Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy. William Henry, who outlived his father by just eight years, increased the profitability of his father's holdings, increased the reach of the New York Central Railroad, and doubled the Vanderbilt wealth. Vanderbilt also paid to outfit a major expedition to New Orleans. Her fourth and final marriage was to Wyatt Emory Cooper in 1963 and this marriage lasted until his death in 1978. When the Confederate ironclad Virginia (popularly known in the North as the Merrimack) wrought havoc with the Union blockading squadron at Hampton Roads, Virginia, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and President Abraham Lincoln called on Vanderbilt for help. On August 21, 1869, in London, Ontario, he married a cousin from Mobile, Alabama with the unusual name for a woman of Frank Armstrong Crawford (18391885). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Vanderbilt took control of the company just before these developments were announced. In 1870, he consolidated two of his key lines into the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, one of the first giant corporations in United States history. Sadly Quincy's son was killed in the accident. of old society bloodlines. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles refused it, thinking it too expensive for what he expected to be a short war. Gloria studied art at the Art Student's League in New York City, and became known for her artwork, giving one-woman shows of oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels. He moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey, a stop on Gibbons's line between New York and Philadelphia, where his wife Sophia operated a very profitable inn, using the proceeds to feed, clothe, and educate the children. The glass roof of the depot collapsed during a blizzard on the same day Vanderbilt died in 1877. Currently, she is living with her son, Anderson Cooper, a network news correspondent, in his New York apartment. When he tried to convince the U.S. and English governments to help restore the company to its rights and property, they refused. to find out first about our new feature stories, road trips and special offers. The Commodore stated that he believed William Henry was the only heir capable of maintaining the business empire. Impressed, Vanderbilt became a secret partner with Drew for the next thirty years, so that the two men would have an incentive to avoid competing with each other. He built his wealth in shipping and railroads and was the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history (adjusted wealth: $205 billion). By the end of the decade, Vanderbilt dominated the steamboat business on the Sound, and began to take over management of the connecting railroads. The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. In addition, he donated to churches around New York, including a gift to the Moravian Church on Staten Island of 8 acres for a cemetery (the Moravian Cemetery). Click the feathers to go to the Highlander site Her cousin's husband, Holland Nimmons McTyeire, convinced Vanderbilt to endow what would become Vanderbilt University, named in his honor. Garrison. Vanderbilt had little choice but to lease it to the War Department, at prices set by ship brokers. Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) decide to make a change in the As one of the richest Americans in history and wealthiest figures overall, Vanderbilt was the patriarch of a wealthy, influential family. This artwork was adapted and licensed, starting about 1968, by Hallmark (a manufacturer of paper products) and by Bloomcraft (a textile manufacturer), and Gloria began designing specifically for linens, china, glassware and flatware. In 1969 she was elected to the Fashion Hall of Fame. Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 January 4, 1877), also known by the sobriquet Commodore,[1] was an American entrepreneur. Cornelius Vanderbilt and his descendants (by year of birth), Other Vanderbilt descendants, but not of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Spouses of descendants of Cornelius Vanderbilt (by year of birth), Learn how and when to remove this template message, Elm Court (Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts), Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, list of largest houses in the United States, Christopher Denys Stormont Finch-Hatton, 16th Earl of Winchilsea, Daniel Finch-Hatton, 17th Earl of Winchilsea, John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough, John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, Charles James Spencer-Churchill, 12th Duke of Marlborough, George John Godolphin Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford, Kenneth Peter Lyle Mackay, 4th Earl of Inchcape, Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, Christopher Finch-Hatton, 15th Earl of Winchilsea, Laura Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Kenneth James William Mackay, 3rd Earl of Inchcape, Rosita Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Edla Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, James Spencer-Churchill, 12th Duke of Marlborough, Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh Railroad, International Auxiliary Language Association, Vanderbilt Gallery (American Fine Arts Society), Vanderbilt Clinic (Presbyterian Hospital), Cathedral of All Souls (Asheville, North Carolina), "Nederland's Patriciaat: Lijst van geslachten opgenomen in de jaargangen 1 (1910) t/m 91 (2012)", "Jan Jansen van Haarlem and Anthony Jansen van Salee", "The Episcopalians: An American Elite With Roots Going Back To Jamestown", "The 1891 Margaret Louisa Home - No. Vanderbilt brought his eldest son Billy in as vice-president of the Harlem. The Commodore said that he believed William was the only heir capable of maintaining the business empire. Examples include, Elm Court (Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts), The Vanderbilts were once the wealthiest family in the United States. Cornelius Vanderbilt of the New York Central gains control of the rail line between New York and Chicago by leasing the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, formerly headed by his son-in-law Horace F. Clark (see 1869; Clark, 1872), but Clark dies at New York June 19 at age 57 after heading the Union Pacific for less than a year and Jay Gould acquires his first Union Pacific shares (see Vanderbilt, 1877). Initially, her involvement in clothing consisted of putting her name (in place of the previous brandname, "Lucky Pierre", on a line of blouses produced by the Murjani Corporation. On December 19, 1813, Cornelius Vanderbilt married his cousin and neighbor, Sophia Johnson (1795-1868), daughter of his aunt Elizabeth Hand Johnson. [13], In November 1855, Vanderbilt began to buy control of Accessory Transit once again. [21][22] Another calculation, from 1998, puts him in third place, after Andrew Carnegie.[23]. When the Confederate ironclad Virginia (popularly known in the North as the Merrimack) wrought havoc with the Union blockading squadron at Hampton Roads, Virginia, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and President Abraham Lincoln called on Vanderbilt for help. Vanderbilt's displayed in regards to their personal American aristocracy. George Vanderbilt had a beautiful new family home, but as America's most eligible bachelor of his time, no one to share it with. up to $69!) Vanderbilt sent a man to Costa Rica who led a raid that captured the steamboats on the San Juan River, cutting Walker off from his reinforcements from the United States. Genealogy. (Although his daughters and Cornelius received bequests much smaller than those of their brothers, these made them very wealthy by the standards of 1877 and were not subject to inheritance tax.). His wife received $500,000, their New York City home, and 2,000 shares of common stock in the New York Central Railroad. Vanderbilt family, one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in the United States. She was found to have owed millions of dollars in back taxes and was forced to sell both her Southampton mansion as well as her home on New Yorks Upper East Side. Some of the first railroads in the United States were built from Boston to Long Island Sound, to connect with steamboats that ran to New York. But on November 24, 1817, a ferry entrepreneur named Thomas Gibbons asked Vanderbilt to captain his steamboat between New Jersey and New York. William Henry Vanderbilt. Username and password are case sensitive. After his father's death in 1885, he lived with his mother at 640 Fifth Avenue until his own townhouse at 9 West 53rd Street was . But the new Nicaraguan government refused to allow Vanderbilt to restart the transit business, so he started a line by way of Panama, eventually constructing a monopoly on the California steamship business. I am a big believer in the corrosive effects, the cancerous effects of that kind of money, Cooper told The Washington Post in an Oct. 14, 2021, interview. He also went to Washington, D.C., to hire Daniel Webster to argue the case before the Supreme Court. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He bought large amounts of real estate in Manhattan and Staten Island, and took over the Staten Island Ferry in 1838. Vanderbilt Family Tree. She was married four times, beginning with her marriage to Pat DiCicco in 1941 when she was 17. Anderson Cooper [1967] Anderson Cooper, son of Gloria Laura Vanderbilt [1924], is currently the only known prominent and active descendant of the famous Vanderbilt family, which had its origin with Cornelius Vanderbilt [1794-1877], the shipping and later the railroad tycoon of the nineteenth century. [18], New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy. An advertising campaign blitz and personal appearances ensured the gilded name of Vanderbilt appeared on the backsides of women across the country. They processed cotton from the Deep South, so were directly tied to the slave societies. Gibbons launched his steamboat venture because of a personal dispute with Ogden, whom he hoped to bankrupt. The case is still considered a landmark ruling, and is considered the basis for much of the prosperity the United States later enjoyed, After Thomas Gibbons died in 1826, Vanderbilt worked for his son, William Gibbons, until 1829. 