USA > New York > Staten Island > History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York : from its discovery to the present time > Part 56
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In his nineteenth year Mr. Vanderbilt fell in love with, and married, his cousin, Miss Sophia Johnson, the daughter of his father's sister Eleanor. The ceremony took place November 19, 1813. Immediately after it he redoubled his efforts to place himself on a solid business foundation. From the profits of a contract with the commissary department of the United States for delivering food to the six forts in New York bay, together with other moneys which he had accumulated, he built a small schooner for the coasting trade, which he called the "Dread." The following year he built a much larger one named after his sister Charlotte, and placed it on the line between New York and Charleston. About this time, also, he began to study the modelling and planning of vessels, which finally ended in his abandoning sails for the then modern invention, the steamboat.
The end of 1817 found him twenty-three years of age, mar- ried, with nine thousand dollars in his possession, and out of business. He had heartily esponsed the cause of Gibbons, proprietor of the steam line between New York city and New Brunswick, N. J., in the fight which that gentleman was con- ducting against the Fulton Livingston New York steamboat monopoly. Mr. Gibbons, knowing his quality of determination, and appreciating the assistance which he had rendered him, offered Mr. Vanderbilt the command of the small steamboat "Mouse of the Mountain," which he accepted at a salary of one thousand dollars per annum.
For twelve years he remained with Gibbons, fighting continu- ally against his monopolistic opponents. During this period he
*Many interesting incidents in the life of Commodore Vanderbilt may be found in a racy little volume, by W. A. Croffut, entitled "The Vanderbilts "- Bedford, Clarke & Co., 1886.
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added considerably to his income by the purchase and mainten- ance of the Half-way House at New Brunswick, where ten of his thirteen children were born. Finally. the law giving Fulton Livingston the sole right to run steamboats in the waters of New York state was repealed, and Mr. Vanderbilt, feeling that he could greatly increase his income by engaging in business for himself, even though Gibbons offered him an equal partner- ship in his line, then paying forty thousand dollars a year, turned his eyes in the direction of the Hudson river and Long Island sound traffic. For the purpose of facilitating the accom- plishment of his projects, he sold his hotel and removed to New York city with his family in 1829. He resided for a short time in Stone street, also in East Broadway, after which he removed to Stapleton, Staten Island, where he built the commodious and stately residence at present in the possession of Mr. George H. Daley.
From the time of his leaving New Brunswick, Mr. Vander- bilt made money rapidly, and the schemes which he put into operation for the increase of his fortune followed each other in quick succession. In the spring of 1830 he commenced running a line of boats, which had been built for him and which con- tained many improvements of his own invention. on the Hud- son river. At first he was opposed in this by the Stevenses, Daniel Drew and Dean Richmond, all of whom. however, rapidly disappeared before his unconquerable management and indomitable industry. For five years after leaving Gibbons he made thirty thousand dollars a year, which he doubled after the expiration of that period. At the age of forty he had more than a score of vessels running in all directions. and the num- ber was so rapidly increasing that he began to be called the Commodore, a name which ever afterward clung to him. Be- tween 1840 and 1850 his receipts were enormous, and he realized that people were looking upon his extensive operations and growing wealth with that curiosity which phenomenal success always attracts.
In 1849 he commenced his famous battle with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company by transporting passengers across Lake Nicaragua, located among the tops of the Andes. To accom- plish this he was obliged to get a small side-wheel steamer ("The Director") up the San Juan river, full of cascades and rapids, which he succeeded in jumping by tying down the safety valve,
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to the great consternation of the accompanying engineers. He made more than one million dollars a year in Nicaragua, besides the income from his other enterprises at the same time. In 1853 he sold out the route to the Transit Line and started on his voyage in the "North Star," then the largest steam yacht ever constructed. Accompanying him were his wife and eleven children. Everywhere through Europe Mr. Vanderbilt was re- ceived with marked respect by the various sovereigns and peo- ples, who looked upon his self-made wealth with surprise and wonder. This trip gave a great impetus to emigration, and was influential in bringing to this country many who recognized in him the legitimate product of free institutions.
