made in
America by artisans brought from Paris. Each piece
liad to be cast separately, after which all were put to-
gether. Kew moulds were made for every piece for
each of the screens, or gates. The effect of so much
bi'onze work is wonderfully rich, and gives the interior
of the tomb a strange appearance. The color harmonizes
with the deep-toned and gloomy surroundings. This
bronze work renders both the tomb and the cells within
burglar proof. The whole interior of the tomb is made
of light-colored Indiana limestone, the floor consisting
of large slabs of it. The structure was over a year in
building, and is supposed to have cost not less than
$300,000.
CHAPTER XXV.
CLOSING LABORS.
Sensitive to Public Opinion— Relinquishes His "Monopoly" — Fifty
Millions in Government Bonds — Resigns His Presidencies — Let-
ter to Associates— " The Pvablic be Damned ! " — Succeeded by
His Sons — Working Westward — Acquiring the Nickel Plate-
Letter on Freight Discriminations — Ou Labor — To Grover Cleve-
land.
As year followed year, Mr. Vanderbilt withdrew more
and more of his attention from the roads, leaned more
and more upon his sons, and took longer and more fre-
quent vacations. Sometimes he went to Europe just for
the ocean voyage, returning upon the same vessel which
carried him out.
He was widely condenmed as " a dangerous monopo-
list " by all agrarians, and by others who were moved
by similar feelings without, perhaps, proceeding to the
extreme conclusions ; and the illustrated papers con-
stantly put forth vile caricatures of him representing
him as a colossal dragon on wheels, rushing across the
land M'ith bloody claws, yawning jaws, and breath of
flame. He was vehemently denounced as the enemy
of the people, the oppressor of the poor, the robber of
the industrious.
It was partly to silence this senseless clamor that he
resolved to sell $35,000,000 worth of his Central stock.
220 THE VANDERBILTS.
How to do it without breaking the market and causing
a depreciation of all securities was the serious question.
Negotiations were carried on for weeks with great
secrecy. A journey was made to Europe in the interest
of the scheme. In the last week in November, 1879,
the bargain was closed.
To a syndicate representing chiefly the Wabash sys-
tem, but also a number of foreign capitalists, he sold
250,000 shares of Central stock. He was known to hold
at the time at least 400,000 shares, which, as the market
then stood, represented a wealth of $52,000,000. The
stock had not been seen on the London Board for nearly
fifteen j-ears, and it was felt that it was desirable that it
should be there. Besides, there was danger of a rupture
in the traffic agreement between the Central and Wabash
systems, the latter system having been extended a short
time before, and through freight being a prize for which
an active competition among the trunk lines was to be
expected. The purchasing syndicate was composed of
J. S. Morgan & Co., of London, Drexel, Moi-gan vfe Co.,
August Belmont & Co., L. Van Hoffmann & Co.,
Morton, Bliss & Co., Winslow, Lanier & Co., Edwin
D. Morgan, Cyrus W. Field, Jay Gould, Russell Sage,
and others. This syndicate took the 250,000 shares at
120, wliich was 10 below the ruling price in the market.
It was agreed that the syndicate should have a corre-
sponding i-epresentation in the director}' of the Central,
and that Yanderbilt should not place any of its stock on
the market for a year.
The news of the consummation of the sale reached
Wall Street early on November 26th, and the effect was
promptly visible in the advance of the Vanderbilt and Wa-
GREAT SALE OF STOCK. 221
bash stocks. Xew Yoik C'entral and Hudson River rose
from 129| to 134f , and AVabasli common from 39 to
434, preferred from 63 to 68. The rest of the list being
affected by sympathy, Erie closed at 3Sf, that being
the liighest price of the day. Tlie advance was due to
a general conviction that the arrangement was one of
the highest value to the two systems, inasmuch as it
was a guaranty of at least temporary harmony in traffic
relations between them. Mr. Vanderbilt admitted that
one of the considerations that entered into the sale was
that it would i-elieve him and his road of the embar-
rassment growing out of the public distrust of great
power in a single man.
Tlie 835,000,000 which he received for the stock he
at once reinvested in government bonds, and within a
year it was reported from Washington that he was re-
ceiving interest on bonds amounting to 853,000,000.
Chauncey M. Depevv, speaking of tliis colossal trans-
action, said : " Mr. Vanderbilt, because of assaults made
upon liim in the Legislature and in the newspapers,
came to the conclusion that it was a mistake for one in-
dividual to own a controlling interest in a great corpora-
tion like tlie iS^ew York Central, and also a mistake to
have so many eggs in one basket, and he thought it
Avould be better for himself, and better for the company,
if the ownership were distributed as widely as possi-
ble. . . . These syndicates afterward sold it, and the
stock became one of the most widely-distributed of the
dividend-paying American securities. There are now
about fourteen thousand stockholders. At the time he
sold there were about tliree thousand."
Mr. Vanderbilt had done all he could to prevent the
222 THE VATiTDERBILTS.
completion of that " piratical " road, the Nickel Plate,
cutting rates desperately^ to that end, but to his discomfi-
ture it pressed on mile after mile, and he felt compelled,
early in 1883, since he could not break it, to buy it.
His second son carried on the negotiations with a good
deal of ability, and on the reorganization of the com-
pany was elected its president.
On May 3, 1883, Mr. Yanderbilt finally resigned the
presidencies of the various roads of which for six years
he had been. the he^d. His health had been gradually
failing, and he felt that he owed all his care to its recu-
peration. The retirement had been anticipated for some
time, but it caused considerable surprise. In surrender-
ing his position, Mr. Yanderbilt said :
" Gentlemen : The companies of which I have had
the honor to be president for many years past are now
about to elect new officers for the ensuing year. The
meetings of all of them have been called at this office at
this time to thank you as the directors and officers, and
also the shareholders of the several companies, for the
confidence they have always reposed in me as their pres-
ident. It is my belief that these corporations are all
in sound condition, and that all the prominent positions
in them are filled by gentlemen who understand their
duties, and who will discharge them to the satisfaction
of the stockholders. This fact has had gi'eat infiuence
with me in determining the course of action which I
have, after due delibei'ation, decided upon.
" In my judgment the time has arrived when I owe
it as a duty to myself, to the corporations, and to those
around me upon whom the chief management will de-
volve, to retire from the presidency. In declining the
"the public be damped." 223
honor of a re-election from you I do not mean to sever
my relations or abate the interest I have heretofore
taken in these coi-porations. It is my purpose and aim
that these several corporations shall remain upon such a
basis for their harmonious working with each other, and
for the efficient management of each, as will secure for
the system both permanency and pi-osperity. Under
the reorganization each of them will elect a chairman of
the Board, who, in connection with the Executive and
Finance Committees, will have immediate and constant
supervision of all the affairs of the companies and bring
to the support of the officers the active assistance of tlie
directors. The plan of organization now adopted and
inaugurated will remove the business of the companies
from the contingencies of accident to any individual,
and insure a continuance of the policy which has here-
tofore met the approval of the stockholders."
The various Boards passed complimentary resolutions
in response.
Mr. Yanderbilt, accompanied by his son George and
his Uncle Jacob, immediately sailed for Europe, which
he had visited many times since that first celebrated voy-
age on the Xoi'th Star. James H. Rutter was elected
president of the Central, and retained the position until
liis death, his successor being Chauncey M. Depew. The
system laid out by Mr. Yanderbilt, which is based on
the English system of railway management, has since
been maintained.
A thousand sarcastic changes have been rung, and a
thousand indignant editorials written, and hundreds of
satirical cartoons printed, concerning the notorious say-
ing attributed to him, " The public be d d ! " His
224 THE VAISTDERBILTS,
utterance of it was at first denied by those desiring to
defend him, but Saninel Barton, his favorite nephew,
was one of tlie party at the time, and he confirmed the
report of the exclamation liaving been made. But the
vicious story of the reporter was virtually false, notwith-
standing, for he omitted all the context and the surround-
ing circumstances which explained the malediction.
The thing under consideration was the fast Chicago
mail-train, which Mi'. Vanderbilt was about to take off.
" Why are you going to stop this fast mail-train ? "
asked the reporter, whom Mr. Vanderbilt had received
on his special car with every evidence of cordiality.
" Because it doesn't pay," was the answer. " I can't
run a train as far as this permanently at a loss."
" But the public find it very convenient and useful.
You ought to accommodate them."
" The public ? " rejoined Mr. Vanderbilt ; " how do you
know they find it useful ? How do you know, or how
can I know, that they want it ? If they want it, why
don't they patronize it and make it pay? That's thej
only test I have of whether a thing is wanted — does it
pay ? If it doesn't pay, I suppose it isn't wanted."
" Mr. Vanderbilt," persisted the reporter, determined
to get a column interview somehow, " are jou working
for the public or for jouv stockholders ? "
"The public be d d!" broke out the irritated
man — " I am working for my stockholders ! If the pub-
lic want the train, why don't they support it ? "
That is the way it happened. Mr. Vanderbilt often
spoke freely to reporters— sometimes too freely. He
did not seem to realize the weight which people placed
on anything that fell from his lips.
CLOSING LABORS. 225
Great were his indignation and disgust when he found
that his casual words in defence of the stockholders
whose agent he was had been tortured into a brutal
speech— a malevolent imprecation aimed ac the whole
American people, to whom he owed his fortune. Noth-
ing, he alleged, was further from his thoughts.
Steadily, during these years, Mr. Vanderbilt's two
eldest sons, Cornelius and William Kissam, had grown
from being assistants to being associates and practical
allies. Tlie\' had neither found nor sought to find places
that were sinecures in the great establishment. Corne-
lius had, on his grandfathers death, become First Vice-
president and chief of the Finance Department, and his
younger brother had become Second Vice-president
and head of Transportation. The duties of these posi-
tions were exacting, but the young men who occupied
them had been trained to work, and they had been
taught by both father and grandfather that constant
work was their only salvation.
After his resignation of the presidency, William IJ.
Vanderbilt had, on the advice of his physicians, with-
drawn almost entirely from office- work, and even from
active superintendence. He had resigned his director-
ship and sold his stock in the AVestern Union Telegraph
Company, and in the Union Pacific. His latest opera-
tions were purchases and dealings in Chicago and North-
Avestern, Omaha, and Philadelphia and Reading, and a
few other minor transactions. During a year or two,
a project which had gi-adually assumed tremendous
physical proportions, known as the West Shore Railroad,
had been a very pronounced thorn in Mr. Vanderbilt's
flesh, by reason of its continuous opposition to the great
10*
226 THE VANDERBILTS.
system of wliich his father was the founder. It was
pushed to completion bj- its reckless and desperate pro-
jectors, and soon went into the inevitable bankruptcy.
Mr. Vanderbilt did not hesitate vehemently and frankly
to denounce the promoters as a gang of thieves and
blackmailers, who had stolen the money of dnped stock-
holders in order to obtain the chance of stealing his ;
but the rival ly M'as too immediate and disastrous, and
something must be done. Mr. Depew undertook nego-
tiation at the solicitation of Mr. Vanderbilt, which re-
sulted within the week in an absolute transfer of the
West Shore to the Xew York Central on terms calcu-
hUed to discourage those who build competing roads for
the sole purpose of selling out.
At all times Mr. Vanderbilt entertained positive views
as to discriminations and rate-cutting, and he did not
Jiesitate to express them.
On Febrnary 28, 1878, the New York Chamber of
Commerce held a meeting to hear the Railroad Trans-
portation Committee report on " Freight Discrimina-
tions and the Effect upon the Commerce of the City."
At this meeting the following letter from Mr. William
H. Vanderbilt was read.
President's Office,
New Yokk Central and Hitdson Eiver R.R. Co.,
Grand Central Depot,
New York, February 21, 1878.
Dear Sm, — Yon ask me to give you my views upon the
peculiar diificulties and disadvantages attending the receipt
and shipment of merchandise at this port. Cities, like rail-
ways, must offer equal facilities with their comjietitors for busi-
ness. Within the past ten years Philadelphia and Baltimore
LETTER ON COMMERCE. 227
have made rapid progress in competing for foreign and home
trade. They have granted to their railroads the most liberal
privileges in tlie iise of streets, docks, and water-fronts, and
have furnished them every assistance for the erection of ware-
houses and elevators, and the establishment of steamer and
other lines. As a natural sequence, the imports and exports at
those cities are constantly inci'easing, and will continue to in-
crease, at the exj^ense of New York, until New York shall see its
danger and fully offer the same facilities for commerce. The
New Y'ork merchant is subjected to a terminal charge of from
seventy cents to one dollar per ton, a burden from which his
Philadelphia and Baltimore rivals are free. It is clearly to the
interest of the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Pennsylvania Rail-
way, carrying goods upon a pro rata of the Baltimore or Phila-
delphia mileage, to take them to those ports, rather than to
New York, and deliver them to the consignee, without this
terminal charge ; and, from this cause, leaving out their other
and local influences, it is to their interest to divert trade from
this port ; for here comes always this exceptional tax, in the
shape of a terminal charge, affecting every ton of freight de-
livered in the city, and amounting to about ten dollars a car in
excess of the same freight delivered in either Philadelphia or
Baltimore.
The land under water around this city has been granted to it
by the State for the puii^ose of improving, increasing, and ex-
tending the commercial facilities of the metropolis. This prop-
erty is a trust, to be used, not to secure a temporary income,
but to be so administered as to enlarge and cheajDen the busi-
ness of this ijort. But the city, relying upon its natural and
other advantages, has always appropriated, improved, and rented
this gift, as if it was held only for the immediate revenue which
could be collected, without regard to the effect of such a policy
upon our future prosperity. Public sentiment has heretofore
sustained this view, but the time has come when both the city
government and the merchants must see that any revenue de-
rived from this source is insignificant compared with the damage
inflicted. While steamships at other and rival ports laud at
228 THE VANDERBILTS.
comparatively free wliarfs, the rental of a dock owned by our
city is about equal to seven per cent, per annum upon the cost
of a first-ciass ocean steamer, and at the same time our railways
are prohibited from reaching these docks, though the distance
is only a few feet, the expense trifling, and the connection
would to that extent put us on an equality with rival cities.
"When the railroad desires to use city property for the building
of depots, and the increase of facilities, it pays at the same rate
as to a private individual. When it wishes to erect piers over
the land under water, and applies for a permit, the city expects
a large yearly rental for this ground, covered by fifteen or thirty
feet of water, and that the pier built by the comiaany at great
expense shall revert to the city, after a few years, as its abso-
lute property.
Every burden of this description is paid directly by the rail-
road, but necessarily reimposed upon its traffic. The proj^erty
of the city, otherwise useless, is improved at the cost of the
company, and the improvement increases our terminal facili-
ties, adds to our commercial advantages, and cheapens the ex-
l^ense of doing business at this port ; but the terms imposed
neutralize most of the benefit. In all these matters the true in-
terests of the city, the railroads, and the merchants are identi-
cal. We have the same competitions, and we must live on
profits so small that volume of business becomes a necessity.
It is short-sighted policy which jH-omjits an increased terminal
expense at New York, making it to the interest of any road to
carry its traffic elsewhere. The natural advantages of this city,
and its large control of the channels of trade, ought to be so
supplemented by its liberality and wisdom as to induce all lines
to seek New York.
I appeal to the merchants to arouse the municipal authorities
on this questioi>, and to encourage and sustain every elfort look-
ing to relief and improvement. Trade once lost is hard to gain.
The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad is ready at all
times to bear the burdens and make the expenditures necessary
to compete with roads in other seaboard cities. With thor-
ough harmony of action, as there is of interest between the
LETTER TO CLEVELAND. 229
municipal goverament, the merchants, and the railroads, the
financial and commercial sui^remacy of Nesv York can be main-
tained.
Very truly yours,
W. H. Vaxderbilt.
Ch.\eles S. Smith, Esq.,
Chairman of Committee of Chamber of Commerce.
In October, 1884, at the commencement of the rail-
road war, cutting rates to the West, Mr. William 11.
Yanderbilt said :
" I can tell von one thing : our old road will not be
behind any of its rivals, whether they are young or old.
The rates to the West may be any figure that the other
lines may choose to make them . . . The fact is
that there has got to be a further liquidation. Some
companies among the trunk lines have confessed that
they were not making much money, but others have
not . . . Everybody has lost money in the last year
or two, and it is fortunate that the losses have fallen on
the richest men. 1 feel the depreciation, and perhaps
in proportion to my wealth, but on some of the rich
men it is telling pretty hard. It is ridiculous to suppose
that politics will change the process of liquidation. The
success of one candidate or the other will not add a cent
to what I already have. But I decline to discuss pol-
itics ; I take an interest in it, but I have not given any-
thing to either side.
" One of the troubles in this country just now is the
relation of wages to the cost of production. A skilled
workman in almost every branch of business gets every
day money enough to buy a barrel of flour. I don't refer
to ordinary laborers, but to men skilled at their trades.
230 THE VANDERBILTS.
The man who makes the article receives as rancli wages,
in many instances, as tlie article is worth when it is
finished. This is not exactly fair, in my opinion, and
must be adjusted. Until wages have a truer relation to
production there can be no real prosperity in tlie couu-
try."
The following letter, written by Mr. Vanderbilt just
afterward, explains itself.
The Honorable Geoveb Cle-'vTeland :
My Dear Sir — I congratulate you and tlie people of the
wliole country upon your election to the Presidency of the
United States. You owe your election, in my opinion, to the
fact that the people believed you to be an honest man, and not
to any particular efforts made by any faction of either the
Democratic or Republican parties.
Independent men who care more for good government than
for parties or individuals have made you their choice, because
they were convinced that your administration would not be for
the benefit of any political organization or favored i^ersous, but
for the interest of the whole people. This is just the result
which is most desired. We have reached a time when party
amounts to little ; the country is above all, and wants an honest
government by honest men. The belief that we will find it
iu you has led to your election.
