Vanderbilt Family

6 Pages 1528 Words

Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794-January 4, 1877) was an American steamship and railroad builder, executive, financier, and promoter. He was a man of boundless energy, and his acute business sense enabled him to outmaneuver his rivals. He left an estate of almost $100 million.

Vanderbilt was born to a poor family and quit school at the age of 11 to work for his father who was engaged in boating. When he turned 16 he persuaded his mother to give him $100 loan for a boat to start his first business. He opened a transport and freight service between New York City and Staten Island for eighteen cents a trip. He repaid the loan after the first year with an additional $1,000. He was rough in manners and developed a reputation for honesty. He charged reasonable prices and worked prodigiously.

The War of 1812 created new opportunities for expansion, and Vanderbilt received a government contract to supply the forts around New York. Large profits allowed him to build a schooner and two other vessels for coastal trade. Vanderbilt got his nickname "Commodore" being in command of the largest schooner on the Hudson River. By 1817 he possessed $9,000 in addition to the interest in the sailing vessels.

Well on the way to fame and fortune, Vanderbilt sold his interests and turned his attention to steamboats in 1818, observing the success of Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston on the Hudson River. He went under the employ of Thomas Gibbons, operating a ferry service between New Brunswick, New Jersey and New York City, which was an important link in the New York-Philadelphia freight, mail, and passenger route. He charged his customers one dollar while other captains charged four dollars for the same trip. There was opposition from Fulton and Livingston, who claimed Vanderbilt was breaking the law as they had a legal monopoly on Hudson River traffic. They sued Gibbons, and the case reached the Supreme Court. In the famous 1824 decision, Gibbo...