On his return to America Commodore Vanderbilt became en- gaged in an altercation with the Nicaragua Transit Company, which, in his absence, had grown rich by systematically de- franding him. The course which he took on that occasion was characteristic. After first warning them of his intentions, he put on an opposition line, and in one year the Transit Company was bankrupt. Nine years longer he continued in the California business, accumulating not less than ten million dollars; but the filibuster Walker put an end to further operations by seiz- ing the Vanderbilt franchise and nearly capturing his steamers.
Mr. Vanderbilt's next venture was in the direction of the transatlantic traffic. At that time this was divided between the Cunard Line of English steamers and the Collins Weekly Line (American). These furnished only half the service required. The commodore offered to form a partnership with Collins, but the latter declined. fearing that if Mr. Vanderbilt once got his hand on the European trade he would monopolize it and in all probability crowd him out. For some time the commodore waged war with his voluntary antagonist over the United States mails, which had heretofore been carried at an enormous rate; and finally, when Mr. Collins' power at Washington was too great to be overthrown. he offered to carry the mails for noth- ing. President Pierce vetoed the Collins subsidy and Mr. Vanderbilt placed the three steamers, "Vanderbilt," "Ariel " and "Harvest Queen," on the route. With these he beat the Collins steamers nine times out of ten. He soon made his line the favorite of travelers, and before long succeeded in so mo- nopolizing the trade that the Collins line disappeared from the ocean. For years he continued the transatlantic traffic, and
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gave it up only when he found that the rapidly growing railroad interests of the country furnished him with a better invest- ment for his money. At the time he commenced to put money in railroad stock he had built fifty-one steamboats and steam- ships, besides schooners and other vessels, and he was the largest employer in the country. He owned nearly a hundred vessels, and his powerful hand was felt in every commercial circle in the world.
The war of the rebellion, in its effect upon a man of Mr. Vanderbilt's wealth and temperament, was of the greatest im- portance. From its outbreak he favored offensive measures, and, together with Thurlow Weed, interested himself in the sending of troops to the front. Mr. Lincoln, noticing the ardor with which he espoused the federal cause, sent for him, after the sinking of the "Cumberland" by the "Merrimac," and offered him money to stop the progress of the rebel ram. Re- fusing compensation, he returned to New York, received a quota of government seamen aboard his favorite ship " Van- derbilt," and soon afterward was steaming up the James in quest of the confederate ram. The "Merrimac" did not reappear, however, and the commodore wrote to Mr. Lincoln offering him the loan of his ship till the close of the war. Congress ordered a medal struck in his honor and presented to the donor, and the " Vanderbilt," then probably the handsomest and best equipped steamer afloat, and representing a value of eight hun- dred thousand dollars, passed into the possession of the United States government.
In the winter of 1862-63, Mr. Vanderbilt made his first invest- ments in railroad stock, a move which at the time was consid- ered by his friends to be impolitic. He was then in his 69th year, and it was thought that the intricate methods of Wall street would be too much for his declining days. But the fact that in the next fourteen years he succeeded in withdrawing his immense fortune entirely from its maritime investment, doubling it four times over, and obtaining for it the most solid of all security then known to the American financier, shows the mental power which he possessed and the clearness of his judg- ment. His first investment was in Harlem, then selling at from seven to nine. Under the impetus of his name it soon rose to thirty, and shortly afterward to par, on his obtaining from the common council of New York city a franchise for a street rail-
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road to the Battery. The phenomenal rise thus given the stock excited the bears, who, after selling immense quantities of Har- lem short, attempted to injure the commodore by influencing the withdrawal of the street franchise. They succeeded, by forming a combination with the aldermen, in having the charter repealed; but found to their sorrow that he had outdone them by purchasing all the stock and holding it in his possession. Some of it sold as high as two hundred and eighty-five, and from the millions which he realized in this cornering of Harlem Mr. Vanderbilt began investing in Hudson River stock, then (in the fall of 1863) selling at twenty-five. His idea was, if pos- sible, to control the road and secure its consolidation with the Harlem. For this purpose he went to Albany and secured the promises of a majority of the legislators that they would give their votes in favor of the measure. Again, as in the instance of the common conncil, he found that duplicity was being prac- ticed upon him. The honorable members of assembly and their friends were selling Hudson River short, preparatory to break- ing their pledges and defeating the bill. This caused Mr. Van- derbilt to form a combination with John Tobin, afterward pres- ident of the road, and Leonard Jerome. They secured, as in the Harlem corner, nearly all the stock of the road. The legis- lators went on selling till they had disposed of twenty-seven thousand more shares of stock than existed, and when the time came to cover their shorts there was a panic in Wall street. Hundreds were ruined outright, and Mr. Vanderbilt's reputa- tion as a railroad manipulator was firmly maintained.
