Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Vanderbilt CORNELIUS, an American capitalist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
CORNELIUS, an American capitalist; born near Stapleton, Staten Island, N. Y., May 27, 1794; early engaged in steamboat transportation between Staten Island and New York and so enlarged his business that he soon gained the complete control of the New York and Staten Island lines. Later he started steamboats in various waters-the Hudson, the Delaware, Long Island Sound, etc.; established steamboat and other connections between New York and California; and by 1864 was the owner or controller of nearly the whole water transportation in and about New York. In that year, however, he withdrew his capital from shipping and invested it in railroads. He secured the management of one railroad after another and in 1877 controlled stocks representing an aggregate capital of $150,000,000, of which he owned fully one-half. In 1861 he presented the swift $800,000 steamship "Vanderbilt" to the United States Government to be used for the capture of Confederate privateers and in 1873 founded the Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., with $500,000, afterward increased to $700,000. At the time of his death in New York City, Jan. 4, 1877, his fortune was estimated at nearly $100,000,000.
Vanderbilt CORNELIUS, an American capitalist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
CORNELIUS, an American capitalist; born in New Dorp, Staten Island, N. Y., Nov. 27, 1843; a son of William Henry; was assistant treasurer of the Harlem railroad in 1865- 1867; treasurer in 1867-1877; first vicepresident of the New York Central railroad in 1877-1885; and chief director of the Vanderbilt system of railroads in 1885-1895, when he retired from business because of failing health. He united with his brothers in a gift of $250,000 for the erection of the Vanderbilt Clinic of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1896; presented an addition costing $250,000 to St. Bartholomew's Home in New York City; gave Rosa Bonheur's painting, "The Horse Fair," to the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and was the donor of $100,000 to the fund of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine. "Vanderbilt Hall" to Yale University, and large sums of money to various charitable, religious, and public institutions. He died in New York City, Sept. 12, 1899.
Vanderbilt an American capitalist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an American capitalist; born in New Brunswick, N. J., May 8, 1821; son of the first Cornelius; appointed vice-president of the Hudson River railroad in 1864 and later of the New York Central railroad; and on the death of his father became president of these railroads, together with the Lake Shore and the Michigan Central. Subsequently he secured control of the Chicago and Northwestern and of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis railroads and also obtained connections with the New York, Chicago and St. Louis and West Shore railroads. He resigned his various offices, because of failing health, in 1883 and placed his affairs in charge of his son Cornelius. Among his public benefactions were the removal of the obelisk from Egypt to Central Park, New York City, and the gift of $200,000 to the Vanderbilt University fund. He died in New York City, Dec. 8, 1885.
Vanderbilt CORNELIUS, III, an American soldier and capitalist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
CORNELIUS, III, an American soldier and capitalist; the son of Cornelius Vanderbilt. He graduated from Yale in 1895, and at once became a director in many important financial institutions. He was actively associated in the work of the National Guard in New York City, and at the entrance of the United States in the war with Germany he was appointed colonel of the 102d United States Engineers. In 1918, he was appointed brigadier-general in the National Army. He saw service in France, and at the conclusion of the war was appointed brigadiergeneral of the Officers' Reserve Corps.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote these sketches in 1921 the Vanderbilt railroad empire still stood, and Cornelius III was a serving brigadier-general (he died in 1942). The New York Central, the core of the fortune, merged with its old rival the Pennsylvania in 1968 and the resulting Penn Central collapsed into the largest bankruptcy the United States had then seen in 1970; its surviving lines passed into Conrail and later CSX and Norfolk Southern. The family's Fifth Avenue mansions were demolished one by one, and Grand Central Terminal was saved from redevelopment only by the Supreme Court's 1978 ruling upholding New York's landmarks law. What outlasted the money were the gifts: Vanderbilt University in Nashville, endowed by the Commodore with $1,000,000 in the 1870s, is now a research university with a multibillion-dollar endowment, and the family name is better known in recent decades through the designer Gloria Vanderbilt (1924-2019) and her son, the journalist Anderson Cooper.
Written for this edition, 2026.