Yours very truly,
W. H. Vanderbilt.
New York, November 7, 1884.
Mr. Vanderbilt voted generally the Kepublican ticket,
but in late years the Democratic. His sons are all Re-
publicans, excepting AVilliam Kissam, who is an enthu-
siastic Democrat, approving, usually, of both the meas-
ures and methods of his party.
CHAPTER XXVI.
W. H. VANDERBILTS DEATH.
Worry and Anxiety — His Declining Health— Morning of the Last
Day — At Ward's Studio — Conference with Mr. Garrett — Paralysis
and Quick Death — Effect on the Public Mind— Simple and Inex-
pensive Funeral — The Vault at New Dorp — Home Again.
Mk. Vanderbilt "svas a mucli more comfortable aiul
happy man upon his Staten Island farm than in his
Fifth Avenue palace. Like numy farmei's, he knew
that the story of Antseus, the giant son of Keptune,
said to have been strongest when he touched the earth,
was not a fable, but the poetical expression of a rugged
fact.
After he left the farm and came to the city to live he
complained of a feeling of suffocation, and every pleas-
ant Simday for years saw him behind a brisk team driv-
ing to the ferry to seek the free air of his former home.
These visits became less and less f i-equent with the flight
of years, until sometimes months would pass and find
him chained to the city. It told upon his health — the
confinement and care of his great and growing property.
William II. Yanderbilt never learned his father's
knack of turning off business rapidly and easily. What-
ever he had to do he generally did in the hardest way.
He could not acquire the habit of shifting his burden.
Of course, this injured his general health. Ilis ap-
232 THE A'AXDEEBILTS.
petite failed him. lie was anxious about himself, and
wanted the doctors to see him often. His anxiety was
increased by an attack of paralysis which the doctors
called "insignificant" while living in the house at the
corner of Fortieth Street, but the effects of it soon
passed away, and he pretty nearly i-ecavered his confi-
dence that he might possibly enjoy a long life. "If I
can only pass my sixty-fourth birthday !" he would ex-
claim ; " that seems to be a dangerous period in our
family." So the result proved it to be.
His death on December 8th was sudden and dra-
matic. He had no note of warning. He died in-
stantly, as he had often wished to die, not sympathizing
with the prayer of the litany. The day had been with-
out excitement. He rose at the early hour of seven, as
was his custom, and breakfasted at eight and a half with
his family. He showed little appetite for food, but this
was not unusual, as lie had been suffering from indiges-
tion for years. After the morning meal the " boys "
dropped in to see him, as they were wont to do — Corne-
lius, William K., and Frederick AV. — and consulted with
him about the management of the properties that the
family controlled, and in the direction of which they
were active. About half-past nine this conference was
held, and Mr. Rossiter, the treasurer of the Centi-al
road, and the custodian of many of Mr. Yanderbilt's
business confidences, was also present. At eleven o'clock,
some matter being under consideration that required
the pi-esence of Mr. Depew, he was sent foi-, but he re-
turned word that he would be unable to answer the call
before one o'clock, and an appointment was made for
that hour.
THE LAST HOURS. 233
Considerable business liad been ti-ansacted by this
time, and Mr. Vanderbilt, remembering that he liad an
appointment, left the house and walked briskly to the
studio of J. Q. A. Ward. He gave the sculptor about
an hour's sitting for the bronze bust of him which had
been ordei-ed by the trustees of the College of Physicians
and Surgeons; that notable beneticiary of his bounty.
Returning to the house, he had luncheon at 12.30,
sitting at table with his wife, his youngest son, George,
and his daughter, Mrs. Twombly. It was afterward
remarked that he was in a cheerful mood and chatted in
a jocund manner with the family. At one o'clock Mr.
Depew arrived, but finding that Mr. Robert Garrett,
president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company,
had just called to have a talk with Mr, Vanderbilt,
he waived his own engagement till later in the day,
and insisted on Mr, Garrett taking his place. The ar-
rangement was accepted, and Mr. Garrett began to talk
over the project of bringing the new trunk line into the
city via Staten Island and Mr. A^anderbilt's old home.
The two men were seated in the study, a capacious
room on the north side of the house. A brisk fire was
burning on the hearth. The greater millionaire sat in
liis favorite easy-chair, one with a deep seat, low back, and
soft arms ; at his left, his table scattered with papers ;
behind him, his desk. Tlie smaller millionaire sat on a
sofa just opposite, under the front window, and here and
thus for an hour they confei-red. Mr. Garrett unfolded
his plans for establishing terminal facilities ; Mr. Van-
derbilt leaned eagerly forward and listened, and made
suggestions.
Xo one who heard their quiet conversation could have
234 THE VANDERBILTS.
inferred that Mr. Vanderbilt was talking to the son of
his old antagonist in transportation, with whom he had
had more than one desperate rate-cutting battle. Mr,
Yanderbilt was speaking, when suddenly his visitor
perceived an indistinctness of utterance. Leaning for-
ward to catch his meaning, he saw the muscles about
the mouth twitch slightly. Then they were violently
convulsed, and a spasm shot through the frame. In an-
other instant the stricken man plunged forward, witli-
out a cry, headlong to the floor. Mr. Garrett caught
him before lie struck, but before he could lay him on
the rug and put a pillow under his head he had ceased
to breathe, and in a moment the pulse was still. The
family were summoned ; doctors were sent for ; restoi'a-
tives were tried ; in vain — the man was dead.
When Dr. McLean, the famih- physician, arrived, he
found that apoplexy had done its work — a blood-vessel
burst in the head, a clot of blood upon the brain, and
that was the end. Mrs. Yanderbilt fainted M'hen she
heard the news from the physician.
It was generally agreed that Mr. Yanderbilt had been
subjected to no peculiar annoyance or fatigue during the
day — no special nervous pressure. Mr. Ward said :
" Mr. Yanderbilt was somewhat out of breath when he
came in, though he had not been exerting himself more
than to (j:et out of his carriao;e and walk into the house
here. At each of the former sittings he was in excellent
spirits, and while I woi-ked on the clay model he talked
about horses and various artistic subjects, especially
paintings. lie never seemed to tire of relating his
amusing and unusual experiences in buying the works of
art now in his residence. To day, however, Mr. Yau-
PUBLIC EXCITEMENT. 235
derbilt was rather silent, and after a few minutes seemed
to grow drowsy. I asked liim whether he was feeling
well, and he said that his head felt a little queer, but
that he supposed it was the result of sitting up rather
late last night, and M-ould therefore soon wear away.
After about half an hour he grew very restless.
"He took a short nap in his chair, then roused him-
self and asked how I was frettino- alono-. To interest
or?* o
him, I brought out a picture of Maud S. and asked his
opinion of it. lie thought it not very good, and said he
had a much better one. From this we began discussing
horses and fast records, and the possibilities of the
future. Mr. Vanderbilt was now much more wide
awake, but as he was not feeling his best, I suggested
that he cut the sitting short, and I could do very well
with what I had. He lingered a few moments to dis-
cuss the clay, and I asked him if that was his first
bust. He laughingly asked if I hadn't heard about the
one at the Eden Musee, and went out."
The news of the death spread with mai'velous i-apidity.
By dusk everybody in town knew it. By dark it had
been telegraphed to the ends of the continent. The sons
and dauo'hters hurried home. Cards and messao-es of
condolence poured into the saddened house by the hun-
dred. Telegrams came from remote cities. Scores of
friends stopped at the house to inquire and to leave mes-
sages. There was no attempt to intrude on the suddenly-
afflicted household.
Curiosity and interest caused crowds to gather in front,
and to prevent too great a throng an officer was detailed
to patrol the walks. He had no trouble in preventing
collections of people, but men and women paced up
236 THE VA]S'DERBILTS.
and down, watched the bright vestibule and darkened
windows, talked in bated breath of the sad affair, and
wondered what he had done with his fortune.
All night that ghostlj policeman walked his short
beat in the somber shadows. Scores of people came
and whispered together under the gas-lamp, noiselessly
made inquiries of the sentry, gazed up at the drawn cur-
tains, watched the callers — some of them closely-veiled
ladies — coming and going on foot and in carriages, and
listened to the newsboy's dissonant cry, not five rods
away, "Extry ! Extry ! Death of William H. Vander-
bilt ! "
Within three blocks a meeting of magnates was held
for the purpose of preventing a fall in prices, and it was
agreed by the syndicate to buy three hundred thousand
shares, if necessary, to sustain the market. It was said
that $12,000,000 was pledged for the use of the pool.
The solitary patrol marched to and fro. The hoarse
announcement of the newspaper came up the street,
and now and then a messenger boy darted out of the
darkness and back again, and vanished on his way.
The funeral was very simple — as simple as his father's
— as simple as the last rites over the body of a man of
such plain tastes should have been. Xo needed expense
was spared, but nothing was wasted. Friends were re-
quested not to send flowers. The body was not em-
balmed. The coffin was exceedingly plain, of cedar witli
elliptic ends, draped in black English l)roadcloth, and
lined with white satin.
On the morning of the 11th the family assembled
around the remains of the dead for a farewell and a
brief prayer. Then the undertaker closed the casket, the
THE LAST RITES. 237
pall bearers removed it to the nndecorated liearse, and
the cortege moved through the crowd to St. Bartholo-
mew's Church, where the most simple public ceremonies
were held by Bishop Potter. U]X)n the casket was a
bank of fresh violets, a bunch of palms, and a wreath
of myrtle, and a cross of white roses was at the foot.
The regular burial service of the church was read, and
there was no eulogy of the deceased. The following
gentlemen served as pall-bearers : Chauncev M. Depew,
Samuel F. Burger, J. Pierpont Morgan, C. C. Clarke,
Charles A. Rapallo, John P. Brady, William Turnbull,
William L. Scott, William Bliss, D. O. Mills, George
J. Magee, Stephen D. Caldwell.
From the crowded church down crowded streets again
moved the procession to the foot of Forty-second Street,
where the ferry-boat Southfield was in waiting — the
same boat that had taken the remains of Commodore
Vanderbilt to the same destination. Again the boat
was crowded with mourners ; again the pilot rang his
bell, and they moved out into the stream, carrying the
remains of the dead millionaire from the city where he
had lived and labored and doubled the enormous for-
tune that had been left him, to the lovely island where
he had spent so many years, and which now was to be
his final resting-place on earth.
The body was placed in the public vault of the little
Moravian cemetery at Kew Dorp, and a simple service
was said by the local clergyman. Everything was quiet
and unpretentious. A stranger passing by and looking
over the low wall would never have imagined that the
simple rites that were taking place Mere over the re-
mains of the richest man in the world, nor have dreamed
238 THE VANDERBILTS.
of the immense wealtli represented by the sorrowing
gronp.
When the family and friends returned to the city, a
watch of armed men was set over the vault, and they
paused in their solemn pacing to and fro in the cold
night, turned a bull's-eye lantern on the faces of curious
strollers, and answered their questions. For several
months this armed guard will be on duty night and day
protecting the body of the dead from tlie hyena rapacity
of the living, until the completion of the mausoleum on
the adjoining hill which Mr. Yanderbilt began some
months since as the final home of the Commodore and
his descendants.
CHAPTER XXYII.
THE WILL.
Two Hundred Million Dollars given Away — The great Burden Dis-
tributed— Widow, Children, and Relatives well provided For —
The " Residue " of a Hundred Millions — Charities — The Testa-
tor's Purposes and Dreams.
How the great property had been divided by the will
was the question that now excited unusual interest. The
bequest of $200,000,000 was unprecedented in the his-
tory of the world, and for three days the public dis-
cussed all the possibilities with eagerness, and the news-
papers of all the land published every fact and rumor
that could tend to the solution of the mystery.
It was well known that the Commodore had been an
advocate of primogeniture — the special advancement of
the eldest son — not l)ecause he cherished the old feudal
superstition that the eldest- born liad superior rights,
but because he believed that, if equally capable, such a
single heir would be more likely to keep a vast inherit-
ance intact, and thus the better to maintain the power
of the family. It was obvious that the Commodore had
carried this conviction into effect in devising the bulk of
his estate to William II., giving to his other children
only enough to insure their comfort ; and it was further
known that he had discriminated in his will in favor of
his young namesake, the eldest son of his eldest son, and
had indicated him as the future head of the house.
240 THE VAIS^DERBILTS,
This son, Cornelius, was understood to liave weathered
the financial storm of 1883 more safely than his
brothers, and to have retained and augmented his in-
heritance in a way that indicated shrewdness and thrift.
This was quoted in support of the assumption that he
"would now inherit one-half, perhaps three fourths, of the
tremendous wealth which his father and grandfather
had accumulated. Moreover, it was alleged, bv those
who thought themselves in a position to know, that at
least one will had been signed and attested within five
3'ears which executed the Commodore's wish to have
the estate entailed in a direct line. And it was not
known that this will had been destroyed and super-
seded. AVhen the leo-al will was brouo-ht from the Safe
Deposit Vaults and read — the last of nine wills that had
been made in six years — great was the public astonish-
ment. It overthrew primogeniture, by dividing half of
the property equally between the two eldest sons.
The family were not surprised. They knew that the
testator had honestly experimented with primogeniture
and had been himself a victim of it. His doctor alleged
that he had died of overwork. Originally equipped
with a superb constitution, fine physique, and extraordi-
nary muscular power, his health and strength had de-
clined from the day that he took charge of his father's
business. Ills appetite had failed him. Dyspepsia had
assailed liim. His sleep was broken. Pleasure had lost
its zest. In eight years he had lived twenty. Constant
worry had laid the foundation of arterial changes that
resulted in a rupture of a large vessel in his brain and
sudden death.
He felt a premonition of his doom, and he said to his
THE GREAT BEQUEST. 241
family : " The care of $200,000,000 is too great a load
for any brain or back to bear. It is enough to kill a
man. I have no son whom I am willing to afflict with
the terrible burden. There is no pleasnre to be got out
of it as an offset — no good of any kind. I have no real
gratification or enjoyments of any sort more than my
neighbor on the next block who is wortii only half a
million. So when 1 Lay down this lieavy responsibility,
I want my sons to divide it, and share the wony whicli
it will cost to keep it."
On the day succeeding his funeral, Satnrday. the 12th,
the will was carried to the Probate Coui-t by Channcey
M. Depew and the four sons of deceased. It covered
nineteen pages of foolscap, type-written, and contained
about six thonsand words. A petition for probate was
signed by the four sons and verified by their oath, set-
ting forth that the will was signed September 25, 1S85,
in presence of the i-eqnired witnesses ; that it bore no
codicil ; that the names of the heirs-at-law and next of
kin were, in the order of age, Marie Louise Yanderbilt,
the widow, living at No. 640 Fifth Avenue ; Cornelius
Yanderbilt, a son, living at Xo. 1 West Fifty-seventh
Street ; Margaret Louise Shepard, a daughter, living at
No. 2 West Fifty-second Street; William Kissani Yan-
derbilt, a son, living at iSo. 660 Fifth Avenue ; Emily
Thorn Sloane, a daughter, living at ISo. 642 Fifth
Avenue; Florence Adele Twombly, a daughter, living
at No. 684 Fifth Avenue ; Frederick W. Yanderbilt, a
son, living at No. 459 Fifth Avenue ; Eliza O. Webb, a
daughter, living at No. 680 Fifth Avenue ; and George
W. Yanderbilt, a son, living at No. 640 Fifth Avenue.
Provision is first made for the widow. To her de-
ll
242 THE VANDERBILTS.
cedent gives for use during life the house in which lie
resided at the time of his death, the pictures and other
works of art, the horses, carriages, and stables, and he
leaves to lier an annual allowance of $200,000, and the
privilege of disposing of $500,000 absolutely, bj will, to
any one whom she may desire thus to benefit.
To each of his four daugliters he leaves the houses in
which they are now living, near his own residence ; but
he adds a condition which shows that he shares his
father's incredulity as to the business ability of women,
directing that the portion intended for his j^onngest
daughter shall not be delivered to her till she attain the
age of thirty, and if she die cliildless before that time
her portion shall revert to the estate.
The testator sets apart $40,000,000 of certain specified
securities, and directs that it be divided into eight equal
parts and distributed to his children, giving to each one
five million dollars absolutely.
He then sets apart another $40,000,000 of railroad
aud otlier securities as a trust fund. This is to be di-
vided into eight equal parts, held by trustees, and each
child is to receive the interest on $5,000,000 during life,
in addition to the $5,000,000 absolutely given. This
makes an annual income of about $500,000 for each.
The principal goes to the children of the eight, as each
of them may direct by will. If any son die without
leaving children, his portion of the trust fund is to be
divided among surviving brothers or their children.
The same direction applies to the daughters' shares.
After the death of the widow, the works of art (ex-
cepting the marble bust of Connnodore Yanderbilt,
which is given to Cornelius), the family residence.
THE DISTRIBUTIOT^. 243
stables, etc., in wliicli she has a life estate, are be-
queathed to her youngest son, George Vanderbilt, or to
liis children if he be dead. If he die without issue,
William 11. Vanderbilt, the eldest son of Cornelius, will
I'eceive this property, and $2,000,000 besides. The tes-
tator further gives $1,000,000 to this favorite grandson,
absolutely, on attaining the age of thirty years. If he
be not living at the time when such bequests Avould fall
to him, then they shall go instead to the next son of
Cornelius, who bears the same name as his father.
" My object being," the testator says, recurring to the
spirit of the Commodore, " that my present residence
and my collection of works of art be retained and main-
tained by a male descendant bearing the name of Van-
derbilt.''
Mr. Vanderbilt also gives $2,000,000 to his eldest son
Cornelius in addition to all other bequests ; §30,000 to
William V. Kissam, a nephew ; to his brother, Jacob II.