The acquisition of the Hudson River Railroad by the com- modore gave him great power over the transit of the state, which was, however, hampered to a certain extent by the arbitrary conduct of the New York Central, under the control of Dean Richmond and Peter Cagger. These gentlemen adopted a course with Mr. Vanderbilt which was from the first calculated to excite his displeasure. They refused to unite with him in any measure for the better accommodation of either passengers or freight, and caused him to retaliate by a bold movement, which finally gained him possession of the New York Central road. Richmond and Cagger had been in the habit of using Drew's river boats as an outlet for their freight in New York city during the summer months, but in the winter they were obliged to send it over the Hudson River road. Mr. Vander-
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bilt took advantage of this fact, and refused to run any trains to Albany during the winter, thus reducing the stock of the Central more than fifteen per cent., after which he bought large amounts of it, and gained the management. Three years later, November 1, 1869, he secured its consolidation with the Hudson River road under the name of the New York Central and Hud- son River Railroad Company. Even now Mr. Vanderbilt found that his path was not entirely clear. New difficulties presented themselves in the senseless and ruinous rate cutting of the Erie road, against which all his remonstrances were in vain. After trying in various ways to outwit Daniel Drew and his friends. then in control of that company, he decided that his only plan would be to purchase the road. He accordingly commenced a rapid absorption of Erie stock, while Drew, Fisk and Gould sold short. For a while the issue of the battle between these giants of finance seemed doubtful, but the odds were in favor of the commodore. No one suspected the trick which Drew and his companions were about to put in practice: nothing less, indeed, than the issue of bogus stock. One hundred thousand shares of this were suddenly thrown on the market, and Mr. Vanderbilt unknowingly bought the whole issue. Immediately on discovering the fraud, he put the machinery of the law in motion. Drew, Fisk and Gould fled to New Jersey, carrying nearly seven million dollars of greenbacks with them. But they were finally pressed to such an extent by Mr. Vanderbilt's lawyers that they agreed to a restitution of several millions. The commodore, however, never fully recovered his loss in this transaction. After the matter had subsided, he made no further effort to obtain control of the Erie road, and for some years devoted his energy to the improvement of the properties already in his possession. He caused the tracks of the Harleni and New York Central and Hudson River Roads to be relaid and reballasted, new rolling stock was added to their outfit, the St. John's Park property was purchased and the freight depot erected. A charter was also obtained for an immense union de- pot at Forty-second street, and the building was constructed, together with the splendid system of viaduct tracks forming the entrance to the city of the northern, western and eastern railroads. This was accomplished at a cost of six million tive hundred thousand dollars, half of which was borne by the city of New York. On November 10, 1869, the famous Albert de
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Groot bas-relief, emblematical of Commodore Vanderbilt's career, was unveiled in the presence of more than ten thousand people. The design was most happy, and plainly tells the story of his rise from farmer's boy to railroad king. It occupies a position over the east front of the depot at St. John's Park, and it is said to have cost in the neighborhood of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The vast improvement which Mr. Vanderbilt made in his roads by the constant exercise of his managerial skill, together with their ever-increasing traffic. add- ed greatly to their value. and he at last applied to the legis- lature for permission to increase their capital stock from thirty- five million dollars to ninety million dollars. This was granted, and he derived as his personal share of profit from the transac- tion twenty-six million dollars.
