The Vanderbilt Family

The Vanderbilt Family

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794, in Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York. He had 8 siblings, and grew up in poverty, watching his Father struggle to support them as a hand on a boat.

At age 11, Vanderbilt went to work on a steam boat to help his Father with expenses. At age 16, he earned 100 dollars from his parents and bought his own steam boat. From the one boat, he built himself a fleet and with it, a fortune.

When steamboats began to threaten his buisness, Vanderbilt sold his boats and worked as a steamboat captain. He went into the business for himself, amassing so many customers by undercutting competitors and keeping good boats that his competitors paid him to leave the Hudson River. From there, he began overseeing a transatlantic steamboat operation.

In the 1860's, railway travel started to grow in the United States. Cornelius Vanderbilt seized the opportunity by buying New York railways. As he made more money, he bought more railway, eventually stretching into Michigan and creating a 100 million dollar fortune.

Cornelius Vanderbilt had 9 children with his wife sophia.

William Henry Vanderbilt

William Henry was the first son of Cornelius and Sophia. He disappointed his Father in the world of business as a youth, and married to the disagreement of his Father at the age of 19 to Maria Louisa Kissam.

His Father sent him and his bride to a struggling farm in Staten Island. Much to his Father's surprise, he created a profitable operation. He then convinced his Father to put him in charge of the bankrupt Staten Island portion of the railroad. He managed to turn that branch into a profitable operation. His Father made him vice president of their entire railroad empire, until he innherited the business after his Father's death in 1877. Over the course of his life, he managed to double the family fortune to 200 million dollars.

William Henry also made large donations to Columbia University, and had a hand in the creation of Vanderbilt University.

William Henry and Maria Louisa had 8 children.

George Washington Vanderbilt II

George Washington Vanderbilt made huge donations to both the Medical school of Columbia University and the Manhatten opera. He married Edith Stuyvesant and they had one daughter, Cornelia. After visiting the Asheville area of North Carolina in 1888, he began constructing the Biltmore house in 1889. Their daughter, Cornelia, had two sons who eventually inherited the Biltmore estate. The estate is still owned by their families.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Sophia Vanderbilt

• Phoebe Jane Vanderbilt Cross
• Ethelinda Vanderbilt Allen
• Eliza Vanderbilt Osgood
• William Henry Vanderbilt
• Emily Almira Vanderbilt Thorn
• Sophia Johnson Vanderbilt Torrence
• Maria Louisa Vanderbilt Clark Niven
• Frances Lavinia Vanderbilt
• Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt

• Cornelius Vanderbilt II
• Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shephard
• William Kissam Vanderbilt
• Emily Thorn Vanderbilt Sloane White
• Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly
• Fredrick William Vanderbilt
• Eliza Vanderbilt Webb
• George Washington Vanderbilt II

Cornelius Vanderbilt II had 6 children

Built the Margaret Louisa House to be donated to the Young Women's Christian Association

William had three children

Married twice, first to William Sloane, then to Douglas WHite

Built Forham Manor, and was known for her lavish lifestyle

Managed railroads for 61 years all over the Northeast

Created the most modern farm int he northeast with her husband, Seward Webb

William Henry and Maria Louisa had

Template by Missing Link

Images from Shutterstock.com