Vanderbilt, the dividends during life on 1,000 shares of
Kew York Central ; an annuity of $2,000 to his Annt
Phebe and each of twelve other relatives, and of $1,200
to othei-s ; and to his secretary, E. V. W. Ilossiter, $10,-
000.
He gives $200,000 to the Vanderbilt University, of
Tennessee, which his father founded. To the follow-
ing, $100,000 each is bequeathed. To the Domestic and
Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal
Church ; St. Luke's Hospital ; the Young Men's Chris-
tian Association of Js^ew York ; the Protestant Episco-
pal Mission Society of ]^ew l^ork ; the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, and the Moravian Church at Xew
Dorp. The following get $50,000 each : The General
244 THE VANDEEBILTS.
Theological Seminary ; the Xew Yoi-k Bible and Com-
mon Prayer Book Society ; the Home for Inciirables ;
the Protestant Episcopal Church Missionary Society for
Seamen in the City and Port of New York ; the New
York Christian Home for Intemperate Men. and the
American Museum of Natural History.
Thus about half the property is disposed of. The
vast remainder is divided and given in two equal shares
to the two eldest sons, Cornelius Yanderbilt and William
K. Yanderbilt, giving them about §50,000,000 apiece in
addition to their present large fortunes. It is estimated
that Cornelius Yanderbilt cannot have less than $80,-
000,000 — nearly as much as his father received from the
Commodore.
The widow and the four sons are made executrix and
executors, and each son is made one of the trustees for
all the trust funds except those for his own benefit. If
they qualify they shall serve without compensation.
The New York Sun, alluding to this will, said :
" Never was such a last testament known of mortal. Kings
Lave died with full treasuries, Emperors have fled their realms
with bursting coffers, great financiers have i^layed with mil-
lions, bankers have reaped and sowed and reaped again, great
houses with vast acres have grown and grown and still exist ;
but never before was such a spectacle presented of a jilain, or-
dinary man dispensing, of his own free will, in bulk and mag-
nitude that the mind wholly fails to apprehend, tangible mil-
lions upon millions of palpable money. It is simjily grotesque.
" The numerical significance of a million is incomprehensi-
ble ; it can only be measured relatively and by illustration, and
when it comes to dealing with himdreds of millions, the under-
standing is overwhelmed and helpless. Mr. Yanderbilt gave
them right and left, as if they were ripe apples."
THE VICTIM OF CHURLS. 245
For a week after the pii1)lication of tlie will, its pro-
visions were a leading topic of popular discussion through-
out the country. It was taken up and picked to pieces,
approved and criticised, with as much s})irit as would
have been manifested if the parties to the dispute had
all been legatees. One thought the property should
have been equally divided among the children ; another
that Cornelius should have had almost all of it, to carry
out the Commodore's dream ; another that it should
have been distributed among the whole population of
the countr}', " and it would have given $4: to every man,
woman, and child in the United States ; " another that
it should have been directed more to objects of public
benevolence. In this last, many concurred.
To those who knew him best, it seemed a wonder
that the testator was not so wholly embittered as to
refuse to make any provisions in his will for public
charities. He had been harried and abused by the
press, whenever he had tried to do any generous action.
Every announcement that he had made a donation to
science or medicine, to art or music, was met by the
churlish connnent, " It's nothing for him ! " and " Why
didn't he give ten times as nmch ? " Instead of gi-ati-
tude, lie got sneers ; instead of decent treatment, in-
sults. The demand of the loudest-talking, if not the
most influential, of the press of the city, seemed to be
that he could atone for the heinous crime of being rich,
only by giving away all of his property at once to any-
body who chose to ask for it. So it is a marvel that he
did not become wholly hardened and cynical, and refuse
to consider any schemes for the special benefit of the
public.
246 THE VANDERBILTS.
On the contrarj', his mind was busy with such pur-
poses, trying constantly to give permanent foi-ni to the
liberal thought. " The great trouble of our time," he
was in the habit of saying, " is that there are too many
people idle. There are few skilled mechanics among
them ; most of the tramps and loafers are those who
are unskilled, w^ho have not been trained to do aiiy
difficult thing, and do it well. "What is especially
needed, is to have all boys and girls of all classes of
societj' taught some sort of difficult trade — given special
training, so that they can fall back on work whenever
necessary." To this end he considei-ed the expediency
of establishing some great tool-house, where poor chil-
dren might be taught trades ; but he gave it up because
he came to think that such training should be conferred
b^' a modification of the public school system.
But inquiry shows that Mr. Vanderbilt wished and
meant to associate his name with some great gift to the
city of New Yoi-k which should be at once unique and
pre-eminent ; and this generous ambition at last, two or
three }ears before his death, took the form of a public
Museum, like the British Museum, to be, like that, of
incalculable value as an educator of youth. lie decided
to build such a museum of magnificent dimensions on
the block opposite to his house on Fifth Avenue, and to
endow it with ^5,000,000. This would be a far greater
endowment than that possessed by any other museum
in the woild, and it might be expected in a few years to
excel all others in the extent and value of its collections.
The delay in realizing this superb vision, and finally
its failure through death, resulted from the impossibility
of obtaining the land. It belongs to the citv, but is
A DEFEATED PURPOSE. 247
rented to the llomaii Catholics for an orphan asylum,
for 990 yeai's, at the lental of $1 a year. Tiie asyluni
people would not relinquish the advantages of their fine
bai'gain, and the city was helpless ; so, after persisting
for two years, Mr. Yanderbilt suspended the plan till he
could find another acceptable site, and New York lost
one of the most valuable monuments of industry and art
that it was within the power of man to rear.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
ESTIMATE OF HIS CHARACTER. ^
Temperate Habits — Abstemious — Domestic — Tribute of the Directors
— Opinions of Jay Gould and Russell Sage — Letter to Matthew
Riley — A Much Abused Man— Fond of Opera — The Student
Waiters — The Undelivered Apple-Jack.
The general habits and personal character of Mr.
Vanderbilt will not be doubtful to those who have
attentively read the preceding pages.
He used no tobacco in any form. He was abstemious
at table. Few men ate less, he taking no meat some-
times for days together. He never partook of rich foods
or hot breads. He was fond of shell-fish and of the
cereals in a coarse form, with milk. He retained simple
tastes, and seldom drank wine or liquor of any sort. He
was not in anj- sense a high liver.
He weighed about one hundred and eighty pounds,
and often complained that he did not get enough physi-
cal exercise. His chief recreation was the opera, of
wdiicli he was fond. His physician, Dr. McLane, said :
"I did not think he needed medicine when I first diag-
nosed his case in 1870, and I have never thought so since ;
therefore, I prescribed as little as possible. My theory
was that he needed rest and relaxation. I believed he
liad too much to think of, and that under the weight of
such important cares as his great interests involved liis
THE MANNER OF MAN. 249
health had been affected in such a way that only com-
plete rest and freedom from worry would restore it. I
saw him on Sunday, and congratulated him on his ap-
pearance, lie seemed to be *in excellent health, and in
iine spirits over the successful transfer of the AVest Shore
property and the solution of that puzzling and annoying
problem. The suddenness of his death shocked me.
Those who saw him shaking with laughter over the
' Queen of Sheba ' at the Metropolitan Opera House last
Wednesday night will agree with me that his appear-
ance indicated quite a lease of life on earth."
In his liome life Mr. Yanderbilt set an example
worthy of ennilation by many men of less affairs. He
was exceedingly domestic, and devoted to his home and
family. It was a very pressing matter of business in-
deed which got him out of his home at night. He used
to stay at home and play whist every evening after din-
ner. He was passionately fond of a good rubber, and
played with considerable skill.
Unlike the iron Commodore, he always felt that his
children had rights. He was kindly, conciliatory, and
indulgent in liis relations with them, and in the midst
of the greatest affairs always found time to look after
their welfare and enjoyment, to bend to their humors
and fancies, and to make their hours happy. Instead
of fearing him, they loved him. As a host he was always
cordial to friends and acquaintances, affable to strangers,
and approachable and accessible to all. He did not
bi'ing his shop to the fireside.
Pie was a fair story-teller, and while not a picturesque
or poetical talker, he was fluent and vigorous of speech,
and capable of conveying a vivid impression of his ex-
it*
250 THE VANDEKBILTS.
periences. He was fond of recalling the amusing inci-
dents of his travels in Europe before any of the family
spoke French or German, and when favorably launched
upon the after-dinner tide he could agreeably entertain
a table-full.
Perhaps there is no better way of conveying an ade-
quate idea of Mr. Vanderbilt's character as it was under-
stood by those who worked with him and saw much of
him than by copying here the following expression of
their regard uttered by the directors of eleven railroad
companies assembled together on the day after his death.
Cynics can, if they choose, make some grains of allow-
ance on the ground that this estimate was uttered by his
associates and beneficiaries — but, in the main, the words
are no doubt true :
" His sudden death in the very midst of the activities
whose influence reached over the entire continent has
startled the whole country, and in the hush of strife and
passions the press and public give tender sympathy to
the bereaved family and pay just and deserved tribute
to his memory. But to us, who were his associates and
friends, endeared to him by the strongest ties and years
of intimacy, the event is an appalling calamity, full of
sorrow and the profoundest sense of personal loss, while
officially we feel that his sagacity, his strong common
sense, his thorough knowledge of the business, his will-
ingness to lend of his vast resources in times of peril, and
his counsel and assistance, were of invaluable and incal-
culable service in conducting and sustaining these great
enterprises.
" He came into the possession of the largest estate ever
devised to a single individual, and has administered the
TESTIMONY OF ASSOCIATES. 251
great trust with modesty, without arrogance, and with
generosity, lie never used his riches as a means of op-
pression, or to destroy or injure the enterprises or busi-
ness of others, but it constantly flowed into the enlai-ge-
ment of old, and the construction and development of
new works, public in theii- character, which opened new
avenues of local and national wealth, and gave oppor-
tunity and employment directly and indirectly to mill-
ions of people. In keeping together and strengthening,
during a period of unparalleled connnercial depression
and disintegration, the combination of railways known
as the Yanderbilt system, which he inherited from his
father, greatly extended, and transmitted to trained and
worthy successors, he performed a work of the highest
beneficence to the investors and producers of the whole
country.
" None of his accumulations were derived from his
injustice to others, from conspiracies against associates,
from ci'ushing out the w^eak, but the humblest stock-
holder shared in equal proportion in whatever benefited
the common property,
" But it is not alone for his sense, judgment, and jus-
tice in the vast business with which he was connected
that he will be remembered. His many and unostenta-
tious charities are known only to the beneficiaries, but
the Yanderbilt University, the Egyptian Obelisk in the
Central Park, and the Medical College in New York will
remain among the endui-ing monuments of his public
spirit. AVhen he had gathered in his galleries the lar-
gest and best collection of modern art in the woi'ld it was
his greatest gratification to invite the public to enjo}',
in equal measure with himself, those priceless treasures.
252 THE VAISTDEEBILTS.
" To the employes of liis railroads lie was exacting
in discipline and the performance of duty. He was
merciless to negligence or bad habits in a vocation where
millions of lives were dependent upon alertness and fidel-
ity. But within these limits he was a just and gener-
ous employer and superior officer. He knew how to
reward faithfulness and remember good conduct, and
always held the respect and allegiance of the vast bodies
of men who called him chief. The successful adminis-
tration of the railways under his management and the
affairs of his life was largely due to his rare knowledge
of men and his ability to recognize the qualities needed
in the control of great trusts.
" With all the temptations which surronnd nnlimited
wealth, his home life was simple, and no happier domes-
tic circle could any where be found. The loved compan-
ion with whom he began his active life in the lirst dawn
of his manhood was his help, comfort, and happiness
through all his career, and his childi'en have one and all
honored their father and their mother and taken the
places which they worthily fill in their several spheres
of activity and nsefulness.
" In performing this last and saddest of duties, we
who were his associates, advisers, and friends remember
not the millionaire, but the man. His frankness, his
unaffected simplicity, his deference to the opinions of
others, his consideration for the feelings of all, his ten-
derness in suffering and affliction, and, his whole-hearted
manliness, were to us precious privileges in his life, and
are loving recollections in his death."
Arrangements had been made by lieavy holders of
stocks to buy freely if the market showed a decline on
A PLOT OF THE BEARS. 253
Wednesda}'. Early in the morning there was an excited
crowd in the vicinity of AVall and jS^ew Streets, and wlien
the corridoj's and galleries were opened at 9.30 there
was a wild scramble of those eager to obtain entrance.
The scene has not been paralleled since the panic of '73,
and in fifteen minntes every available foot of room was
occupied. In the melee hats were knocked off, clothing
torn, and a few persons slightly injured. On the floor
the throng was thickest about the Yanderbilt proper-
ties, and when the first roll of the gong was heard, an-
nouncing the liour for business, the Lake Shore corner
resembled a bear-pit, being filled with a jostling, yelling
crowd of frantic men. The first recorded quotation was
at 85, as against 88, the closing figure of Tuesday after-
noon, for stock sold half an hour after Mr. Yanderbilt was
dead ; but the collusion of the large operators was in-
stantly apparent, for purchases were rapid, and the stock
rallied and rose to 86, then to 87. The behavior of
JS^ew York Central and the other Yanderbilt stocks was
about the same. At first, for an hour, they went off, but
the strong hand of Gould, Sage, and Field was felt, and
they all rapidly recovered their ground. And when the
great gong rang again at 3 o'clock brokers looked at
eadi other with a sigh of relief, and said : " It wasn't
much of a shower after all."'
Jay Gould said, shortly before the close of business :
" This rapid recovery demonstrates to me very clearly
the wonderful growth of this country. Its richest man
is dead, but in spite of the calamity the stock market is
likely to close higher than j^esterday, when his death
was not anticipated. A few years ago the result might
have been very different."
254 THE VATSTDERBILTS.
Russell Sage, one of the shrewdest men in America,
and liimself the possessor of a fortune of not less than
$50,000,000, said: " Mr. Vanderbilt was a very remark-
able man, of far more original force and financial ability
than any one imagined when he succeeded to his father's
millions. I don't know that any one ever thought of
comparing him to the Commodore, whose genius in
finance was really beyond comparison. He was to
finance what Shakespeare was to poetry and Michael
Angelo to art. But William H. was certainl}^ an able
successor. He doubled the colossal fortune that was
left him, and that proves an executive skill that only
one man in a million possesses. 1 have had more or
less to do with him, and the three qualities I observed
as most striking in his character were his readiness, his
reliability, and his courage. That is to say, he always
met an emergency with a plan ; he always kept his
word to the very letter, and he possessed such a fund of
decision and persistence that, having undertaken to do
a thing, and having made np his mind how it was to be
done, he went right ahead and put it through on the
lines he had laid down. I think that his rare success in
manipulating his great fortune was due to these quali-
ties."
The relations of Matthew Riley, the broker, to the
dead millionaire throw some interesting side-lights upon
his character. Mr. Riley is a lover of horses, and he
and Mr. Vanderbilt were for years warm friends. In
1876 Mr. Riley went to Philadelphia and became man-
ager of the Exposition Hotel. Of this he says:
" I was quite successful with the house, and every-
thing going smoothly, when one day I got one of his
GENEROSITY. 255
regular monthly letters that always brought sunshine
and encoui'ageinent to nie. It stated that Dan Mace
had that day driven his team, Hutledge and Dickens, a
mile in 2.2U. I sat right down and wrote him, offei'ing
congratulations on the team, asking him if he was com-
ing to Philadelphia that summer, and ui'ging liim to be
my guest if he did come; also telling him of a fast horse
1 had seen that M'ould please him. The letter brought
this reply from Mr. Yanderbilt, written fi'om 452 Fifth
Aveime, the house the Commodore had given him. It
was not dated, but you will see from the contents that
it was the summer of '76."
The letter referred to was as follows :
M. ErLET.
Dear Sir : Your very kind note of yesterday i.s just re-
ceived, and I assure you I am veiy much pleased to hear that
you are so prosperous in yoiu- business. Let me give you a word
of good advice. These are hard times, and but very few are
prosperous. Don't let this opportunity slip. Give up your
horse and all other unnecessary expenses, and put away for a
rainy day every dollar that you can save from your business.
This summer is your harvest. You know what it is to struggle
against adversity. Now is the time to save something ahead.
Don't neglect it, and you will always thank me for pressing it
upon you. Your account of the horse — he must be a good one.
If he was here I would try him a week or two, and if he suited
me would buy him at a fair price. My team, Kutledge and
Dickens, are fine, but I want a third horse to come in with
them. Father's health is such that I can make no plans for this
summer. I am afraid he will not get out again, but we must
hope for the best. He is of so much vitality and game that he
may outlive the disease. I am really glad you are doing well.
Now, take my advice and lay up a good nest-egg. Do away
with luxuries that are really of no use until you get in position
where the enjoyment of them can be indulged in from your in-
256 THE VANDERBILTS.
terest money rather than from the principal. Don't laugh at
this. You know I would like to see vou do well and prosper.
Now while you are young and in health is the time to provide
for old age. Yours very truly, W. H. Vandeebilt.
A jDOstscript follows on the first page, showing how
sincerely the writer had his friend's interest at heart :
Don't think I have preached to you a sermon. I have said so
much because I want you to improve the present opportunity.
" Another tiling Mr. Vanderbilt did for nie," con-
tinned Mr. Riley, "that was almost as good as that.
One day about two years ago I was driving Kitty S. and
met Mr. Vanderbilt behind Little Fred. We had a
friendly brush down the road, and I beat him. About
ten days later we were jogging together after a spin.
I had heard that he was angry because I liad beaten
him that day, and told him so. Said he : ' My dear
Riley, if you pay attention to the words of every envi-
ous sucker you'll have a hard row to hoe in this world ! '
After a minute's silence he said : ' I don't know any
better way to kill off these bilious fellows than to make
you a present. What horse is there in my stable that
you want ? '
"I thought him joking, and said: 'Are you in ear-
nest ? '
" ' Yes,' he answered, ' I am.'