In November, 1873, Mr. Vanderbilt found himself obliged by the death of his son-in-law, Horace F. Clark, who had formerly, through his position of president of the Lake Shore & Mich- igan Southern, controlled for the New York Central road an outlet in Chicago, to purchase the former road. The advantage secured by rival railroad managers through the combination of the Grand Trunk and Great Western railroads also obliged him later on to secure the Canada Southern and the Michigan Central, which, when added to his former acquisitions, composed the finest and best equipped railroad property in the world.
The commodore met with the loss of his wife August 17, 1868. Her death took place at the residence of her son-in-law, Horace F. Clark, where she was visiting. It was a great blow to her husband and family. Mrs. Vanderbilt was one of the noblest of women, affectionate, thoughtful and self-denying. She had borne thirteen children, twelve of whom reached ma- turity. Her burial took place at New Dorp in the presence of a crowd of affectionate friends. Among the pall bearers were A. T. Stewart and Horace Greely.
A year later, in 1869, Mr. Vanderbilt married, at the little town of London in Canada, another of his cousins, Miss Frank A. Crawford. Augustus Schell and James Tillinghast were the · sole witnesses of this ceremony. The second Mrs. Vanderbilt exercised a softening and refining influence over her husband and made him a loving and attentive companion in his old age. It was largely due to her influence that he established the "Van - derbilt University," of Tennessee, at a cost to himself of $1,000,-
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000, and also that he purchased for the friend of his latter days, Rev. Dr. Deems, "The Church of the Strangers," costing $50, 000.
On January 4, 1877, the great railroad king, then at the age of eighty-three, died. His funeral excited an intensity of inter est equal to that shown toward no other man, purely of a private character, who had preceded him. A large number of friends followed his body to its last resting place at New Dorp, and the items of his will were telegraphed to all parts of the world, where they were eagerly sought by thousands whose interests they might incidentally affect.
Thus passed from the stage of usefulness perhaps the ablest man of affairs the world has ever seen. He left behind him a large family, of whom William Henry Vanderbilt was the eldest son. On examination of the will it was found that the commo- dore had left the bulk of his fortune, amounting to nearly $90, - 000,000, in his hands. How well he managed the trust imposed on him by his father will be seen in the following sketch of his life.
William Henry Vanderbilt was born at New Brunswick, N. J., May 8, 1821. For four years he attended the public school in that place; but shortly after his father's removal to New York city, in 1829, he became a student of Columbia Grammar school.
At sixteen he began his business career as a ship chandler, and two years later he entered the office of Drew, Robinson & Co., bankers on Wall street, the senior partner of which was Daniel Drew. The young man had been for some time consid- ering the adverse opinion which his father seemed to have formed of him. He saw that it was an obstacle to his progress, and resolved if possible to remove it. With this end in view, he devoted himself unreservedly to his work, and as a result, his advancement at the bank was a rapid one. On entering it his salary was placed at $150 per annum. The second year it was 8300, and the third it was 81,000. At the age of twenty he married Miss Maria Louisa Kissam, daughter of a Brooklyn clergyman of the Dutch Reformed church, and with her he went to board in East Broadway. His father was then worth in the neighborhood of $1,000,000, but he had made up his mind that his son was reckless and that helping him would but be wasting money; so he allowed him to live on as he had started, without his aid. At last the young man's health
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gave way, and his physicians notified his father that he must be taken from the bank or the result might prove fatal.
The commodore looked about for some means of employing his son, which would at the same time enable him to recover his health. Finally he decided on purchasing for him a farm at New Dorp, S. I., between the old Moravian church and the sea, and to it William and his wife removed (in 1842) with the deter- mination that they would make the best of the situation. The house to which they went was a plain two-story structure facing the sea, with a lean-to for a kitchen. It probably did not contain more than five rooms. The farm also was very small, and was a part of the neglected barrens of Staten Island. It needed to be carefully tilled and abundantly fertilized to make it fruitful.
From the first Mr. Vanderbilt made a success of farming. As at the bank, he gave his undivided attention to the task before him, and got as much as was possible out of his narrow acres. His rule was hard work during the day, and rest at night. Essen- tially a domestic man, he lived, while at New Dorp, and, in fact, during his whole life, always with and for his family. When he left Staten Island, on his father's accession to the control of Harlem, he had by his own efforts enlarged his farm to three hundred and fifty acres, re-built his house, now one of the finest farm-houses of Richmond county, and his produce was yielding him $1,000 a month or $12,000 a year.
