Vanderbilt proposed a canal across Nicaragua, which was closer to the United States and was spanned most of the way across by Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River. He later bought the Canada Southern as well. [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. [4], When Vanderbilt entered his new position, Gibbons was fighting against a monopoly on steamboats in New York waters, granted by the New York legislature to the politically influential patrician, Robert Livingston, and steamboat designer Robert Fulton. It had a key advantage: it was the only steam railroad to enter the center of Manhattan, running down 4th Avenue (later Park Avenue) to a station on 26th Street, where it connected with a horse-drawn streetcar line. FROM NEW YORK today, ... WASHINGTON”. By age 16 he was operating his own business, ferrying freight and passengers between Staten Island and Manhattan. 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. It was finished in 1871, and served as his lines' terminus in New York. Death of, ... Chief Clerk. Should you have information that conflicts with anything shown please make us aware by email. (The Panama Railroad was soon built to provide a faster crossing.) Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles refused it, thinking its operation and maintenance too expensive for what he expected to be a short war. Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), also known by the sobriquet Commodore,[1] was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads and was the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family. Her cousin's husband, Holland McTyeire, convinced Vanderbilt to endow what would become Vanderbilt University, named in his honor. 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. Jun 14, 2012 - This Pin was discovered by V P. Discover (and save!) In early 1853, he took his family on a grand tour of Europe in his steamship yacht, the North Star. [11], When the California gold rush began in 1849, Vanderbilt switched from regional steamboat lines to ocean-going steamships. In addition, he donated to churches around New York, including a gift to the Moravian Church on Staten Island of 8½ acres for a cemetery (the Moravian Cemetery). 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. 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. Set to be the next Supreme Court Judge. John and Cornelia chose to reside at Biltmore, where they had two sons: George Henry Vanderbilt Cecil (born in 1925), and William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil (born in 1928). Meghan and Harry are now US based. Three of his daughters and son Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt contested the will on the grounds that their father had insane delusions and was of unsound mind. He was the eldest son of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, an heir to his fortune and a prominent member of the Vanderbilt family. Vanderbilt used the leverage of a lawsuit to get his losses back, but he and Gould became public enemies. First he took over Gibbons' ferry to New Jersey, then switched to western Long Island Sound. He lived modestly, leaving his descendants to build the Vanderbilt houses that characterize America's Gilded Age. 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. Using the name "The People's Line," he used the populist language associated with Democratic president Andrew Jackson to get popular support for his business. Though both Livingston and Fulton had died by the time Vanderbilt went to work for Gibbons, the monopoly continued in the hands of Livingston's heirs, who had granted a license to Aaron Ogden to run a ferry between New York and New Jersey. 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.[2]. Line, headed by Edward K. 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