" I said : ' Leander is the best horse you own.'
" ' Well,' said he, ' Leander is your horse.'
" That was two years ago, and ever since I've used
Leander. Mr. Vanderbilt was very fond of him, and I
value the gift not so much for its worth as for the
giver."
HIS ENEMIES. 257,
Mr. Yanderbilt was the most thoroughly and cordially
abused man in this country — probably in any country.
His great wealth and the investments he made brought
him into contact with the public and subjected him to a
good deal of honest criticism. lie was also the object
of malicious denunciation by many wlio, only under-
standing that he was immensely rich, and unable to
"understand how his riches could possibly benefit any-
body but liimself, looked upon him as a buccaneer or
higliwa}' man, who had aggrandized himself at their ex-
pense. These men hated him because they were cov-
etous of his possessions. In every mail that came to his
desk were denunciations of his opulence. His daily mail
was a museum. He was promised fortunes by futui-e
millionaires on the condition that he would merely
help them to start. These were the commonplace let-
ters. Then came the grotesque ones. From the im-
pecunious person who claimed relationship. From the
ambitious dynamiter who was about to put in motion a
mysterious machine for the annihilation of the whole
Vanderbilt family. From the energetic Socialist who
demanded money and threatened assassination in case of
refusal to pay. Skulls and cross-bones, daggers and
black coffins, were common features of decoration, and
occasionally a suspicious-looking package was opened
with care and found to bo a badly-constructed " infer-
nal machine." On three occasions Mr. Vanderbilfs mail
assumed a really dangerous aspect.
In April, 1SS2, such a dastardly contrivance was sent
to him, but it was intercepted befoi'c it reached him,
through the premature explosion of a similar one ad-
dressed to another distinguished magnate, Cyrus W.
258 THE VANDEEBILTS.
Field. The niacliine was a clumsy device, and it was
contained in a box lined with a German Socialistic news-
paper.
Tims, Mr. Vanderbilt was made at times to feel that
the reputation of being the richest man on the globe
conld not be worn with impunity. But the menaces
did not much alarm or agitate him, and he never went
out of his M'ay on account of them. "What's the use
of dodging?" he would say to his secretary, laughing;
"I am a good-sized target, and if the ci-anks are l)ound
to kill me, they can do it. But they can't scai'C me to
death, anyhow." He believed that he would die when
liis time came and not before, and, beyond taking ordi-
nary care against ti-eachery, he did not bother himself
about those whom his prosperity made natural enemies.
Mr. Vanderbilt was a church-member, liaving con-
nected himself with the Episcopal Church, which for
many years he attended on Staten Island. But he was
Avarmly interested in secular enterprises of a public nat-
ure. If not an enthusiastic lover of classical music, he
enjoyed modern operas keenly, and felt all the responsi-
bilities of his position as a patron of the lyric drama.
He was always a liberal subscril)er, and on the occasion
of Henry E. Abbej^'s benefit, at the close of an opera
season that is unique in the musical history of the world,
he sent to that enterprising and spirited manager his
check for $5,000.
He was fond of the drama in general, and kept him-
self surprisingly M'ell posted on theatrical news, so that
in conversation with one of the profession he well knew
what he was talking al)out. Mr. Vanderbilt Avas the
first supporter that Mr. Dion Boucicault found for his
ESTIMATES OF IIIM. 259
tlieatrical insurance scheme that he so vigorously agi-
tated.
Mr. Jay Gould gave the following estimate of his
dead compeer : — " I have for many years considered Mr.
Vanderbilt as a man of unusual ability in the manage-
ment of large financial interests. AY hen his father died
and he came into possession of his lai-ge fortune, Mr.
Vanderbilt was not long in demonstrating his ability to
manage the property which had been intrusted to his
care. He made no move upon the checker-board of
finance until he felt satistied that the move was a safe
one to make. He would not run a great risk unless he
were absolutely compelled to by force of circumstances,
which I assure you was not veiy often. His judgment
upon values was always sound. Few men have made so
few mistakes in the handling of moneyed interests as
Mr. Vanderbilt. He was not a bold venturer or operator.
He seemed to be satisfied with a small, or, at least, a fair,
return from his investments, so long as they were sound."
Isaac P. Chambers, controller of the iS^ew York Cen-
tral Railroad, said : " I acted as the private secretary of
Mr. Vanderbilt in connection with the auditor's duties
from 1865 to 1883. During all those eighteen years I
was never further away than in the next room to his,
and I never saw a man of more amiable disposition.
He was not understood by tbe public. He thought of
their interest in every respect, and in considering any
new movement or change in policy, would say : ' AVe
must look out for the public first, for you know that we
are their servants.' He was a very generous man, and
was constantly overrun with applications for assistance,
and one would be surprised at the chai'acter of many of
260 THE VANDERBILTS.
tlie applicants. Doctors of divinity, lawj^ers, and even
judges who had become entangled in speculations would
ask him to help them out of their troubles. I remem-
ber one letter he wrote in reply to a request for advice
in December, 1878, in w^hich he stated substantially
this : That he never speculated in stocks and never rec-
ommended any one else to do so, for he had seen too
many people ruined by ventures of that kind ; that
stocks in Wall Street did not sell on the merits of the
properties, but were subject to the whims and caprices
of a few men ; that he wrote this much in the liope
of influencing one man to be satisfied with an honest
livelihood obtained in a legitimate business, for thou-
sands of people had lost the savings of a lifetime in
one day of speculation ; that the writer had asked for
his advice and there it was."
Mr. Depew said, alluding to his dead friend : " A
peculiarity of the man was his fearlessness. He was
constantly in receipt of letters informing him that at a
certain hour and place he was to be shot, stabbed, or
otherwise killed, and under what ciicumstances. It
would have been an easy matter to do this, for he
always drove over the same roads, went the same way to
the office, at the same hour, and back again at fixed hours
and over fixed routes. He used to hand me these lettei-s.
Many of them were from cranks, others from that class
of adventurers who make a living by preying on the
feai's of their fellow-men ; some of them contained
threats, others appai'ent disclosui'es. Some I thought
were real : but he would never allow me to investigate
them further. On the conti-ary, when infoi-med that he
would meet death at a particular hour and place, he
AMONG THE STUDENTS. 261
never failed to i^o tliere on time. lie said that lie
wanted to enjoy life, and that if he were to be wateheil
and protected it would become a burden to him. If
death had to come, it would come Avliatever he
might do, and he would ao riirht alono-. He was in
this a philosopher, and so when he was abased in public
or in the press. lie held this idea: that in consequence
of his wealth and the character of his investments, that
gave him constant public prominence, he was necessarily
subjected to constant criticism that to a certain degree
was justified. He got used to abuse, and while he was
not much affected by it, I know that he was mightily
pleased when the newspapers said anything complimen-
tary of him."
Mr. Yanderbilt spent some months of the summer of
1883 driving with his family among the White Moun-
tains. At the Glen House students from Bates and
Bowdoin Colleges were employed as waiters, and he at
once began to inquire of them about their college life
and experiences. He ascertained that the students were
in most instances the sons of parents who were not
burdened with an abundance of wealth, and were there-
fore depending in a large measure upon their own efforts
in securing money with which to meet the expenses of
their college course, and some helped to support their
parents besides. Mr. Yanderbilt thought this very
plucky and creditable, and on going away he left
$3,000 with Charles Milliken, the landlord, for the
promisiug and ambitious young students in black jack-
ets and white aprons. Each of them returned to school
$100 richer through his thoughtful generosity. This is
only one instance of scores of similar ones.
262 THE VANDERBILTS.
Only a week before he died, when he visited the farm
for tlie last time, to inform the resident farmer of the
change in ownership, he said, sitting in liis carriage :
" Well, I am no longer master here. I have given it ail
to George. He will look after the place hereafter. I
cannot be bothered with it any more. After all, I have
enjoyed more peace of mind and quietness liere than I
ever have in the big city yonder." And then he rode
back to Kew Dorp, and entered the old Moravian
Cemetery, and drove through it, and up the hill, to the
magnificent family mausoleum in course of construe--
tion. He was anxious to know if the workmen would
be able to get it enclosed before M'inter came with its
frosts and snows.
And thence he drove down to the ferry, where he met
and saluted his old neighbor, Tyson Butler, who had
"given him a lift" a quarter of a century before. In
that early time before the war, when Yanderbilt was a
farmer at Kew Dorp, he sent his crops to the city mar-
ket on schooners, and brought back manure, which was
hauled up the sandy beach by oxen.
Once Yanderbilt's cart got stuck in the sand and his
oxen could not di-aw it out. His farming neighbor,
Tyson Butler, going by with a yoke of oxen, sung out :
" Vanderbilt, your oxen are no good. 1^11 bet you a half-
gallon of applejack that mine can haul that load up the
beach."
" Agreed ; I'll take that bet," was the reply.
The oxen were hitched on, and they hauled the load
out without great difficulty.
" The applejack is yours ! " said Vanderbilt. But he
forgot to deliver it.
FORGOT TO DELIVER. SC!?
So on this pleasant day in December, 1SS5, returning
from tlie cemetery, this same Mr. Yanderbilt, become
the richest man in the world, stood on the ferry-dock at
Clifton chatting right and left with all he knew — and
he seemed to know everybody. Mr. Butler drove his
oxen by, hauling the great blocks of Quincy granite for
the Yanderbilt mausoleum at New Dorp, and seeing his
former neighbor, he shouted : " I haven't got that apple-
jack yet, Yanderbilt; I'm getting thirsty."
" And you've remembered it twenty-five years ! " ex-
claimed Mr. Yanderbilt. "Well, Butler, you shall have
it."
The next week the rich man was dead and laid to
temporary rest in the cemetery vault, and the old team-
ster went on hauling stones for his monument.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE SONS AND THEIR HERITAGE.
The New Residences — Cornelius and William K. Vanderbilt — Their
Public Trusts and Private Character — A Notable Present — Law-
abiding and Self-restraining — Comparison of the Central with
other Roads — Reduction of Passenger and Freight Charges,
After the death of tlie Coniinoclore, William II. Yan-
clerbilt and his two eldest sons planned and bnilt three
mansions on Fifth Avenue north of tlie siinmiit of
Murray Hill. The first has been sufficiently described.
The two others, rivaling it in elegance and luxurious-
ness, were located, one at the corner of Fifty-second
Street and the other at the corner of Fifty-seventh
Street. The pictures of these houses given elsewhere
in this volume convey some idea of their spaciousness
and sumptuousness.
Cornelius Yanderbilt went into the Treasui-er's office
when he was twentj^-one years of age, and had been there
thirteen years when his grandfather died and liis func-
tions were enlarged. lie was one of the most method-
ical and industrious of men — the first to get to his desk
and the last to leave it. He had a res-ular and thorough
office training, and knew how to work to advantage.
William Kissam Avas more like his grandfather, find-
ing routine labor irksome, quick and dashing in action,
readj^ to take risks. He was irascible, like the Commo-
dore, too, and intolerant of opposition or correction. But
he made himself master, of the whole transportation de-
w. K. vanderbii^t's residence.
THE BUSY BROTHERS. 265
partnient ; was quick at calculations ; was familiar with
freight rates and agreements and the margin of pi'ofit,
and possessed good judgment on railroad combinations.
When the father retired from the presidency the two
sons were made alternately chairmen of the Boards of
Directors of the different roads : Cornelius held that
position in the Hudson Kiver and Xew York Central
and Michigan Central, and William K. was chairman
in the Lake Shore and President of the Xickel Plate.
AVith the next son, Frederick W., his father adopted
a different course, lie took naturally to study, and grad-
uated at the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale, and
thence was received into the office, doing general railroad
work under his father's direction, lie was first assigned
to one department and then to another till he became
somewhat acquainted with the whole complicated ma-
chine, lie is a director in the different lines.
Besides being chairman of the Boards of Control of
the Xew York Central and Michigan Central, and hold-
ing important positions in several other roads, Corne-
lius Vanderbilt has different trusts to distract his atten-
tion, lie is an officer in the Young Men's Christian
Association, a trustee in the Episcopal Seminary, an
active member of St. Bartholomew's Church, the treas-
urer of the Episcopal Board of Foreign Missions, a
trustee of St. Luke's Hospital, and a ti'ustee of St. John's
Guild, besides being intimately associated with numer-
ous charitable institutions.
In the spring of 1881 Mr. Yanderbilt gave to the
Metropolitan Museum six hundred and thirty-three
drawings, where they are arranged, as far as possible, by
schools, in chronological order. These are pen-and-
13
266 THE VANDERBILTS.
ink, sepia, and red-clialk drawings, illustrating the spirit
and subject of bygone ages foreign to our own. To the
uneducated in art, thej are little more than curiosities.
Among these are works by Raphael, Del Sarto, Cellini,
Rossetti, Baroccios, Salvator Rosa, Tintoretto, Rubens,
and many othei's. Less than a liundred years ago this
collection was begun by Count Maggiori, of Eologna,
and it has since received many additions from other
famous collections, includni'g that of James Jackson
Jarvis, our Consul at Florence, from whom Mr. Yander-
bilt purchased it in 1880. The schools represented are
the Roman, Florentine, Sienese, Parma, Man tuan, Peru-
gian, Bolognese, ISTeapolitan, Venetian, Dutch, and Flem-
ish, including drawings by Albrecht Durer, and by
Murillo and Yelasquez of the Spanish school. These are
of great value to American art students.
The Yanderbilts have not abused their trust. They
have been obedient to law, and have acquiesced in the
conventionalities adopted and observed by their neigh-
bors. They have been friends of social order, and they
have never yielded to the temptation which enormous
wealth confers to make war upon the institutions about
them ; to indulge in those coarse vices which are too
often assumed to be the privilege of the rich and pow-
erful. They have not preyed upon the poor, for they
were all nurtured in the school of self-restraint.
At the celebration by the Commodore of his golden
wedding a hundred and forty of his descendants and
near relatives assembled at the house, and .on that sig-
nificant and joyful occasion he presented to his wife a
beautiful little golden steamboat, with musical works
instead of an engine — emblematic at once of his busi-
THE NEW YORK CENTRAL. 2G7
ness career and the liarmoiiy of his home. If he ever
boasted of anything that was his, in the presence of
strangers, it was of liis mother, his wife, or liis long la-
mented soldier-son. AVillianill. Yanderbilt was equally
fond of the home life, and his sons are more domestic
than most of their neighbors.
The opulence they possess is not the result of the
manipulation of stock. It was not acquired by I'obbing
the frugal and industrious. It was earned by building-
roads where they were needed and as they were needed ;
by rolling twenty-six fragmentary lines into one and
giving them a single competent and respectable head.
For taxes these roads pay 8151 an hour the year round,
aorerreofating' about three times wdiat it costs to maintain
the canal as a free competitor. The company pays $1
to the State to every $2.70 paid to stockholders.
This system of roads within New York State supports
200,000 people directly and indirectly from the wages
paid for service. At the same time it responds to the
public need for transit and traffic at a cost less than any
other railroad in the world. This is illustrated by the
statement which follows :
Passengek Bates.
Cents I Cents
per mile. per mile.
NewYork Central Railroad. 2 | Illinois railroads 4
Connecticut railroads 4^ j Minnesota " 5
Colorado " 10
Maine
((
... 5
Pennsylvania
<f
.... 3^
Michigan
(t
.... 3h
English " 4^
Other European railroads 5|
Freight Rates.
Cents per ton i Cunts per ton
each mile. \ each mile.
Connecticut railroads .... 6^ ; Pennsylvania raih-oads. ... 5
Maine " 4^ ; Ohio ' " Gf
Massachusetts " 5 j New York Central Rail-
' road i^u" of one cent
268 THE VANDEKBILTS.
The following table shows the increase of tonnage and
the reduction of freight charges during thirteen years :
Y Number of Cents per ton
tons moved. per mile.
1869 3,190,840 2j
1870 4,122,000 2
1871 4,532,056 2|
1872 4,393,905 2
1873 5,522,524 If
1874 6,114,678 1^
1875 6,001,984 li
1876 0,803,680 1
1877 6,357,356 1
1878 8,175,535 1
1879 , 9,441,213 Of
1880 10,533,038 Of
1881 11,591,376 Of
1882 11,330,392 Of
1883 10,892,440 Of
1884 10,212,418 Of
1885..... 10,802,957 Of
In 1869 the cost of carrying freight was more than
two hundred per cent, greater than it now is. "When
the Erie Canal was the sole dependence for the trans-
poi'tation of gi-ain the cost of carrying wheat from Buf-
falo to New York City Avas thirty cents a bushel : now
it is two and a half cents a bushel !
Freight can now be brought from Buffalo cheaper
than it cost to bring it from Poughkeepsie w4ien Com-
modore Yanderbilt laid his hand on the track along the
Hudson ; a bushel of wheat can now be moved from tlie
fields of far Dakota to the poor consumer on the sea-
board for less than it cost to bring it from the Genesee
Yalley when AVilliam H. Yanderbilt came from his
Staten Island farm and began to study the problem of
transportation.
CHAPTER XXX.
SOaiE REFLECTIONS ABOUT IT.
Commercial Philanthropy — Promiscuous Charity — Do the Vander-
bilts Possess their Monej' V— Tlie Envious and Malevolent — Can
a Man "Earn a Million Dollars?" — Brain and Brawn — The
Genealogy of Civilization — Reproductive Wealth.
^3oME of the thinkers, or, at any rate, the talkers, of
these days, assume in their discussion of economics that
such men as the A^anderbilts are to be ranked with the
despoilers instead of the benefactors of the race. The
number of such is few, but tlieir opinions may be con-
sidered.