1650, emigrating from Holland and settling on Staten Island, New Vanderbilt took control of the company just before these developments were announced. Uninjured in this accident was former U.S. President John Quincy Adams, riding in the car ahead of the one that derailed. Fortune's Children, a biography of the Vanderbilt Family's fall by a descendent Alfred T. Vanderbilt, provides a particularly illustrative anecdote. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, who was born into the wealthy Vanderbilt family and married into the Whitney family. I found a photo of her in a New York newspaper, The Evening World. Here's the link to get yours before they're all gone: Gloria Vanderbilt Denim Jeans, Shorts & Jackets - on sale $14.99 (reg. His company name was the Accessory Transit Company.([4]). Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was an American sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. On November 11, 1833, he was a passenger on a Camden & Amboy train that derailed in the meadows near Hightstown, New Jersey when a coach car axle broke because of a hot journal box. He also hired the attorney Daniel Webster to argue his case before the United States Supreme Court; Vanderbilt won, thereby establishing an early precedent for the United States' first laws of interstate commerce. Following his wife's death in 1868, Vanderbilt went to Canada where, on August 21, 1869, he married a cousin from Mobile, Alabama, named Frank Armstrong Crawford. Randolph convinced Walker to annul the charter of the Accessory Transit Company, and give the transit rights and company steamboats to him; Randolph then sold them to Garrison. She'll release a second song later this spring. She married, fourthly, in 1964, author Wyatt Emory Cooper; they had two sons, Carter Vanderbilt Cooper (1965-1988), and newsman Anderson Cooper (born 1967). Adopting the swan as her professional symbol, Gloria Vanderbilts sense of fantasy could be seen on an entire line of products resulting in $3 million dollars in sales by 1976. in New York City, New York, USA, This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: Cornelius VANDERBILT (1843), Copyright Wikipdia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. By the early 1970s, none of the 120 Vanderbilt descendants had even a million dollars to their name. Cornelius Vanderbilt "Sonny" Whitney (February 20, 1899 - December 13, 1992) was an American businessman, film producer, writer, philanthropist, polo player, and government official, as well as the owner of a stable of thoroughbred racehorses. Privacy Vanderbilt gave little of his vast fortune to charitable works, leaving the US$1 million he had promised for Vanderbilt University and $50,000 to the Church of the Strangers in New York City. He also donated to churches around New York, including a gift to the Moravian Church on Staten Island of 8 acres (34,000 m) for a cemetery in which he was later buried. Vanderbilt gave $1 million, the largest charitable gift in American history to that date. In 1869, they were merged into New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Corrections? Gloria Vanderbilt with . He then turned to transatlantic steamship lines, running in opposition to the heavily subsidized Collins Line, headed by Edward K. Collins. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. However, in 1965, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt passed away. George Washington Vanderbilt was the youngest Please try again. The funeral of, House. On November 8, 1833, Vanderbilt was nearly killed in the Hightstown rail accident on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey. Blough's wife, Melissa, competed for Colombia in the 2020 Olympics. Another sister, Samantha, was a track and field All-American at the University of Miami. She is many times an author and in 1994 created the anniversary graphic design for the Northwood University 25th annual Distinguished Womens celebration. Though the Commodore had once scorned Billy, he was impressed by his son's success. The son of Dutch settlers who arrived in the US in the 17th century, Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on 27 May 1794 in New York. The Dutch van der ("of the"/"from") was eventually added to Aertson's village name to create "van der Bilt" ("from De Bilt"), which was eventually condensed to Vanderbilt. Though the Commodore had once scorned him, he was impressed by William's success, and eventually made him operational manager of all his railroad lines. a land of opportunity, they became a royal family. In 1831, he took over his brother Jacob's line to Peekskill, New York, on the lower Hudson River. The Court never heard Vanderbilt's case, because on March 2, 1824, it ruled in Gibbons's favor, saying that states had no power to interfere with interstate commerce. [3], In addition to running his ferry, Vanderbilt bought his brother-in-law John De Forest's schooner Charlotte, and traded in food and merchandise, in partnership with his father and others. Robert Sobel The Big Board: A History of the New York Stock Market (1965) reprinted Beard Books (May 2000) ISBN 1-893122-66-2. In the end, he could not attract enough investment to build the canal, but he did start a steamship line to Nicaragua, and