The construction of the Staten Island railroad shortly before the war was a scheme in which Mr. Vanderbilt had deeply inter- ested himself. This thoroughfare proved of great convenience, especially to the farmers and residents in the southern portion of the island, but owing to bad management it was soon over- laden with debt, and it became necessary to place it in the hands of a receiver. Through his father's influence, who was then a principal stockholder, he was appointed to the place. He had no experience as a manager, but he began by applying rules of common sense to the task before him ; and at last suc- ceeded, by reducing expenses, stopping leaks, discovering new sources of patronage, and connecting the road with New York city by an independent line of ferries, in placing the company on such a footing that its stock, from being valueless, rose to 8175 a share. All this was accomplished in two years, and as a result Mr. Vanderbilt was made president of the road.
From this time forward, the commodore looked upon his son
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with more favor. He soon afterward sent him to Europe to look after a brother, Captain George Vanderbilt, whose health had been wrecked in the war of the rebellion, and who had been spending a year in the Riviera. This young man, his father's favorite, died at Paris, not long after his brother's arrival, and subsequently William occupied his place in the paternal affec- tions. When his father assumed control of the Harlem Rail- road he was made vice-president, and the management of the commodore's schemes for the improvement of the property were all intrusted to his care. Me soon after became vice-president of the Hudson River Railroad, and on the consolidation of the lat- ter with the New York Central he was elected vice-president of the combined system. He put into operation the same methods in the reconstruction of these roads which had been used by him with such success in that of the Staten Island road. Expenses were reduced to a minimum ; old ties and old cars were burnt and replaced with new material ; ornaments were removed from locomotives, superfluous and incompetent employees and officers were either dispensed with entirely or replaced by men whose ability was undoubted, and who, together with the intelligence which directed their movements, made the Vanderbilt system of railroads what it is to-day-the finest and most thoroughly equipped in the world. Its value was so greatly enhanced by Mr. Vanderbilt's management that, although the amount of stock was nearly doubled, its selling price was increased from $75 to $200 a share.
In superintending his father's roads, Mr. Vanderbilt was me- thodical and industrious, and in familiarizing himself with routine work he gave attention to the minutest details. He carefully investigated every department of the vast machinery under his charge, and probably no railroad manager in the country ever became more conversant with the necessities of his roads than did he. Together with his father, he controlled the great trunk line to Chicago with an ability never before mani- fested, and his addition to the New York Central railroad of two extra tracks for freight, made that road the greatest com- mercial highway in the country.
At the age of fifty-five, on his father's death, Mr. Van- derbilt became the possessor of the greater part of his estate amounting to nearly $90,000,000. The interests which the com- modore held seemed to render this disposition of his fortune
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necessary, and the wisdom of his will has been many times re- cognized by the American public since his death. The passage of this immense amount from father to son was unaccompanied by any downward tendency of values, and was managed by Mr. Vanderbilt with such ability that it created no jar or friction in financial circles. He at once became president of all the roads of which he had before been vice-president; but his relation to affairs remained substantially the same.
The first year after his father's deatlı was signalized by vig- orons rate cutting among the trunk lines in west bound freight. Mr. Vanderbilt from the first looked for a peaceful solution of the difficulty, and his suggestion in favor of a compromise was finally adopted. But trouble in this direction was hardly over when the railroad strikes and riots began. The cutting of rates had been the cause of rednced wages, and ten per cent. had been taken from the employees of the Vanderbilt roads. At the time Mr. Vanderbilt was at Saratoga, from which place, appre- hending an outbreak, he sent out a proclamation to the effect that the New York Central would give to those in its employ, the departmental and clerical forces excepted, $100,000, to be divided ratably. He also promised a restoration of old rates as soon as the business of the road warranted the action. This quieted the apprehensions of his employees, and subsequently no difficulty of the kind has been known on any road under his control.
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