AVilliam II. Yanderbilt was not a professional philan-
thropist. Though a man of kindly feelings and benev-
olent practices, he was a rigid utilitarian, and, like his
father, served others mainly through what seemed mere
service of himself. Avarice moved him, but the net re-
sult was the general good. He Avas probably the best
example that this centurj' has afforded of the great ben-
efits which conspicuous capitalists always confer upon
the community in the studied acquisition and the half-
involuntary distribution of their wealth.
It was once thought that a man's personal virtues
were to be gauged by the amount of his promiscuous
charities, and that it was clearly the duty of every man
who was i"ich to give to every man who was penniless ;
but we have learned in recent days that charity can
270 THE VANDERBILTS.
wisely be dispensed only tlirongh intelligent organiza-
tion, and that street alms-giving is a mischievous evil,
multiplying supplicants instead of diminishing their
number. Even organic charity is merely a negative
good, stirring the sympathetic impulses of the race to
support those who through profligacy or misfortune con-
tinue to impoverish the world. He who builds a factory
confers ten times more good than he who builds an
almshouse ; and he who launches a steamship or equips
a railroad does far more for the comfort and happiness
of mankind than he who endows an asylum. The
dominant benefactors of the world are those unerring
pilots of finance — those untitled princes of industry —
who ceaselessly strive to aggrandize themselves and so
most richly benefit others ; who renew with vitality the
commercial arteries of the world's life, and who hoard
up great aggregations of capital and keep it busy in the
em^jloyment of multitudes of workers. These consider-
ations are to be taken heed of when men are being classi-
fied in the bi'oad valhalla of the dead.
Moreover, it is a serious mistake to suppose that a
man as rich as the Yanderbilts can ever get what is
called "the worth of his money." Mr. William II.
Yanderbilt was of an equable and buoyant temper, but
he sometimes spoke bitterly of this limitation. Tiefer-
ring to a neighbor, he M'ould say: "He isn't worth a
hundredth part as much as I am, but he has more of the
real pleasures of life than I have. His house is as com-
fortable as mine, even if it didn't cost so much ; his
team is about as good as mine ; his opera-box is next to
mine ; his health is better than mine, and he will prob-
ably outlive me. And he can trust his friends."
FIVE HUNDRED TONS. 271
It is one of the curious compensations of nature that a
man cannot employ for his own comfort and benefit
more than a small snm of money, and that all that he
acquires and invests above that sum nnist go to the
benefit and comfort of others. Mr. YandeVbilt was
pi-obabl}' worth five hundred tons of solid gold when he
died — more than would have accumulated if his male
ancestors in a direct line had had salaries of ^30,000 a
year since the coming of Adam and had saved it all — so
much money that he could not have counted it in ten
years at the rate of a dollar a second if he had counted
night and day, Sundays and all. He never handled his
money. Tie never saw it. He was never in its ])i'es-
ence. In fact, he never had it. It was in the hands of
strangers, and was nsed by them for their own benefit,
they paying him five or six million dollars a year for
the privilege. But even of this five or six millions he
never saw a tithe. Kinety -nine cents out of every dollar
lie " owned " wei-e in the hands and coffers of others,
employed mainly for their exclusive advantage.
In ministering to his own real and imaginary wants,
he could not use moi"e than a small fraction of his in-
come. He constantly overworked, and violated many of
the laws of health, in order to get and keep his fortune ;
and for wages, he received, as Stephen Girard grimly put
it, only his " board and clothes," unless we count among
liis imponderable assets the reputation of being an ava-
ricious and dangerous man. The laborer who wheels
gravel on a railroad and who can eat three solid meals
every day and sleep soundly every night gets higher
wages than a dyspeptic king.
To enjoy his wealth relatively, Mr. Vanderbilt ought
272 THE VANDERBILTS.
to have been able to eat and drink a thonsand times as
effectively, and sleep a thousand times as refreshingly,
and appreciate the beauties of nature and the marvels
of art a thousand times as innch as a poor man.
But, as a matter of fact, this " magnate " dressed no
better than his clerk, and ate less than his coachman.
lie drank chiefly milk. He could sleep in only one
room, like others. He had little taste for books, and
not time enough to read the newspapers. Envy and
ignorance had raised np an army of enemies about him.
The public press stormed at him like a harridan and
covered the dead walls with infamous caricatures, rep-
resenting him as a vampire, a dragon, a Gorgon, a
Silenns, a Moloch, a malevolent llurlothrnmbo. He
was a victim of insomnia and indigestion. The jockey,
Anxiety, rode him with whip and spur. He was in con-
stant peril of apoplexy. He could not take needful ex-
ercise by walking in the Park for fear of being accosted
by tramps or insulted by socialistic philosophers. Every
week his life was threatened by anonymous letters. He
kept a magnificent servants' boarding-house on Fifth
Avenue, where he made his home, and superbly equipped
a stable, whose advantages inured chiefly to the bene-
fit of his employes. He organized the finest picture-
gallery in America for the enjoyment of lovers of art,
but was compelled to limit his hospitality by the fact
that some of the guests rifled the conservatory of its
choicest flowers, scratched the Meissoniers with the ends
of their parasols, invaded the private apartments of the
mansion, and carried away poitable things as souvenii'S
of the visit. An enormons fortune is a heavy burden to
bear. To be very rich invites attacks, cares, responsibil-
CREATING PROPERTY. 278
ities, intrusions and annoyances for wliicli tlicro is no
adequate oflFset.
A man like Connnodore Yanderbiit, indeed, lias the
large satisfaction of feeling that lie has given the human
race a magnificent endowment in adding to the wealth
of the world. He was not a juggler, who managed by
a cunning trick to transfer to himself the wealth of
others ; he created property that did not before have an
existence. When he stepped from the deck upon land,
the best railroads in the United States had been para-
lyzed and driven to bankruptcy by bhmderei-s and plun-
derers. They w^ere largely in the hands of men who
cared nothing for them except as they could be made
serviceable in the reckless games of Wall Street.
"Whether they could meet the demands of traffic was
regarded by these desperate gamblers as of no conse-
quence. Thieves had pillaged the Erie road till its stock
was sold for three cents on a dollar. Michigan Southern
was at 5, and Erie at 6.
The Commodore introduced a new policy. Instead of
taking money out of the roads, he pnt millions into them.
Instead of breaking them down he built them up. In-
stead of robbing them, he renovated them and raised
them from the grave. lie equipped them anew, trust-
ing that the public Avould respond and give him his
money back. He dragged together worthless fragments
and made them one ; he consolidated parallel roads that
were apart and belonged together ; he cut down every
possible expense, and subjected them to the economic
supervision of one despotic will. lie fearlessly staked
all upon the venture, and npon the belief that the war
for the Union would end in the defeat of Secession.
13*
274 THE YANDEEBILTS.
In both he was right. The South was beaten. The
public I'esponded. The stock mounted to par and be-
yond. His roads had all tliey could do, and he made
millions a year from the investment of liis marvelous
brain. And he made these millions as legitimateh- as
an artisan fashions a liat from m'ooI, or a chair from
wood. He received better pay than the artisan, not
only because he risked his money where the mechanic
risks nothing, but because he invested his consummate
brain.
One of the commonest and most pernicious errors is
the assumption that the liuman hand is the chief factor
in the creation of wealth, and from this error spiings
nnich of the noisy remonstrance of our time. It is not
the hand, but the brain, that is the real creator. It was
Michael Angelo that built St. Peter's, not the forgotten
workmen who, executing the will of the great master,
borne to them through a dozen skilled architects and
master- artisans, hewed the stone to lines that had been
accurately drawn for them. The unit of service under-
lying all is the faithful workman ; but a brigade of work-
men cannot do as nmch effective good as is done by one
strong and intelligent capitalist, whose money employs
and whose sagacity directs and I'enders fruitful the sterile
hand. The chief productiveness of the world is due
mainlj' to the skill that plans, the audacity that risks,
and the prescience that sees through the heart of the
future. So to those captains of industry who succeed in
their financial ventures should go that premium called
profit which society offers to superior foresight.
It used to be thought by all that as Avealth accumulated
men decayed ; that the love of money was the root of all
SOME ERROES CORRECTED. 275
evil ; that avarice M'as a vice ; that the M-orld M'onld
be better off if the division of property could bo more
nearly equal ; that great I'iches were a curse to society ;
that the millionaire capitalist was a sort of bandit-king
who plundered the people by methods which were some-
times legal but always highly immoral, and under whose
tyrannical exactions industry was paralyzed and laboring
men were impoverished.
But it is now known that the desire to own property
is the chief difference between the savage and the en-
lightened man ; that aggregations of money in the
hands of individuals are an inestimable blessing to So-
ciety, for without them there could be no public improve-
ments or private enterprises, no railroads or steamships,
or telegraphs ; no cities, no leisure class, no schools, col-
leges, literature, art — in short, no civilization. The one
man to whom the connnunity owes most is the capita-
list, not the man who gives, but the man Mdio saves and
invests, so that his property reproduces and multiplies
itself instead of being consumed.
It is now known that civilization is the result of labor
put in motion by wealth ; that wealth springs from self-
denial ; that self-denial springs from avarice ; and that
avarice is the child of an aspiring discontent.
It used to be thought that consolidation was a menace
to the people, and that great " Monopolies," as they
were called, ought to be forbidden by law. It is now
known that such consolidation is a public benefit ; that
the man who owns a thousand houses rents them
cheaper than he who owns but one or two ; that the
greatest oil company in the world furnishes oil cheaper
than it was ever furnished before, or could be by any
276 THE VANDERBILTS.
other means of distribution ; that the Western Union
Telegraph Company sends dispatches far cheaper than
they were sent by any of the score of companies from
which it sprung, and cheaper than they are sent by any of
the telegraphs in the w^orld which are owned and operated
by governments ; that A. T. Stewart greatly reduced the
proHts and losses of merchandising and the cost of goods
to the consumer, and that, therefore, while he crushed
out small dealers, his career was a tremendous public
benefit ; that the Kew York Central Hailroad, the net
result of the combination of many roads, carries pas-
sengers at lower fares than any other road in the world
— lower even thau is required by law — and transports
freight so cheaply that it has driven fi'om successful
competition a canal that was built by the State and is
free to all ! The government has reduced the price of
postage only oue-half iu a quarter of a century, and de-
livers letters at a loss of millions of dollars a year ; but
frieght from Chicago to Kew York costs less than a
quarter what it did then, and desperate competition
keeps the rate at the lowest possible point.
It is to the obvious advantage of society that repro-
ductive wealth shall be concentrated in few liands ; for
the larger its aggregations the smaller the toll which it
will exact from society for the privilege of its use. And
before Socialists can rationally demand an abolition of
the competitive system and a reconstruction of the in-
dustrial methods of society, they must exhibit one rail-
road somewhere in the world which is owned by a state
and managed as Masely and thriftily as ai'e the roads
which are allied to the name of Yauderbilt.
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.
The little, snug, and quaint Vanderbilt homestead, where
the father and mother of " Commodore " Vanderbilt raised
their family and spent the greater portion of their lives, and
whence they were finally buried, still stands in the village
of Edgewatei', a half mile or so from the village which
has been known, during the past quarter of a century,
as "Xompkinsville," " Vanderbilt's Landing," and "Quar-
antine." At the present time the whole shore of Staten
Island, from New Brighton to Clifton, is one continuous
street, well-built up, with only here and there a landmark,
or old building, to remind one of the days long since gone
by. The Vanderbilt cottage stands on the old "Shore
Road," which once ran close to the water's edge, at the
corner of Beach Street. There is now a considerable ex-
tent of made land between the shore road and the water,
Avhich puts the old homestead further inland. But the
view of New York Bay, and the highlands of Long Island
in the northeast, is still unobstructed. Originally the
building was very small, one story high, with a peaked
roof, the front part of which projects from the house far
enough to form a roof for the piazza. Of the massive
chimney at one end, the lower portion still forms a part of
the end wall of the house. There was one room at the
rear. The windows are high, with small panes of glass. In
later years the house has been enlarged, abovit one-half, by
the addition of a parlor and sleeping-rooms on the western
end, so that now it is a double cottage, containing nine or
278 APPENDIX A.
ten rooms, with a chimney at each end, and a front door in
the middle, with two front windows on either side of it.
The house stands back some ten or fifteen rods from the
street, on a gentle elevation, in the midst of a good sized
plot of ground, inclosed with a rough picket fence. There
is a well in the garden in front of the laouse, which, doubt-
less, in olden times, possessed a well-sweep. Around it are
old cherry-trees, pear-trees, and a cluster of Normandy
poplars. The cottage is now painted white, with gxeen
outside blinds. Entering, we find the rooms low between
joints, but very comfortable and cosey in appearance. It is
over a hundred years old, yet the mud ceiling of the sitting-
room at the left of the hall, is without a crack, and in as
perfect a condition to-day, as when it was put on. This
room contains a large open fireplace, with a mantel-piece
in the Colonial, or George Washington style. Beyond the
sitting-room there is a smaller apartment, now used as a
dining-room, with a fii-ejjlace in one corner, a snug ar-
rangement, suggestive of many a comfortable after-dinner
chat. In the rear of this room is the little addition, or
kitchen. In the front hall hangs a quaint lithograph, made
in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1838, of one of the Commodore's
steamboats, the Augusta, a long, narrow, side-wheel craft,
with men in rows, stove-pipe hats, and " Newmarket" coats,
standing on the uniu closed upper deck. A huge smoke-
stack rises from the forward pai't of the boat, which, judg-
ing from its appearance, lacked all the comforts of modern
steam vessels.
APPENDIX B.
The name of Coraeliiis Yanderbilt first appears in the
New York dh*ectory for 1815-lG, as follows : " Cornelius
Vauderbilt, mariner, 93 Broad St."
In 1816, he Uved at 13 Stone Street ; in 1817, he did
business at 17 Stone Street ; in 1818, at 5G Boaver Street ;
in 1819, at 18 Stone Sti-eet, and all this time he is rated a
"mariner." In 1820 he is called a " steamboat master,"
and seems to have headquarters of some sort at 58 Stone
Street, In 1822, his name disappears from the Directory
during several years of his New Brunswick residence ; it re-
appears in 1827, when he is again classified as a " marinei*,"
and has an office at 457 Washington Street.
In 1833-31-35, the directory describes Cornelius Vander-
bilt as a " mariner," living at 131 Madison Street. The
next year he moved to 173 East Broadway.
This was a little over half a century ago. The post-of-
fice was then in the basement of the Exchange, fronting on
Exchange Place and Hanover Street. There were two
mails a day to Brooklyn, and mails were made up for as fai'
west as the "frontier counties of Ohio," and the "Terri-
tory of Michigan." About one dozen letter-carriers were
employed by the post-office. William H. Aspinwall then
lived at 3 College Place, opposite Cit}- Hall Park ; John
Jacob Astor did business at 8 Yesey Street, and lived in
Hoboken ; William B. Astor lived at 376 Broadway ; Jacob
Lorillard lived at 144 Hudson Street, and Peter Lorillard
Jr., at 521 Broadway. Peter Cooper had a glue factory out
in the country at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Twent}'-
eighth Street. Alexander T. Stewart kept a dry-goods store
at 257 Broadway, and lived at 5 Warren Street. Prosper
M. Wetmore lived at 79 Franklin Street. William E.
Dodge lived on Fifth Street, near Second Avenue, and
" Delmouico & Brother " were known as confectioners, and
kept a " Restaurant Fran9ais"at 23 and 25 William Street.
Fifth Avenue then extended as far north as Eighth Street,
and cross streets, as high as Twenty-eighth Street, had been
graded on the eastern side of the city.
APPENDIX C.
On May 20, 1853, Commodore Vanderbilt, with his
his family, started for a tour of the coast of Europe in the
steam-yacht North Star. The sole object of the excursion
was to gratify his family, and take a complete holiday for
himself, he having known no rest from labor during more
than forty years. Captain Asa Eldridge, who had been
engaged in the India, Liverpool, and CaHfornia trade, was
made sailing-master. Mr. John Keefe, a well-known caterer
in New York, was the purser. Several of the hands who
shipped for the cruise were young men of the best families
in the country. The party on board consisted of IVIr. and
Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mrs. James Cross, Miss Kate
Vanderbilt, Master George W. Vanderbilt, Mr. and Mrs.
W. H. Vanderbilt, Mr. and Mrs. D. B. Ahen, IVIi-. and Mrs.
George Osgood, Mr. and Mrs. W. K. Thorn, Miss Louisa
Thorn, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Torrance, Mr. and Mrs. H. F.
Clark, Mr. and Mrs. N. B. La Bau, Dr. and Mrs. Jared
Linsly, Eev. Dr. and Mrs. J. O. Choules, of Newport, K. I.,
and Mrs. Asa Eldridge. As the North Star passed by
Staten Island, opposite to the residence of Commodore Van-
derbilt's mother, rockets were let off and complimentary
guns fired. The night was a beautiful one, with the moon
shining in a cloudless sky.
Soon after leaving Sandy Hook, Commodore Vanderbilt
requested the clergyman on board to conduct family worship
throughout the voyage. It was arranged that prayers should
be attended every evening at nine o'clock, and that grace
should be said at all meals on board ship. On Sundays a
sermon was preached at eleven o'clock.
A little incident occurred, just before the ship left New
York, which is worth noting. An hour before the time for
sailing the firemen struck for higher wages. Mr. Vander-
APPENDIX C. 281
bilt refused to be coerced by tlie seeminpf necessity of the
case : he would not hsten for a moment to demands so
urged, and in one hour selected such firemen as could be
collected, and started ! The ship ran as high as three
hundretl and thirty-seven miles in one day, and the trip
across was made in a little over ten days.
The first port made was Southampton, and after a look
at Winchester and its cathedral, the party went to London.