founded the Accessory Transit Company to carry passengers across Nicaragua by steamboat on the lake and river, with a 12-mile carriage road between the Pacific port of San Juan del Sur and Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua. up for the Blue Ridge Highlander Newsletter, Messages from the Mountains Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1853 - in a letter to former business associates Morgan & Garrison, the partnership of Charles Morgan and C.K. Through 3/6 at 9 am Eastern time, they are offering Gloria Vanderbilt Denim Jeans, Shorts & Jackets for just $14.99 (reg. Branches of the family are found on the United States East Coast. The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. In the end, he could not attract enough investment to build the canal, but he did start a steamship line to Nicaragua, and founded the Accessory Transit Company to carry passengers across Nicaragua by steamboat on the lake and river, with a 12-mile carriage road between the Pacific port of San Juan del Sur and Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua. The Vanderbilt family has held prominence in the world dating back many years, so it's no wonder that many people have a fascination with its members. Of the fourth generation, Cornelius son Cornelius III (18731942) was a financier. Born in Staten Island, New York, Vanderbilt began working on his father's ferry in New York harbor as a boy, quitting school at the age of 11. Vanderbilt also proved a quick study in legal matters, representing Gibbons in meetings with lawyers. Eventually he promoted him to operational manager of all his railroad lines. New York Central Railroad. Her cousin's husband, Holland McTyeire, convinced Vanderbilt to endow what would become Vanderbilt University, named in his honor. Vanderbilt lost more than $7 million in his attempt to gain control, although Gould later returned most of the money. [7], On November 8, 1833, Vanderbilt was nearly killed in a mugging in New Jersey. He began displaying Updates? But on November 24, 1817, a ferry entrepreneur named Thomas Gibbons asked Vanderbilt to captain his steamboat between New Jersey and New York. Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Mother of Private; Private; Anderson Cooper and Carter Vanderbilt Cooper It's all part of the family tree. In James Farley Vanderbiltmarried Jeanne Lou Hercingerandhad 1child. At 78, for Gloria Vanderbilt, triumph ahead means weathering any circumstance, still smiling. Vanderbilt's father. Vanderbilt's life story has inspired works of fiction, including the ambitious character of Nat Taggart in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (1957). Vanderbilt in later life When the California gold rush began in 1849, Vanderbilt switched from regional steamboat lines to ocean-going steamships. View Site Vanderbilt Family Tree | Vanderbilt, Family tree, Wealth Many of the migrants to California, and almost all of the gold returning to the East Coast, went by steamship to Panama, where mule trains and canoes provided transportation across the isthmus. All of the Vanderbilt multimillionaires descend through oldest son William Henry. his life the Commodore started a family tradition At the time of his death, aged 82, Vanderbilt had a fortune estimated at $100 million. When he tried to convince the U.S. and British governments to help restore the company to its rights and property, they refused. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt was also notable as the inventor of the game of contract bridge and as the skilled yachtsman who won the Americas Cup three times. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. In his will, he left 95% of his $100 million estate to his son William and to William's four sons ($5,000,000 to Cornelius Vanderbilt II, and $2 million apiece to William Kissam Vanderbilt, Frederick Vanderbilt, and George Washington Vanderbilt,II. Vanderbilt had little choice but to lease it to the War Department, at prices set by ship brokers. He was deeply involved in the operation of the Metropolitan Opera, in collecting art, and in racing yachts. Here, George [8], During these years, Vanderbilt also operated many other businesses. As a child, Gloria Vanderbilt didnt know anything about her family or their fortuneuntil she was thrown into the middle of a custody battle between her mother and her aunt over the money her father, the last male heir of the Vanderbilt fortune, left her after he died. I will ruin you. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. Fashion designer. [14], When the American Civil War began in 1861, Vanderbilt attempted to donate his largest steamship, the Vanderbilt, to the Union navy. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Biltmore House officially opened to family and friends on Christmas Eve, 1895. But Gould bribed the legislature to legalize the new stock. She had her first one-woman exhibition of oil paintings at the Bertha Schaeffer Gallery in Manhattan in 1952. She held her first Art Exhibition in 2001 to critical acclaim, and held a second exhibition in 2007. Policy. Happy in her role as wife, mother and artist, Gloria lived peacefully within the loving home she finally achieved.