VANDERBILT, CORNELIUS. 



free from debt and worth $9,000. In 1817 he 

 assisted Thomas Gibbons in building the first 

 steamboat run between New York and New 

 Brunswick, N. J., and became captain of her 

 at a salary of $1,000 a year. In 1818 he took 

 command of a much larger and better boat on 

 the same line, his wife at the same time keep- 

 ing the hotel at New Brunswick. In 1824 

 Vanderbilt had full control of the Gibbons 

 line, and brought it up to paying $40,000 a 

 year. In 1827, while still superintending the 

 Philadelphia route, he leased for 14 years the 

 ferry between New York and Elizabethport, 

 N. J., put on new boats, and made it very 

 profitable. In 1829 he left Gibbons; and in 

 the following 19 years, till 1848, he built and 

 operated steamboats on the Hudson, on Long 

 Island Sound, on the route to Boston, and on 

 the Delaware from Bordentown to Philadel- 

 phia. He put on new and superior boats in 

 opposition to an old line till he was bought off, 

 or drove off his competitors, so that he had 

 the monopoly and profits. In 1848-'49 he built 

 the steamship Prometheus, in which in 1850 

 he sailed for the isthmus of Darien. He had 

 already purchased a controlling interest in the 

 "American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal 

 Company," which projected a canal across the 

 isthmus ; but for this scheme Vanderbilt sub- 

 stituted a transit route from Greytown at the 

 mouth of the San Juan to San Juan del Sur 

 on the Pacific, which had the advantage over 

 the old transit from Chagres to Panama of 

 saving 700 miles between New York and San 

 Francisco. In 1851 he put three steamers on 

 the Atlantic side, and four on the Pacific side, 

 and went into competition with the " United 

 States" and the "Pacific Mail" companies. 

 In 1852, with three more steamers, he started 

 a branch line from New Orleans to Greytown. 

 In 1853 he went to Europe in his steam yacht 

 North Star; and while he was abroad C. K. 

 Garrison and Charles Morgan, holding a large 

 amount of the transit stock, threw him out of 

 the management. On his return he organized 

 an opposition line to Morgan's between New 

 Orleans and Galveston, and in 1854 established 

 an independent line between New York and 

 Aspinwall, with steamers on the Pacific side 

 to compete with the Pacific Mail line. He 

 soon compelled a compromise, and once more 

 held the control of the transit company. In 

 1856 William Walker, then ruling in Nicaragua, 

 seized the property of the transit company ; and 

 Vanderbilt, with the assistance of Costa Rica, 

 fomented an insurrection which expelled Walk- 

 er. The bar of the mouth of the San Jnan 

 rendered approach to Greytown difficult, which 

 led to the abandonment of the transit business. 

 In April, 1856, Vanderbilt received a large 

 subsidy for withdrawing his California line, 

 the field not affording profit for two companies. 

 His independent transatlantic line, started in 

 1855, was abandoned in 1861 by the with- 

 drawal of the Vanderbilt, a steamer costing 

 $800,000, which he gave to the Government 



VERMONT. 



757 



on the outbreak of the civil war. During his 

 steamship career he owned 21 steamers, 11 of 

 which he built, and with steamboats his entire 

 steam fleet numbered 66 ; and for many years 

 he had been popularly known as the " Com- 

 modore." When he abandoned the water in 

 1864 his accumulations were estimated at $40,- 

 000,000. As early as 1844 he had become 

 largely interested in the New York & New 

 Haven Railroad, and in 1845 he began to buy 

 the stock of the Harlem Railroad, and in 1864 

 held the whole of it In 1859 and subsequent- 

 ly he invested several millions in the mortgage 

 bonds of the Erie road. Soon after coming 

 into possession of the Harlem road, he secured 

 a controlling interest in the Hudson River & 

 New York Central Railroads, and consolidated 

 the two. Since 1873 the Lake Shore & Mich- 

 igan Southern has been operated in conjunc- 

 tion with the New York Central & Hudson 

 River roads as one continuous route, 978 miles 

 in extent, and with the Harlem and side lines 

 and branches presenting an aggregate of 2,128 

 miles subject to one management, representing 

 an aggregate capital of $149,000,000, half of 

 which is said to have belonged to Vanderbilt 

 and his family. Mr. Vanderbilt gave $700,000 

 to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., 

 and $50,000 to the Church of the Strangers in 

 New York. His wealth at the time of his 

 death was variously estimated at from $60,- 

 000,000 to $100,000,000. All of this excepting 

 about $15,000,000 was bequeathed to his son 

 William H. Vanderbilt. This circumstance kd 

 to a contest of the will. William H. Vander- 

 bilt succeeded his father as President of the 

 New York Central Railroad. 



VERMONT. Almost the only event of the 

 year worthy of note in the State of Vermont 

 was the celebration, at Bennington, of the bat- 

 tle which occurred there on the 16th of Au- 

 gust, 1777. The celebration began on the 15th. 

 A salute was fired and the bells of the village 

 were rung at sunrise, and a military and civic 

 procession paraded the streets in the forenoon. 

 The Hon. E. J. Phelps, of Burlington, presided 

 at the exercises in a pavilion, and delivered an 

 address of welcome. This was followed by an 

 historical address delivered by the Hon. Dan- 

 iel Roberts, of Burlington, and a poem by Mrs. 

 Julia C. R. Dorr, of Rutland. There were 

 also brief speeches by distinguished guests, 

 among whom were the Vice-President of the 

 United States, Senators Edmunds and Morril), 

 Ex-Governor Hoffman and the Hon. E. W. 

 Stoughton of New York, Ex-Governor Hnrri- 

 man of New Hampshire, Governor Connor of 

 Maine, Governor Van Zandt of Rhode Island, 

 and others. The President of the United 

 States arrived in the afternoon, when there 

 was a military review and a public reception, 

 followed in the evening by a general illumina- 

 tion, torchlight procession, and open-air con- 

 certs. On the 16th, there were salutes and 

 bell-ringing at sunrise, and a procession in tt 

 forenoon, in which detachments of military 