The first place visited was the Thames Tunnel. After that
the sights of the town were seen, with excursions to Wind-
sor Castle, Bristol, Clifton, Bath and other places. One of
the first i:)ersons to call on Mr. Yanderbilt, in. London, was
George Peabody. He otiered the nse of his boxes that
evening for the opera at Covent Garden, and the jDarty
went. The Queen and Prince Albert were also present,
and "Les Hnguenots " was sung by Grisi, Mario, Castel-
lan, Formes and Belletti. Among the entertainments at-
tended by the Vanderbilts was a dinner given by Mr. Pea-
body at Richmond, to meet Senator Douglas ; a levee by the
American Minister, ]\Ir. Ingersoll ; a soiree at the Mansion
House, by the Lord Mayor, Mr. Carlyle being of the party.
While in London a deputation from Southampton waited
on Mr. Vanderbilt, proffering a public entertainment. The
invitation was accepted. Meanwhile Mr. Vanderbilt and
the gentlemen of the party went to Ascot to attend the
races. AVhile in London Mr. D. B. Allen made a hasty run
to Leipsic, where his sou, Mr. William V. Allen, was being
educated. The two joined the party.
On June 13tli a public banquet was given to Mr.
Vanderbilt and his party by the Mayor and merchants of
Southampton. Dinner was served at 3 p.m. in the Royal
Victoria Assembly Rooms. The Mayor led Mrs. Vanderbilt
to the dining-room, while the Commodore took out the
Lady Mayoress. Two hundred people sat down to dinner,
surrounded by music, flowers, flags, and much j)opular
enthusiasm. Many sj^eeches were made, and the Mayor, in
jDroposing the toast to Mr. Vanderbilt said, among other
things, that "he owed his position entirely to his own in-
dustry, perseverance, and extensive knowledge of mankind.
He had ever been an enemy to all monopoly, and that was
the foundation of his gz-eat success. And then, look at his
282 APPENDIX C.
famil}' ! He was not like many of our anchorites, con-
tented with amassing a large sum of money, but he had
brought up a large and interesting family." Commodore
Vanderbilt, in replying said :
" Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad to see you. It af-
fords me sincere pleasure to make your acquaintance. It
shows that we are all one people, and I liojDe that, b}' the
power of steam, our common countries will be so bound to-
gether that no earthly power can separate us. Since we
landed in your beautiful town, we have made a hasty race
over part of her Majesty's dominions ; and, were I able to
express the gratification we have experienced in passing
through the country and j'our town, and the interest we
feel in all your citizens that we have had the happiness to
meet, I am fearful you would construe it into an attempt
to make a speech. But I must refer that task to my friend
Mr. Clark, who will address you much better than I can
possibly do."
]Mi-. Clark and Mr. La Bau made speeches, and Mr. Wil-
liam H. Vanderbilt offered his thanks for the reception
they had given to the toast, and kej^t the room in good
humor b}^ expressing a hope that, as the bump of cautious-
ness had always distinguished his father, they would allow
the son to exhibit it also, by saying nothing more, especi-
ally as this was his maiden speech. He proposed the health
of " The Ladies of England."
The next day after the banquet. Commodore Vanderbilt
entertained some five hundred of the people of Southamp-
ton on his yacht, and gave them an excursion around the
Isle of Wight. Refreshments were furnished to the whole
party, and there was music and dancing on deck.
After leaving Southampton the Vanderbilt party visited
Copenhagen and Peterhoff'. At the later place the Grand
Duke Constantine, second son of the Emperor, and High
Admiral of the Russian navy, visited Mr, Vanderbilt in
the royal yacht, and sent round one of the Emperor's car-
riages, with the royal livery, to take him and Mrs. Vander-
bilt round the place. The city of St. Petersburg was
visited, and the party received much attention.
After revisiting Copenhagen, a stay of nineteen days was
made in Paris. While there several gentlemen and noble-
APPENDIX C. 283
men called on IVIr. Vanderbilt, urging him to identif}^ him-
self with a new steamship line which the Government jn'O-
posed to open with North, South, and Central America.
Mr. Vanderbilt gave no encouragement to these overtures.
His aims and objects were strictly private, and personal
enjoyment and the happiness of his circle was all he at-
tempted.
While the North Star was at Ha^Te she was visited by
thousands of persons, the Muaister of "War among others.
The only accident which occurred during the trij^ was the
loss of a young man in the Bay of Biscay, Robert Ogden
Flint, one of the crew, who got knocked overboard by the
mainsheet, as he stood at the extreme edge of the stern.
He was unable to swim and went down at once. Other
places visited by the Vanderbilt party were Gibraltar,
Malaga, Leghorn, and Florence. At the latter city 'Mr.
Vanderbilt sat to Mr. Powers for his bust, and, at the re-
quest of her sons-in-law, ]Mi-s. Vanderbilt had her portrait
painted by Mr. Hart. The journey was continued, inclu-
ding Pisa, Ischia, Naples, Malta, Pera, Constantinople, Tan-
giers, Madeira, and then home, the number of miles ac-
complished being 15,024. Fiftj'-eight days were occupied
in sailing, and the coal consumed amounted to 2,200 tons.
The party reached home on Sei^tember 2;), 1853.
The London Daily Keics, for June 4, 1853, had "A Word
about Mr. Vanderbilt's Yacht," saying, among other things :
" An American merchant has just arrived in London on a
pleasure trip. He has come by train from Southampton,
and left his private j'acht behind him in dock at that port.
This yacht is a monster steamer. Her saloon is described
as larger and more magnificent than that of any ocean
steamer afloat, aud is said to surpass in splendor the
Queen's yacht. Listening to the details of the grandeur
of this new floating palace, it seems natural to think upon
the riches of her owner, and to associate him with the Cosmo
de Medicis, the Andrea Fuggers, Jaques Coeurs, the Kich-
ard Whittingtons, of the past, but this is wrong. Mr. Van-
derbilt is a sign of the times. The mediaeval mei'chaiits
just named stood out in bold relief from the great society
of their day. Mr. Vanderbilt is a legitimate product of his
country — the Medicis, Fuggers, aud others were excep-
284 APPEISTDIX C.
tional cases in theirs. The}^ were fortunate monopolists
who, by means of capital and crushing privileges, sucked
up the wealth of the community. They were not a healthy
growth, but a kind of enormous wen on the body-politic.
It took Florence nearly fifteen centuries to produce one
Cosmo, and she never brought forth another. America
was not known four centuries ago, yet she turns out her
Vanderbilts, small and large, every year. America, which
Avas only discovered by a countryman of Cosmo running
against it by mistake on his way to the Indies, is the great
arena in which the individual energies of man, rmcramped
by oppressive social iustitutions or absurd social traditions,
have full play, and arrive at gigantic development. It is
the tendenc}' of American institutions to foster the general
welfare, and to j^ermit the unchecked powers of the highl}'-
gifted to occupy a place in the general frame-work of so-
ciety which they can obtain nowhere else.
" The great feature to be noticed in America is that all its
citizens have full permission to run the race in Avhich Mr.
Vanderbilt has gained such immense prizes. In other coun-
tries, on the contrary, they are trammeled by a thousand
restrictions. Look at Liverpool. Look at Manchester.
Are not men of colossal fortunes to be found there ? Is
there anj'thing in the air or the institutions of these towns
to prevent men becoming possessors of incomes that are
reckoned by tens of thousands ? Possil)ly not : but there
is something in the air or the institutions of the country
of which these towns are a fraction that pi-events these men
living as becomes the creators of stupendous fortunes by
their own industry. Your men of wealth here — your mak-
ers of millions for themselves, and tens of millions for the
country — too often spend their time, their intellect, their
labor, in order that they may be able to take rank among
a class of men Avho occupy their present position in virtue
of what was done for them by some broad-shouldered ad-
ventui'er, who. fortunately for them, lived eight hundred
years ago in Normandy. Those who ought to be the Van-
derbilts of England would shrink from emj^loying their
wealth in the magnificent manner adopted by their Ameri-
can friend. They would dread the eft'ect of making any
unusual display, which would surely subject them to the
APPENDIX C. 285
reproach of being millionaires and parvenus. Hore is the
great difterence between the two countries. In England a
man is apt to be ashamed of having matle his own fortune,
unless he has done so in one of the few roads which the
aristocracy condescend to travel by — the Bar, the Church,
or the Army, and, if he is vulgar enough not to be ashamed
of himself, his wife and childi-en make amends, by sedu-
lously avoiding everything which can put other people in
mind of their origin. We wish to point out, as we have
pointed out before, the essential weakness, the vicious con-
dition of English society. In precisely the same manner
(although in an infinitely greater degree) as the English
army is damaged by the cold shade of aristocrac}', so are
English society and the English nation vitiated by the
aristocratic prejudices that run through it.- Between the
cobbler who patches a shoe and the merchant who imjDorts
the leather to make it, there are some three or four grades,
the members of each of which would scorn to associate
with those of the grade below. It is time that the million-
aire should cease to be ashamed of having made his own
fortune. It is time that the middle classes should take the
place which is their own in the world which they have
made. The w'ork has been taken out of the hands of the
mighty in war, and given to those who are strong in coun-
cil— to the lords of the elements, to the tamers of the great
forces of nature. These must take their position. They
must assert it, and scorn to put up with the faded distinc-
tions that formed the glory of the ruling classes centuries
back. The middle classes of England are the creators of
its wealth and the source of its powers. Let them take
example from America, and not shrink from acting as if
they knew this."
APPENDIX D.
COMMODORE VANDERBILT'S WILL.
I, Cornelius Vanderbilt, of the City of New York, do make
and publish my last will and testament as follow :
Fird. — I direct my executors, immediately after my de-
cease, to pay to mjr beloved wife, Frank A. Vanderbilt, the sum
of $500,000, in bonds of the United States of America, of the
five per cent, loan, under the Act of Congress approved
March 3, 1864, commonly known as ten-forty bonds, at par,
in performance of the ante-nu^Dtial contract made by and
between me, and the said Frank A., bearing date the 20th
day of August, 1869, whereby I agreed that, if she should
survive me as my widow, my executor or administrator
should immediately after my death pay to her $500,000 in
the first mortgage bonds of the New York and Hudson
River Railroad Comj^any at par, and she agreed to waive
and release all dower in my estate, except such sum of
$500,000 of bonds. This direction or bequest is on con-
dition that my said wife do accept the same as performance
of my part of said ante-nuptial contract and in lieu of dower
in any and all real estate which I may have been seized at
any time during my marriage with her and of all claims
upon or share in the personal estate of which I may die
possessed, excejDt as hereinafter ex^Dressly bequeathed to
her. I also give, devise, and bequeath to my said wife,
Frank A, the house and lot. No. 10 Washington Place, in
the City of New York, with the appurtenances and also the
stables therein contained for and during her natural life. I
also give and bequeath to her, absolutely, all the furniture,
pictures, and other household articles, "which may be in or
appurtenant to said house at the time of my decease, in-
cluding* books, musical instruments, plate and all other
APPE^fDIX D. 287
chattels of that kind, but exceptinpf the portraits of my
raotlicr and my deceased wife, which two portraits I give
to m}^ grandson, ConieHus Vanderljilt, Jr., son of my son,
William H., in fee. I also give and bequeath to my said
wife, two carriages, and one j^air of carriage horses, and the
harness appurtenant thereto, to be selected by her from
those I may own at the time of my decease.
Second. — I give and becpieath unto my five daughters —
Pliebe Jane, wife of James M. Cross ; Emily, wife of Will-
iam K. Thorn ; Marie Louise, widow of Horace F. Clark,
deceased ; Sophia, wife of Daniel Torrance ; and Mary
Alicia, widow of N. Bergasse Le Bau, deceased ; for their
own use, $1,250,000 of the registered bonds of the Lake
Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Company, of $5,000
each, dated December 1, 1875, payable December 1, 1903,
being part of an issue of not exceeding $25,000,000 secured
by a mortgage on the railroad of said company to the Union
Trust Company of New York, dated the 1st of May, in the
year of 1872, making together $1,250,000 of bonds, which
I direct to be divided by my executors among my five
daughters before named, in equal shares, as soon as can
conveniently be done after my decease.
Third. — I give and bequeath unto the trustees hereinafter
appointed $1,100,000 of the ten-forty bonds of the United
States of America, of the five per cent, loan described in the
first clause of this will, in trust for the uses and purposes here-
inafter set forth, viz. : In trust to set apart and hold $100,000
of said bonds, and to receive the interest thereon as it ac-
crues, and pay the same over to my daughter Mrs. Ethelinda
Allen, wife of Daniel B. Allen, for and during her natural
life, for her separate use, and upon her separate receipt, it
being my will that she shall not have power to anticipate
such income, not to transfer or dispose of her right to re-
ceive the same or any part thereof. And upon the decease
of my said daughtei", Ethelinda I give and bequeath the
last-mentioned $400,000 of bonds unto her children who
may survive her, and the lawful issue of any of her children
who may have died before her, such issue to take the share
or shares which their parent or parents would have taken if
living, and in default of her leaving any lawful issue, her
surviving, I give and bequeath the last mentioned bonds,
283 APPENDIX D.
after her decease, to my residuary legatee, hereinafter
named.
[The will also directed that the sum of $300,000 be set
ajDart, as in the manner of Mrs. Allen, for Mrs, Eliza Os-
good, wife of George A. Osgood, the bonds u^Don her de-
cease to go unto the " residuary legatee." The sum of
!^500,000 was also set apart for the use of Mi's. Catharine
Lafitte, Avife of Gustave Lafitte, the sum to be divided
among her children after her decease. Should she leave
no children, "said bonds shall go to her next of kin as if
she had died intestate owning said bonds." The will also
set apart $200,000, the interest thereof to be applied " to
the maintenance and support of my son, Cornelius J. Van-
derbilt, during his natural life." "And I authorize," said
the will, " said trustees, in their discretion, instead of
themselves making the application of said interest money to
his support, to pay over from time to time, to my said son,
for his support, such portions as they may deem advisable,
or the whole of the interest of said bonds. But no part of
such interest is to be paid to any assignee of my said son,
or to any creditor who may seek by legal proceedings to
obtain the same ; and in case my said son should make any
transfer or assignment of his beneficial interest in said
bonds or the interest thereof or encumber the same, or at-
tempt so to do, the said interest of said bonds shall there-
upon cease to be applicable to his use, and shall thenceforth,
during the residue of his natural life, belong to my residu-
ary legatee. Upon the decease of my said son, Cornelius
J., I give and bequeath the last mentioned $200,000 of
bonds to my residuary legatee."
Fourth. — I give and bequeath unto my sister, Phebe Van-
derbilt, $1,200 per annum during her natural life. To my
niece, Phebe Ann Blake, $300 per annum during her natural
life ; and Rebecca Little and her davighter Cornelia, during
their joint lives, and to the survival of them, during her
natural life, the sum of $200 per annum. And I direct
that the annuities in this fourth clause provided for, do
commence from the time of m}' decease, and the first ])a3'-
ment thereof be made in six months thereafter, and the said
annuities be paid half-yearly thereafter.
Fiflh. — I give and bequeath unto my brother, Jacob H.
APPENDIX D. 280
Vanderbilt, 150,000 of tlie first mortgage bonds of the
Stateii Island lliiihvay Company, dated the first day of
April, 1878, and payable the 1st day of April, 1893, with
interest at seven 2)er cent, per annum, payable semi-annu-
ally ; to my niece, Annie Iloot, daughter of my sister Ellen,
?«20,000 of like bonds of the Staten Island liaihvay Com-
l")any ; to my nephew, Cornelius Y. De Forest, two regis-
tered bonds, of $5,000 each, of the Lake Shore and Michi-
gan Southern Railway Company, of the issue described in
the second clause of this will ; to my niece, Phebe Ann
Dustan, 6^5,000 of the consolidated seven per cent, mort-
gage bonds of the New York and Harlem Railway Company
of the issue described in the second clause of this will ; to
Mrs. Sophia "NYhite, daughter of Andrew Hinslie, §5,000 of
like bonds ; to Charlotte Haskell, daughter of my sister
Charlotte, $>5,000 of such bonds ; to each of the three
daughters of my niece, Mrs. Phebe Ann Dustan, 85,000 of
such bonds ; to Charles Simonson, son of my nephew Charles
M. Simonson, deceased, $10,000 of like bonds ; to my family
physician, Dr. Jared Linsly, '810,000 of like bonds ; to Cap-
tain James Braisted, formally in my employ, 84,000 of such
bonds ; and to Lambert AYardell, an old and faithful clerk,
820,000 of such bonds, provided he is in my service at the
time of my decease. I further give and bequeath unto my
grandson, William K. Thorn, Jr., son of my daughter Emily,
825,000 of registered bonds of the Lake Shore and Michi-
gan Southern Railway Company, of 85,000 each, of the issue
hereinbefore mentioned ; to Samuel Patten Hand, son of
Obediah Hand, a brother of my mother, one of such regis-
tered bonds of said company of 85,000 ; to the Rev. Dr.
Charles F. Deems, pastor of the Church of the Strangers,
in the City of New York, > 20,000 of such registered bonds
of said company of 85,000 each ; to ]\Irs. Maria Lecher,
wife of General Gordon Granger, 810,000 of such registered
bonds of said company of 85,000 each ; and to the wife of
my nephew, Samuel Barton, 825,000 of first mortgage bonds
of the Staten Island Railway Company of the issue in this
clause of my vdll before desciibed."
[The sixth clause of the will provides for the purchase of
bonds to make the above legacies good, in case he should
not have those described on hand at the time of his death.]
13
290 APPEIiDIX D.
[The seventh clause of the will relates to the payment of
taxes in respect to the bequests.]
