Cornelius Vanderbilt

Information to know

• He was born on May 27, 1794
• Cornelius was named after his father.
• His nickname was Cornele.
• Cornelius created his monopoly from steamships and railroads.

Cornelius had five other siblings which was thought to make him very competitive by historians.

To begin with, Cornelius had very little education. Specifically three months and he learned to read well but many of his writings had misspelled words.

When Cornelius was just 11 years old his older brother Jacob died and his younger sister Phebe soon died as well. He never mentioned the death of his siblings because he was in shock of this.

Cornelius lived with his mother, father and five other siblings in a two-story house on Staten Island, New York.

Living on an island, Cornelius' father traveled by boat back and forth to the mainland in order to trade crops, food, and other essentials for money.

At a young age, Cornelius learned the use and importance of money from his family.

Since his family was not rich, Cornele worked with his father as a boatman taking his older brothers place. Trade was the most effective way for money making for his family at the time.

When Cornele was just 16, he wanted his own source of income so he got his own boat and started his own business transporting people from the island to the mainland for a shilling each. (12.5 cents)

During the war of 1812, Cornelius transported soldiers to and from Fort Richmond to Manhattan, contributing to the war.

On September 9, 1850 California became the 13th state of the United States. Cornelius Vanderbilt, already having his monopoly in the railroad and steamship industry, made a transatlantic steamship line to California.

Quotes About Vanderbilt!

In a letter that Mark Twain wrote to Vanderbilt he says, "You seem to be the idol of... a crawling swarm of small souls who...sing of your unimportant private habits and sayings and doings, as if your millions gave them dignity."

"His admirers saw him as the ultimate meritocracy...to them, he symbolized America's opportunities."

"His critics called him grasping and ruthless, an unelected king who never pretended to rule for his people."

"His personal role in Central America had been more important than that of the White House or the State Department."

"[Cornelius] Abated a panic on Wall Street that threatened to ring in a depression."

"In 1867, he had stopped all trains into New York City from the west to bring the New York Central Railroad to its knees."

"Rockefeller, Carnegie, Gould, Morgan-all were just beginning their careers when Vanderbilt was at his height."

Fun Facts!

• The first person of the Vanderbilt's to move into the U.S. was Jan Aertsen Van Der Bilt.
• She moved from the Netherlands to "New Netherlands" in the 1650's
• Soon, an unknown ancestor moved to Staten Island because the English conquered the area and called it New York.

Fun Facts! (Continued)

• From then on, the Vanderbilt's lived and multiplied there.
• Cornelius got married at the age of 19 to his cousin Sophia Johnson.
• Him and Sophia ended up with 11 kids together.

In the end, Cornelius became a very successful person. Cornelius was very competitive growing up. With the little education he had, it was hard to be the person he is today. I want to be like Vanderbilt and work hard and be as determined as he was. I would love to be like him and create something that will be used for generations on.

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