774 



VANDERBILT, WILLIAM H. 



trapping weak and vicious persons into the ing able to draw the Governor of the Terri- 



corumission of offenses against chastity and torj into her toils. 



morality, in order that all such might be ex- At the December session of Congress a bill 



posed and punished in the courts." It is be- was reported from the Judiciary Committee by 



lieved to have been designed to entrap and Senator Edmunds, which contains very strin- 



disgrace United States officials. One woman gent provisions. It was passed by the Senate 



was promised $1,000 in the event of her be- early in 1886. 



V 



VANDERBILT, WILLIAM H., an American capi- 

 talist, born in New Brunswick, N. J., May 8, 

 1821 ; died in New York city, Dec. 8, 1885. He 

 was the eldest son of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and 

 was sent to Columbia College Grammar School, 

 where he acquired a fair knowledge of the 

 ordinary branches. He was placed at work, 

 while yet a boy, in a ship-chandlery ; but when 

 he reached the age of eighteen he obtained a 

 clerkship in the banking-house of Drew, Robin- 

 son, & Co., and devoted himself to his new du- 

 ties with great zeal, and determined to prove 

 that he possessed some at least of the qualities 

 needful to the acquisition of fortune. His sal- 

 ary was small, and his wealthy father made 

 him no allowance. In 1841 he married Miss 

 M. L. Kissam, daughter of a Brooklyn clergy- 

 man, and she was her husband's best coun- 

 selor through life. 



Mr. Vanderbilt's health broke down in 1842, 

 and it became imperative upon him to give up 

 sedentary occupations. His father purchased 

 seventy-five acres of unimproved land near 

 New Dorp, Staten Island, and gave it to him. 

 He declined giving or loaning his son money, 

 and left the young man to work his own way. 

 Mr. Vanderbilt mortgaged the land for $6,000, 

 whereupon his father sent him the money, and 

 told him to "go and pay off that mortgage 

 right away." The speedy progress of improve- 

 ments on the farm, showing good judgment 

 and sound sense, and the popularity that his 

 son was acquiring among his neighbors on the 

 island, afforded much satisfaction to the com- 

 modore, and he began to see that he had un- 

 dervalued the ability of the active and diligent 

 young farmer. Year after year the boundaries 

 of the farm were widened, until they included 

 350 acres, and the profits of produce, over and 

 above the cost of cultivation, amounted to $12,- 

 000 a year. 



The Staten Island Railroad, in 1860, by bad 

 management and inefficient directors, was over- 

 whelmed with debts and embarrassments, and 

 it became necessary to put it into the hands 

 of a receiver. Mr. Vanderbilt, though he had 

 had no experience in railroad matters, was well 

 known to the community as a man of rare en- 

 ergy and business capacity, and he was ap- 

 pointed receiver. In two years he had paid 

 off all the claims against the company, brought 

 the road into connection with New York city 

 by an independent line of ferry - boats, and 

 placed it upon a secure financial basis. He was 

 then elected president of the company, and was 



busily occupied in its service, when, by his fa- 

 ther's request, he accompanied a younger broth- 

 er, broken down by injuries received in the 

 war, to Europe, in the hope of saving his life. 

 He traveled for more than a year with his 

 brother, but to no purpose, and returned home 

 alone. His father was now showing the effects 

 of advancing years, and, being convinced of his 

 son's ability to carry out great railroad pro- 

 jects, he leaned upon him entirely. On re- 

 turning from Europe, William was elected Vice- 

 President of the Harlem Railroad Company, 

 and thenceforward resided in the city of New 

 York. 



In 1865 the commodore secured his son's 

 election as Vice-President of the New York and 

 Hudson River Railroad Company, and was de- 

 lighted to find that William was able to enter 

 into his plans and effectively carry them into 

 execution. Henceforth, while the commodore 

 lived, no important movement was made with- 

 out his son's approval. When a controlling 

 interest in the New York Central Railroad had 

 been secured, William suggested to his father 

 that, for convenience and facility in meeting 

 competition, the line from New York to Buf- 

 falo should be continuous and under one man- 

 agement. The idea was approved, and in 1869 

 the Central and Hudson River Companies were 

 consolidated, and a corporation was created 

 having 700 miles of double track in its main 

 lines and branches. Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt was 

 made its first vice-president and executive offi- 

 cer. Although his father was nominally at the 

 head of affairs, it was chiefly due to his son 

 William that this great property was nearly 

 trebled, and became one of the greatest and 

 most prosperous railroads in the world. The 

 Harlem Railroad also was relieved of all its 

 embarrassments, and made one of the best pay- 

 ing roads in the State. 



Commodore Vanderbilt died early in 1877, 

 and bequeathed ninety-five out of a hundred 

 million dollars to his eldest son. The other 

 heirs began a contest for what they deemed 

 their rightful share in the wealth ; and William, 

 anxious to prevent making public his father's 

 affairs, offered a compromise, in the payment 

 of a round sum, and the contestants agreed 

 thereto. Although he was enormously wealthy 

 already, Mr. Vanderbilt set to work to secure 

 and increase his millions. He was elected 

 President of the New York Central and Hud- 

 son River Railroad in June, 1877, and gave 

 himself industriously to his vast responsibih- 