Eighth. — All the rest, residue, and remainder of the prop-
erty and estate, real and personal, of every^ description, and
wheresoever situated, of which I may be seized or possessed,
and to which I may be entitled at the time of my decease,
I give, devise, and bequeath unto my son, William H. Yan-
derbilt, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, to
his and their own use forever.
Ninth. — I constitute and appoint my son, William H.
Vanderbilt, and my grandson, Cornelius, son of the said Will-
iam H., and also, when he shall become of age, my gTandson
William, and the sou of the said William H., and also my
before-named nephew, Samuel Barton, executors of this,
my will, and trustees of the several trust estates hereinbe-
fore created. And should any of the said trvistees refuse
or be unable to act as such, or resign their trusteeshi}), the
said trusts, together with the estates and powers hereinbe-
fore granted to the trustees, shall rest in those of the said
ti'ustees who shall act. And should any of the said trus-
tees die, the said trust estates, trusts and powers shall
rest in the siu'vivors and the suiwivor of them. But it is
my will that no commissions or compensation shall be
charged to my estate, or to any of the said trust estates,
or to any of the persons for whose benefit the said
trusts are created, b}" said executors or trustees, for their
services as such executors or trustees ; it being my inten-
tion that they shall serve as such executors and trustees
without any compensation whatever, and they are severally
appointed on that condition. And should either of theii^
refuse to qualify and act, or to continue to serve as such
executor and trustee Avithout compensation, his ajipoint-
ment herein contained shall be void and of no effect. And
should my nephew, Samuel Bariou, refuse to act as such
executor and trustee without compensation, the bequest to
his Avife hereinbefore contained shall become void, and the
bonds bequeathed to her shall revert to my residuary es-
tate.
Tenth — It is my Avill that in case any direction or provision
of this my will should be held illegal or void, or fail to
take effect for any reason, no other part of this my will
APPENDIX D. 291
shall 1)0 thoreb}' invalidated, impaired or affected, but this
my will shall be continued and take effect in the same man-
ner as if the invalid direction or permission had not been
contained therein. And should any of the legacies herein
lapse, the same shall go to my residuaiy legatee before
named.
Lastly. — I hereby revoke all Avills and codicils by me at
any time heretofore made.
In witness whereof I have set my hand and seal to this
my last will, written on twenty-four pages of paper, at the
city of New York, the 9th day of January, in the year 1875.
C. Vanderbilt.
Signed, sealed, published and declared by Cornelius Van-
derbilt, the testator, as and for his last will and testament,
in the presence of us, wdio, at his request, and in his pres-
ence, and in the presence of each othei', have hereunto
subscribed our names as witnesses.
Francis P. Freeman,
140 West Forty-third St., New York.
Sidney A. Corey,
122 East Thirty-seventh St., New York.
Joseph Harker,
Everett House, New York,
Charles A. Rapallo,
17 West Thirty-first St., New York,
CODICIL.
I, Cornelius Vanderbilt, do make a codicil to my last will
and testament, which bears date the 9tli day of January,
1875, and is hereto annexed, as follows, viz. :
First. — I give and bequeath unto m}^ grandson, Cornelius
Vanderbilt, Jr., son of William H. Vanderbilt, all the shares
of capital stock of the New York and Harlem Railroad Com-
pany which now stand in the name of my said grandson
on the books of said company, and of which I hold the
cei'tificates in my possession, being 22,396 shares ; also all
the shares of the capital stock of the New York Central and
Hudson River Railroad company now standing in the name
of my said grandson on the books of the last-named com-
292 APPE^STDIX D.
pany, and of which I hold the certificates in any j)ossession,
being 31,650 shares."
[In the second clause of the codicil, he gave to his grand-
son, William K. Vauderbilt, 20,000 shares of New York
Central and Hudson River Railroad Company.]
[In the third clause he gave to Frederick W. Vanderbilt
the same number of shares in the same company. In the
fourth clause he gave the same amount to George Vander-
bilt. In the fifth clause he gave 2,000 shares of the capital
stock of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad
Compaiiy to his wife, in addition to the bequests to her in
his will. The codicil was dated June 30, 1875.]
APPENDIX E.
The following letter was written, explanatory of the large
charity :
New York, October 17, 1884.
Dr. John C Dalton,
President of the College of Physicians
and Surgeons.
My Dear Sir : I have been for some time examining tlie
question of the facilities for medical education whicli New
York possesses. The doctors have claimed that with proper
encouragement, this city might become one of tlie most im-
portant centres of medical instruction in the world.
The health, comfort, and lives of the whole community are
so dependent upon skilled physicians, that no jarofession re-
quires more care in the preparation of its j^ractitioners. Medi-
cine needs a permanent home where the largest opportunities
can be aftbrded for both theory and practice. In making up
my mind to give substantial aid to the effort to create in New
York City one of the first medical schools in the world, I have
been somewhat embarrassed as to the manner in which the ob-
ject could be most quickly and efl'ectively reached. It seems
wiser and more practical to enlarge an existing institution, which
already has great facilities, experience, and reputation, than to
form a new one. I have, therefore, selected the College of
Physicians and Surgeons, because it is the oldest medical school
in the State, and of equal rank with any in the United States.
I have decided to give to the College .^500, 000, of which I
have expended §200, 000 in the j^urchase of twenty-nine lots, situ-
ated at Tenth Avenue and Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Streets, the
deed of which please find herewith ; and in selecting this loca-
tion, I have consulted with your treasurer, Dr. McLean. The
other .^300,000 please find inclosed my check for. The latter
sum is to form a building-fund for the erection thereon from
time to time of suitable buildings for the college.
Very truly yours,
W. H. Ya>;derbilt.
Letters of thanks were sent to Mr. Vanderbilt, by Dr.
Dalton, by the Faculty of the College, by the Trustees, the
Alumni Association, and the students.
APPENDIX F.
The New York papers on the morning of January 12,
1885, published tlie letters which passed between Will-
iam H. Vanderbilt and General and Mrs. U. S. Grant.
They are thoroughly characteristic of the writers, and call
for no cominent. The correspondence began with the fol-
lowing letter :
640 Fifth Avenxie, January 10, 1885.
Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant.
Dear Madam : So many misrepresentations have appeared
in regard to tlie loan made by me to General Grant, and reflect-
ing unjustly upon him and myself, that it seems proper to
briefly recite the facts.
On Sunday, May 4th last, General Grant called at my resi-
dence and asked me to loan him i5150,000 for one day. I gave
him my check without question, not because the transaction
was business-like, but simjjly because the request came from
General Grant. The misfortune which overwhelmed him in
the next twenty-four hours aroused the sympathy and regret of
the whole country. You and he sent me, within a few days of
the time, the deeds of your joint properties to cover this obliga-
tion, antl urged my acceptance on the ground that this was the
only debt of honor which the General had personally incurred,
and these deeds I returned.
During my absence in Europe the General delivered to my
attorney mortgages upon all his own real estate, household
effects, and the swords, medals, and works of art which were
the memorials of his victories, and the presents from govern-
ments all over the world. These securities were, in his judg-
ment, worth the ^150,000. At his solicitation the necessary
steps were taken by judgment, etc., to reduce these properties
to possession, and the articles mentioned have been this day
bought in by me, and the amount bid applied to the reduction
of the debt. Now that I am at liberty to treat these things as
my own, the disposition of the whole matter most in accord
APPENDIX F. 295
Avith my feelings is this : I jiresent to yon, as your separate es-
tate, the debt and jndpfnicut I hohl against General Grant, also
the mortgages njion his real estate, and all the household fnr-
niture and ornaments, conpled only with the condition that the
swords, commissions, medals, gifts from the United States,
States, citie?, and foreign governments, and all articles of his-
torical vahie and interest shall, at the General's death, or, if
yon desire it sooner, be presented to the Government at Wash-
ington, where they will remain as perpetual memorials of his
fame and of the history of his time.
I inclose herewith assignments to you of the mortgages
and judgments, a bill of sale of the jiersonal proiierty, and a
deed of trust in which the articles of historical interest are
enumerated. A copy of this trust-deed will, with your ap-
proval, be forwarded to the President of the United States for
deposit in the proper department.
Trusting that this action will meet with your acceptance
and approval, and with kind regards to your husband,
I am, yours respectfully,
"VT. H. Vanberbilt.
Xew York Crrv, January 10, 1885.
Dear Sir : Mrs. Grant wishes me to answer your letter of this
evening to say that while she appreciates your great generosity
in transfeiTing to her the mortgage given to secure my debt of
§150,000, she cannot accept it in whole. Siie accepts with
pleasure the trust which ai>plies to articles enumerated in your
letter to go to the Government of the United States, at my
death or sooner, at her option. In this matter you have an-
ticipated the disposition which I had contemplated making of
the articles. They will be delivered to the Government as soon
as arrangements can be made for their reception.
Papers relating to all other j^roperty will be returned, with
the request that you have it sold and the proceeds a^iplied to
the liquidation of the debt wliich I so justly owe you. You
have stated in your letter, with the minutest accuracy, the history
of the transaction whicli brought me in your debt. I have only
to add that I regard your giving me your check for the amount
without inquiry as an act of marked and unusual friendship.
The loan was to me personally. I got the money, as I believed,
to carry the Marine National Bank over a day, being assured
that the bank was solvent, but owing to unusual calls needed
assistance until it could call in its loans. I was assured by
Fertliuand Ward that the firm of Grant & Ward had over
§660,000 to their credit, at that time in the Marine Bank, be-
sides 81,300,000 of unpledged securities in their own vaults.
296 APPEISTDIX F.
I cannot conclude withoiit assuring you that Mrs. Grant's
inability to avail herself of your great kindness in no way lessens
either her sense of obligation or my own.
Yours truly,
tl. S. Grant.
W. H. Vandekbilt, Esq.
640 Fifth A-^-entje, January 11, 1885.
General U. S. Grant.
Mx Dear Sir : On my return home last night I foitnd your
letter in answer to mine to Mrs. Grant. I aj^iireciate fully the
sentiments which actuate both Mrs. Grant and yourself in de-
clining the part of my lirojDosition relating to the real estate. I
greatly regret that she feels it her duty to make this decision,
as I earnestly hoped that the spirit in which the offer was made
would overcome any scruples in accepting it. But I must in-
sist that I shall not be defeated iu a puri^ose to which I have
given so much thought, and which I have so much at heart. I
will, therefore, as fast as the money is received from the sales
of the real estate, deposit it in the Union Trust Company.
With the money thus realized I will at once create with that
company a trust, with proper jMovisious for the income to be
paid to Mrs. Grant during her life, and giving the power to her
to make such disposition of the princijial by will as she may
elect. Very truly yoiirs,
W. H. Vanderbilt.
New York City, January 11, 1885.
Dear Sir : Y'our letter of this date is received. Mrs. Grant
and I regret that you cannot accept our proposition to retain
the property which was mortgaged in good faith to secure a
debt of honor. But your generous determination compels us
to no longer resist. Yours truly,
U. S. Grant.
W. H. Vanderbilt.
New York, Sunday, January 11.
Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt :
Upon reading your letter of this afternoon General Grant and
myself felt that it would be ungracious to refuse your princely
and generous offer. Hence his note to you. But upon reflec-
tion, I find that I cannot, I will not, accept your munificence
in auv form.
APPENDIX F. 207
I heg that yon will pardon this apparent vacillation, and con-
sider this answer detinite and final.
With great regard and a sense of obligation that will always
remain. I am, yours veiy gratefully,
Julia D. Grant.
To Mk. W. H. Vandeebilt.
This action was not taken without serious consideration
by both parties, and Messrs. Chauucey M. Depew and
Wliitehiw Keid were consulted by the principals several
times between the incurring of the obligation and the writ-
ing of these letters.
The final declination of Mrs. Grant's was afterward mod-
ified so far as to accept for the Government the trophies
and souvenirs turned over to Mr. Vanderbilt, and these
were sent to Washington ; the rest of the mortgaged prop-
erty was sold and went toward the liquidation of the debt.
The loan having been effected by an exchange of checks,
and General Grant's check proving not to be good, it was
felt by the family that to pay the debt was the only honor-
able thing to do.
13*
APPENDIX G.
THE WILL.
Following is the full text of Mr. Vanderbilt's will, with
the exception of the formal descrijjtiou of the real estate
embraced in his late residence and the stables belonging
thereto, and in the houses which the testator bequeaths to
his four 'daughters :
I, William H. Vanderbilt, of the City of New York, do
make and publish my last will and testament as follows,
viz. :
First. — I devise unto my beloved wife, Maria Louisa, for
and during her natural life, the dwelling-house in which I
now reside and the lot on which it stands. ... I also
give and devise to my said wife, for and during her natural
life, the three lots of laud on the northeasterly corner of
Madison Avenue and Fifty-second Street, in the city of New
York, . . . together with the stables and improvements
thereon erected. I also give and bequeath to her, for and
during her natural life, all the paintings, pictures, statuary
and w'orks of art which I may own at the time of my de-
cease, except the portrait and the marble bust of my father,
which I have bequeathed to inj son Cornelius. I also give
and bequeath to her, for and during her natural life, all the
furniture of every descrijjtion — including plate, silver,
library, ornaments, musical instruments and other articles
of household vise — which may at the time of m}' decease be
in or appurtenant to my present residence, corner Fifth
Avenue and Fifty-first Street, and also all the horses, carri-
ages, vehicles, harness, stable furniture and implements
which I may have on hand at the time of my decease and
usually kept in my said stables, on Madison Avenue and
APPENDIX G. 299
Fiftj'-second Street ; and I empower my wife during her
life to exchange or dispose of any of my said household
furniture and other chattels, except pictures, statuary, and
■works of art, and of any of said horses, carriages, and stable
furniture to such extent as she shall deem necessary from
time to time, to renew or replace the same.
I also give and bequeath to my said wife an annuity of
$200,000 per annum daring her natural life, to be computed
from the date of my decease, and jjaid to her in equal quar-
ter-yearly payments thereafter. And I direct that a sum
sufficient to produce such annuity be set aj^art and at all
times safely invested by my executors for that purpose
during the life of my wife ; and I empower her to dispose
by will of $500,000 of the jDrincipal of the sum so directed
to be set apart in any manner she may desire and which
shall be legal.
All taxes, assessments, and charges which may be imj)osed
on the real estate devised to my wife for life shall be pay-
able b}^ her during the same period. And I declare that
the foregoing devises and bequests to her are to be in lieu
of dower.
Second. — I devise uuto my daughter, Margaret Louisa,
wife of Elliott F. Shepard, Esq., her heirs and assigns for-
ever, the house in which she now resides and the lot on
which it stands ... at Fifty-second Street and Fifth
Avenue, southwest corner, together with all my rights iu
Fifth Avenue and Fifty-second Street in front of said
premises, excepting, however, out of the lot of land hereby
devised and described an irregular strip of laud, part of the
rear thei'eof, which strip extends from the southerly line of
Fifty-second Street to a line parallel therewith, and distant
44 feet southerly therefrom, and is 7 feet and 11 inches wide
at Fifty-second Street, narrowing by jogs and curves to 4 feet
4 j inches in the rear, as now inclosed by the iron fence
which separates said strip from the residue of the lot iu
this clause described.
Third. — I devise to my daughter Emily Thorn, wife of
William Sloane, her heirs and assigns, the middle one of
the three houses erected by me on the westerly side of Fifth
Avenue, between Fifty-tirst and Fifty-second Streets, and the
lot on which it stands, which lot is bounded and described
300 APPENDIX G.
as follows : Easterly in front by Fifth Avenue, westerly in
the rear by a line parallel with Fifth Avenvie and distant
149 feet and 114- inches westerh' from the westerly line
thereof, northerly by the lot of land herein before devised
to my daughter Margaret Louisa and by said strip expected
therefrom, and southerly by the lot of land hereinbefore
devised to my wife for life, containing 53 feet 5 inches in
width in front on Fifth Avenue and 39 feet and 7 inches in
width in the rear, and embracing all the land lying between
the lots described in the first and second clauses of this
will. I also devise to my said daughter Emily, her heirs
and assigns, for the purpose of being kept open as a rear
entrance to the premises devised to her, the before described
irregular strij) of land excepted from the rear part of the
lot in the second clause of this will described and extend-
ing to Fifty-second Street.
Fourth. — I devise lauto my daughter Florence Adele, wife
of Hamilton McK. Twombly, her heirs and assigns forever,
the lot of land on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and
Fifty-fourth Street, in said city, and part of the lot in the
rear thereof fronting on Fifty-fourth Street, ... to-
gether with the dwelling-house erected on said premises,
and all my right, title, and interest in and to the street and
avenue bounding said premises.
Flfth.~l de^dseunto my daughter Eliza O., wife of Will-
iam S. Webb, her heirs and assigns forever, the lot of land
on the westerly side of Fifth Avenue, next adjoining on the
south the corner lot described in the next preceding fourth
clause of this will, and also the remaining part of said rear
lot fronting on Fift^'-fourth Street, said premises beginning
at a point on the westerly side of Fifth Avenue, distant 48
feet 3^ inches southerly from the southerly line of Fifty-
fourth Street. The strip of land on the westerly side of
said lot fronting on Fifty-fourth Street is given to my said
daughter Eliza O., for the purpose of aifording her a rear
entrance from Fifty-fourth Street to her house, and the
easterly line of said entrance may be shaj^ed in such man-
ner as shall be or have been devised by the architect in
charge of the erection of said two houses, biit keeping as
nearly as possible within the dimensions herein before jare-
scribed.
APPENDIX G. 301
SixtJi. — Should the dwelling-houses now being erected
for my daughters — Florence Adele and Eliza O. — upon the
two lots of land devised to them not be tinislied at the
time of my decease I direct that they be completed as soou
as practicable thereafter at the expense of my estate.
