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Cornelius Vanderbilt

American business tycoon (1794–1877)

For other people named Cornelius Vanderbilt, see Cornelius Vanderbilt (disambiguation).

Cornelius Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt c. 1844–1860
Born	May 27, 1794 Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Died	January 4, 1877(1877-01-04) (aged 82) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Burial place	Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum, Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Businessman
Spouses	Sophia Johnson (m. 1813; died 1868)
Children	13
Relatives	Vanderbilt family

Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping.^[1]^[2] After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into leadership positions in the inland water trade and invested in the rapidly growing railroad industry, effectively transforming the geography of the United States.

As one of the richest Americans in history and

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Book Review: "The First Tycoon"

People know four things about Cornelius Vanderbilt: He founded the New York Central Railroad. His nickname, “Commodore,” referred sardonically to his beginnings sailing a one-man Staten Island ferry. He remarked, “The public? The public be damned!” And he inadvertently caused the potato chip to be invented.

Wrong on each count.

Vanderbilt made the New York Central (founded by others) great, but Commodore was the press’s salute to a shipping mogul. He left it to his son William to damn the public, and the irresistible potato chip myth — the crusty Commodore sends back fried potatoes as insufficiently thin and salty, and the equally crusty Saratoga Springs chef says, “I’ll give him thin and salty” — is belied by the fact that the chip got to the restaurant ahead of the Commodore.

These corrections, amid an extraordinary wealth of learning and insight about a great man and his times, can be found in the meticulously researched and brilliantly written The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T. J. Stiles ’91GSAS. O

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Cornelius Vanderbilt: Early Years

A descendant of Dutch settlers who came to America in the mid-1600s, Cornelius Vanderbilt was born into humble circumstances on May 27, 1794, on Staten Island, New York. His parents were farmers and his father also made money by ferrying produce and merchandise between Staten Island and Manhattan in his two-masted sailing vessel, known as a periauger. As a boy, the younger Vanderbilt worked with his father on the water and attended school briefly. When Vanderbilt was a teen he transported cargo around the New York harbor in his own periauger. Eventually, he acquired a fleet of small boats and learned about ship design.

Did you know? During the U.S. Civil War, Cornelius Vanderbilt donated his largest and fastest steamship, named the Vanderbilt and built for around $1 million, to the Union Navy. The vessel was used to chase down Confederate raiders.

In 1813, Vanderbilt married his cousin Sophia Johnson, and the couple eventually had 13 children. (A year after his first wife died in 1868, Vanderbilt married another female cousin, Frank Armstro