Serenfh. — I give and bequeath to the trustees herein-
after appointed $25,000,000 of bonds of the United States
of America bearing interest at the rate of four per cent, per
annum, the principal falling due iu the year 1907 ; $5,000,000
of second mortgage bonds of the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railway Company, due in the year 1903, bear-
ing interest at the rate of seven per cent, per annum ;
$800,000 of the first mortgage bonds of the last named
company, due in the year 1900, bearing interest at the rate
of seven per cent, per annum ; $2,000,000 of the sinking
fund bonds of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Com-
pany, due in the year 1929, bearing interest at the rate of
six per cent, per annum ; $2,000,000 of the sinking fund
bonds of the last named company, due iu the year 1929,
bearing interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum ;
$200,000 of the general consolidated sinking fund bonds
of the last named company, due iu the year 1915, bearing
interest at the rate of seven per cent. ]3er annum ; $-4,-
000,000 of the mortgage bonds of the New York Central
Railroad Compau}', due iu the year 1903, bearing intei-est
at the rate of seven per cent, i^ev annum, and $1,000,000 of
the mortgage bonds of the New Yoi'k and Harlem Railroad
Company, due in the year 1900, bearing interest at the rate
of seven percent, per annum, making in the aggregate $10,-
000,000 (forty million dollars) of the above-named securities
at par in trust, to divide the same into eight (8) equal par-
cels of five (5) million dollars each, and each of said parcels
to contain an equal amount of each of the above specified
kinds of bonds ; to set apart and hold one of said parcels
in trust for each of my four sons, Cornelius, William K.,
Frederick W. and George W. Vanderbilt, and one of said
parcels in trust for each of my f(3ur daughters hereinbefore
named, and to collect and receive the income of each of
said eight trust-funds, and pay the same over as it accrues
and is collected to the beneficiary for whom it is set apart
during the natural life of such beneficiary, and I direct that
302 APPENDIX G.
no payment be made in anticipation of such income, and
that no part of the principal of either of said trust fimds
be paid over or ahenated or transferred during the hfetime
of the child entitled to the income thereof, and upon the
death of each of my said children I direct that the principal
of the fund so set apart and held in trust for him or her be
paid to his or her lawful issue in such shares or proportions
as he or she may b}' last will have directed or appointed,
and in default of such testamentary direction I direct that
such fund be divided among his or her lawful issue in the
proportions in Avliich they would be by law entitled thereto
had my child, so dying, died possessed thereof his or her
absolute ownership.
In case either of my sous should leave no lawful issue
him surviving I direct that the fund so held in trust for him
be divided among his brothers him surviving, and the issue
of any of his brothers who may have died before him, such
issue to take the share which the brother so d^'ing Avould
have taken if living. And should either of my said daugh-
ters leave no lawful issue her surviving I direct that the
fund so held in trust for her be divided among her sisters
living at the time of her death, or should any of her sisters
have died before her leaving issue, such issue shall take the
share which such deceased sister would have taken if living.
Eiglith. — I authorize thetriistees of the said several trust-
funds to receive and reinvest the proceeds of the bonds so
given to them in trust as they mature, and also in their dis-
cretion to change from time to time the investments of
said trust funds, but I direct that they do at all times keep
the said principal of the said several trust-funds securely in-
vested during the continuance of said trusts respectively in
bonds of the United States of America or of the State or
City of New York, or in mortgage bonds of the New York
Central and Hudson River Railroad Company, the New
York and Havlem Railroad Company, the Lake Shore and
Michigan Southern Railway Company, or the Chicago and
Northwestern Railway Company, or bonds guaranteed by it
or someone or more of said sjiecitied securities. They may
change such investments from time to time and may also
invest on bond and mortgage on inieni'umbered real estate
iu the State of New York, and they may apply to the rein-
APPENDIX G. 303
vestments of the principal of said trust-funds, or cither of
them, any of the securities of the classes above specitied
which I may have on hand at the time of my decease at
tlieir market vahie at the time of such apphcation.
And I direct that all securities in which such trust-funds
shall from time to time be invested be taken and held by
said trustees in their names as trustees for the parties re-
spectively for whose benefit the funds are separately set
apart and held, so that each of said eight trust-funds shall
be kept separate and distinct from the others, and the ac-
counts thereof shall be separately kept.
Should I not have on hand at the date of my decease a
sufficient amount of each of the descriptions of bonds here-
inbefore specified to make up the amounts in the seventh
clause bequeathed in trust, I direct that the deficienc}' be
supplied with bonds of the New York and Harlem Railroad
Company at pxr or any other bonds I may leave.
Ninth. — I give and bequeath unto my four sons and my
four daughters hereinbefore named, to be equallv divided
between them, $10,000,000 of bonds of the United States
of America bearing interest at the rate of four per cent, per
annum, the principal falling due in 1907 ; §920,000 of the
bontls of the New York Central Railroad Company, paj'a-
ble in the year 1903, and bearing interest at the rate of
seven per cent, per annum ; 180,000 of the mortgage bonds
of the New York and Harlem Railroad Company', payable
in the year 1900, and bearing interest at the rate of seven
per cent, per annum ; $1,000, 000 of the bonds of the Detroit
and Ba}" City Riilroad Company, payable in the year 1931,
and beai'ing interest at the rate of livejDer cent, per annum ;
83,000,000 of the second mortgage bonds of the Lake Shore
and Michigan Southern Railroad Company, payable in the
year 1903, and bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent,
per annum ; 83,000,000 of the mortgage bonds of the Pine
Creek Railroad Company, payable in the year 1932, and
bearing interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum ;
§2,000,000 of the mortgage bonds of the Pittsburg, McKees-
port and Youghiogheny Railroad Company, payable in the
year 1932, and bearing interest at the rate of seven per
cent, per annum ; $2,000,000 of the guaranteed stock of
the last named company, bearing interest at the rate of six
304 APPENDIX G.
per cent, per annum ; $2,000,000 of the debenture bonds
of the Chicago and Northwestern Eailwaj' Compan}-, paya-
ble in the year 1933, and bearing interest at the rate of five
per cent, per annum ; $2,000,000 of the bonds of the Dakota
Central Railroad Company, payable in the year 1907, bear-
ing interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum, and guar-
anteed by the Chicago and Northwestern Eailwaj' Company ;
40,000 shares of the capital stock of the New York Central
and Hudson River Railroad Company, 30,000 shares of the
capital preferred stock of the Chicago and Northwestern
Riilway Company, 50,000 shares of the capital stock of the
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company, and
20,000 shares of the capital stock of the Michigan Central
Railroad Company, making in the aggregate $40,000,000 of
securities at par, to be divided among my before-named
eight children in such manner that an equal amount, as
nearly as may be, of each kind of security shall be allotted
to each child.
Should I not have on hand at the time of my decease a
sufficient amount of bonds and stocks of all the descrip-
tions above named, after providing the trust-funds created
in the seventh clause of this will, to make up the amounts
in this ninth clause bequeathed, I direct that the deficiency
be made up with cash to the amount of the bonds or stock
which may be deficient at par.
Tenth. — I having transferred on the books of the Chicago
and Northwestern Railway Company to each of my three
daughters, Margaret Louisa, Emil}' Thorn and Florence
Adele, 4,000 shares of the preferred stock of said company,
but I holding the certificates of said shares with powers to
transfer the same executed b}^ my said daughters respec-
tively, I hereby declare that the foregoing bequests to ray
said daughters are to be in place of said shares, and that
said shares are to be part of my I'esiduary estate.
Eleventh. — I direct that the bonds and the stocks in the
ninth clause of this will bequeathed to my daughter Eliza
O. be not delivered to her or placed under her control until
she attains the age of thirty years, but that they be set
apart and held for her by my executors in the meantime ;
that the interest accruing thereon be collected by them and
paid over to her as it is received until said bonds and stocks
APPENDIX G. 305
are delivered to her ; but it is my will that if my said
daughter Eliza O. should die before attaining the age of
thirty years, leaving children her surviving, the said bonds
and stocks shall be divided among such children in such
proportion as she may by will direct, or if she should leave
no will, then in equal shares. Should she leave but one
child, that child is to take the whole. And in case she
should die before attaining the age of thirty years and
should leave no child her surviving, the property be-
queathed to her in said ninth clause shall revert to my es-
tate.
Twelfth. — I direct that the interest and dividends on the
several bonds and stocks bequeathed in the seventh and
ninth clauses of this will be apportioned up to the date of
my decease, and that so much thereof as shall have accrued
after that date shall belong to the legatees.
Tliirteenth. — I bequeath unto my son, Cornelius Vander-
bilt, the sum of $2,000,000 in addition to all other bequests
to him in this will contained.
Fourteenth. — Upon the decease of my wife I devise to my
son, Geoi-ge W. Vanderbilt, for and during his natural life,
the hereinbefore described lot of land and house on the
northwesterly corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifty-first Street,
where I now reside, and the lots and stables on Madison
Avenue and Fifty-second Street, being the same properties
in the first clause of this my will devised to my wife for
life. I also bequeath to my said son, George W., for and
during his natural life, all my pictures, statuary, and works
of art, except the portrait and marble bust of my father,
which I bequeath to my son Cornelius. I also bequeath to
my son George W. all the furniture, carriages, and other
chattels mentioned in the first clause of this my will for
and dui'iug his natural life ; and after the decease of my wife
and of my son George W., if he shall leave any son or sons
him sui'viving, I give, devise, and bequeath absokitely and
in fee the said house and lot on Fifth Avenue and Fifts'-first
Street, and said lots and stables on Madison Avenue and
Fifty-second Street, and all the pictures, statuary, furniture,
and all the property of every description which is in the
first clause of this my will devised and bequeathed to my
wife for life, unto such one of the sons of said George W.
306 APPENDIX G.
as he shall by his last will direct and appoint to take the
same. And in default of such testamentary direction, then
the eldest son of said George "W. who shall survive him.
And in case the said George W. shall leave no son him
surviving, then on his decease and after the death of my
wife', I give, devise, and bequeath all and singular the said
real and personal property so given to George W. for hfe,
unto my grandson William H. Vanderbilt, son of my son
Cornelius, his heirs and assigns forever, and in the event
last mentioned I also give and bequeath to my said grand-
son, Wilham H., $2,000,000. But, without regard to the
event of my son George W. dying as aforesaid, I bequeath
to my said grandson, William H., $1,000,000, to be paid on
his attaining the age of thirty years : in the meantime the
income thereof shall be applied to his use by my executors
during his minority, and thereafter shall be paid to him at
such times and in such amounts as his father, if living, shaU
approve, until he becomes entitled to the princijaal. And
in case the said William H. becomes entitled to the said
legacy of $2,000,000, tlie $1,000,000 last given shall be
deemed part thereof.
In case my son George W. shall die without leaving any
son him surviving, if said William H. is not then living, the
real and personal estate so given to. said George W. for life
shall after his death and that of my wife go, and I devise
and bequeath the same, to my grandson Cornelius, in fee,
and in that event I give to my last-named grandson
$1,000,000, my object being that my present residence and
my collection of works of art be retained and maintained by
a male descendant bearing the name of Vanderbilt.
Fifteentli. — I direct that no deductions shall be made from
any of the legacies to my children by reason of any sums
which I have heretofore given, or advanced to, or for ac-
count of either of them.
Sixteenth. — I give and bequeath to William Vanderbilt
Kissam, son of Peter R Ivissam, of the City of Brooklyn,
and nephew of my wife, the sum of $30,000, to be paid to
him when he attains the age of twenty-five yeai's, provided
his father and my son Cornelius, or the survivor of them,
shall in their or his discretion approve in writing of such
pivyment at that time ; otherwise at such later period as
APPENDIX G. 307
they or the survivor of them shall approve, and I direct that
interest on said legacy be paid to said William Y. Kissani
from the time of my decease until he shall receive the prin-
cipal.
Seventeenth. — I give and bequeath unto my uncle, Jacob H.
Yanderbilt, the dividends which shall accrue during liis life
on 1,000 shares of the capital stock of the New York Cen-
tral and Hudson River Kailroad Connmny, now standing in
his name on the books of said company but owned by me,
I holding the certificates with power. I also give to each
of the children of my said uncle — viz., Mrs. Ellen Caesar,
Jacob H. Yanderbilt, Jr., and Mrs. James McNamee — the
sum of S2,000 per annum to each during their respective
natural lives.
Eighteenth. — I give and bequeath to Mrs. Annie Reid,
wife of J. E. Reid ; to jNIi-s. EunuaDe Forest, wife of Frank
A. Howland and daughter of the late Daniel C. Yan Duzer,
of Stateu Island ; to my aunt, Miss Phcebe Yanderbilt ; to
Sophia White, daughter of Andrew Ainslie ; to Jeremiah
Simonson ; to Anna Root, wife of George M. Root ; to Miss
Emma Simonson, daughterof Cornelius Simonson, deceased,
and to Miss Charlotte Dustan, an annuity of $2,000 per an-
num to each. To Mrs. Edith Dustan, wife of Charles Dus-
taU; who resides at Demopolis, in the State of Alabama,
an annuity of $2,500 per annum ; to Mrs. Georgiana Hitch-
cock , Mrs. Emily Y. Snedeker, wife of Livingston Snedeker,
and to ]Mi's. Catharine McGregor, of the City of New York,
an annuity of §1,200 per annum to each ; all the said an-
nuities to be computed from the day of my decease, and to
be paid quarterly' thereafter to the several annuitants dur-
ing their respective natural lives.
Nineteenth. — -I give and bequeath to Mr. E. Y. W. Rossiter
the sum of $10,000, and to Lambert Wardell the sum of
$10,000.
Twentieth. — I give and bequeath to the Board of Tnist
of the Yanderbilt University, of Nashville, Tenn., incorpo-
rated under the laws of the State of Tennessee, 8200,000 of
the second mortgage bonds of the Lake Shore and jMichi-
gan Southern Railway Company, to be applied to the uses
and purposes of said University.
Twentif-Jir^t. — I give and bequeath to the following named
308 APPEISTDIX G.
societies and incorporated bodies, organized under the laws
of the State of New York, the sums hereinafter specified,
viz :
To the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of
America, $100,000 for domestic pui'poses.
To St. Luke's Hospital, incorporated in the year 1850,
$100,000.
To the Young Men's Christian Association of the City of
New York, $100,000.
To the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the City of New York, $50,000.
To the New York Bible and Common Prayer-Book So-
ciet}^, whereof the Bishop is president, $50,000.
To the Home for Licurables, incorporated in 1845,
$50,000.
To the Protestant Episcopal Church Missionary Society
for Seamen in the City and Port of New York, $50,000.
To the New York Christian Home for Intemperate Men,
$50,000.
To the New York Protestant Episcopal Mission Society
of the City of New York, $100,000.
To the Metropolitan Museum of Art, incorporated April
13, 1870, $100,000.
To the American Museum of Natural History in the City
of New York, $50,000.
To the Moravian Church in New Dorp Lane, Staten Isl-
and, organized under the name of the " United Breth-
ren's Church," $100,000.
Twenty -second. — All the rest, residue and remainder of all
the property and estate, real, personal, and mixed, of every
description and wheresoever situated, of which I may be
seized or possessed, or to which I may be entitled at the
time of my decease, I give, devise, and bequeath unto my
two sons, Cornelius Vanderbilt and William K. Vauderbilt,
in equal shares, and to their heirs and assigns to their use
forever.
Tireutij-ihird. — I constitute and appoint my wife, Maria
Louisa, and my sons, Cornelius, William K., Frederick W.,
and George W., and the survivors and survivor of them,
executrix and executox's of this my will, and trustees of the
APPENDIX G. 309
several trust-funds hereinbefore mentioned and created ;
provided, however — and tliis appointment is subject to this
exception — that neither of my said sons shall be trustee
of the fund hereinbefore directed to be set apart and held
in trust for him or for his benefit ; but as to such fund, in
the case of each of my said sons, the trust shall rest in and
be executed by the others of the trustees hereinbefore
named and the survivors or survivor of them. And pro-
vided further, and the said appointments of executrix, ex-
ecutors and trustees are subject to the further condition
that no commissions or compensation shall be charged by
or allowed to either of them for their services as executrix,
executor or trustee, and if either of them shall decline to
serve on that condition his or her api:)ointment as such ex-
ecutrix, executor or trustee shall cease and terminate.
And for the purpose of guarding against the contingency
of any unsuitable person being appointed trustee of any or
either of the trust-funds hereinbefore created, I direct as to
each of said trust-funds that, in case of the death, disability,
or resignation of any of the trustees hereinbefore appointed,
the trust shall rest in and be executed by the others of those
whom I have named, and iipon the death of the last sur-
vivor of the acting trustees during the continuance of the
trust the trust shall cease, and the entire trust-fund shall be
paid to the beneficiary entitled to the income.
Twenty-fourth. — Should any or either of the provisions
or directions of this will fail, or be held ineffectual or in-
valid for any reason, it is my will that no other portion or
provision of this will be invalidated, impaired, or aifected
thereby, but that this will be construed as if such invalid
provision or direction had not been herein contained.
Lastly. — I hereby revoke all former wills and codicils by
me at any time made.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal
at the City of New York, the twenty-fifth day of September,
in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.
W. H. V-AXDERBILT.
Signed, sealed, published, and declared by William H.
Yanderbilt, the testator, as and for his last will and testament,
in the presence of us, who at his request and in his pres-
310 APPENDIX G.
ence, and in the presence of each other, have hereunto sub-
scribed our names as witnesses.
The words " or bonds guaranteed by it " interlined on
the twenty-first page.
Charles A. Eapallo,
17 West Thirty-first Street, New York.
Samuel F. Bakgek,
17 West Thirty-thii-d Street, New York City.
C. C. Clarke, Sing Sing, N. Y.
I. P. Chambers,
26 East Forty-ninth Street, New York City,
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