-Caveat Lector- Here's some family information about the Vanderbilts who "owned" Chauncey Depew. from: http://www.stfrancis.edu/ba/ghkickul/stuwebs/bbios/biograph/vanderbi.htm By 1829 Vanderbilt decided to go on his own and entered the competitive service between New York and Peekskill, where he had the first of several encounters with Daniel Drew. Vanderbilt won by cutting rates to as low as 12 1/2 cents, which forced Drew to withdraw. Next he challenged the Hudson River Association in the Albany trade. After he again cut rates, the competition paid him off to move his operations elsewhere. Vanderbilt opened service to Long Island Sound, Providence, Boston, and points in Connecticut. The vessels offered the passenger not only comfort, but often luxury. By the 1840's he was running more than 100 steamboats and his company had more employees than any other business in the United States. Vanderbilt is given credit for bringing about a great and rapid advance in the size, comfort, and elegance of steamboats which were considered "floating palaces". In 1846 he launched on the Hudson the finest boat yet seen by New Yorkers and named it for himself. By the time he was 40, Vanderbilt's wealth exceeded $500,000, but he still looked for new opportunities. During the California gold rush of 1849, people traveled by boat to Panama, by land across the Isthmus on muleback, and onto steamers to the Pacific coast. Vanderbilt challenged the Pacific Steamship company by offering similar service via an overland route across Nicaragua, which saved 600 miles and cut the going price by half. This move netted him over $1 million a year. In the process he improved to some extent the channel of the San Juan River, built docks on the east and west coasts of Nicaragua and at Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua, and made a twelve-mile macadam road to his west coast port. He began construction of a fleet of eight new steamers and the route was two days shorter than that via Panama. He greatly reduced the New York-San Francisco passenger fare and garnered most of the traffic. He made money so rapidly, that in 1853 he announced that he was going to take the first vacation of his life. He built a sumptuously appointed steam yacht, The North Star and embarked for a triumphal tour of Europe. Before going abroad, Vanderbilt resigned the presidency of the Accessory Transit Company, and committed its management to Charles Morgan and Cornelius Garrison, who, during his absence, manipulated the stock and secured control of the company. By shrewd buying he won it back in a few months. However, the Nicaraguan government rescinded the company's charter on the grounds that its terms had been disregarded, and issued a new charter to a rival group. He sold controlling interests to the Nicaragua Transit Company, which failed to pay him. In a famous incident, he told them that the law was too slow; rather, he would ruin them. He did this in just two years by running another group of steamers. In the 1850's he dabbled in the Atlantic carrying trade competition for passenger service between New York and France with the Cunard and Collins lines. He built three vessels, one of which, the Vanderbilt, was the largest and finest he had yet constructed. It was an unprofitable venture, however, and at the beginning of the Civil War he sold his Atlantic line for $3 million. He retained the Vanderbilt, which he fitted up as a warship and turned over to the government. It has been claimed that he intended only to make a loan of the vessel, but it was interpreted as a gift. Vanderbilt liked making money more than spending it. One of the few purchases he was willing to make was his Staten Island mansion, the only place he felt truly comfortable. The New York City elite snubbed him, saying he was a rich but hopelessly vulgar man. Nearing the age of 70, Vanderbilt decided once again that the wave of the future was in another direction -- building a railroad empire. He first acquired the New York and Harlem Railroad, in the process again defeating Daniel Drew. He next acquired the rundown Hudson River Railroad, which Cornelius wanted to consolidate with the Harlem. Again Drew attempted to sell the stock short, defeat the consolidation, and make a substantial profit. But, as before, the Commodore won the battle by buying every share Drew sold, thereby stabilizing the price. Vanderbilt acquired the Central Railroad in 1867, merged it with the Hudson River Railroad by legislative act, and leased the Harlem to the new company. He spent large sums of money improving the lines' efficiency and then increased the capital stock by $42 million (which was a stockwatering operation of magnitude) and paid large dividends. In the first five years, he is said to have cleared $25 million. Vanderbilt finally hit a snag in 1867 when he attempted to gain control of the Erie Railroad, then in the hands of his old adversary, Daniel Drew. Again Vanderbilt bought all the stock offered for sale, but this time Drew threw 100,000 shares of fraudulent stock certificates on the market, which Vanderbilt continued to buy. Drew and his cohorts fled to Jersey City to avoid prosecution and bribed the New Jersey legislature to legalize the stock issue. Vanderbilt, tottering on the brink of failure, lost millions on the coup but fought back. Although the illegal stock was finally authorized by the legislature, Vanderbilt lost between $1 -$2 million and forgot the Erie. Upon the insistence of Vanderbilt's son William, he extended his line to Chicago by acquiring the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroads, the Canadian Southern, and the Michigan Central thereby creating one of the greatest American systems of transportation. Vanderbilt's influence on national finance was stabilizing. When the panic of 1873 was at its worst, he announced that the New York Central was paying out millions of dividends as usual, and let contracts for the building of the Grand Central Terminal in New York City, with four tracks leading from it, giving employment to thousands of men. He saw to it, however, that the city paid half the cost of the viaduct and open-cut approaches to the station. By 1875, his New York Central Railroad controlled the lucrative route between New York and Chicago. Vanderbilt was never known for philanthropic activities. His only unsolicited contributions were $50,000 for the Church of the Strangers in New York City and $1 million to Central University, which then became Vanderbilt University. Upon his death, he was the richest man in the United States. Cornelius Vanderbilt left the bulk of his fortune - $95 million - to his son William. A footnote to the Vanderbilt fortune: William Vanderbilt is remembered for his remark, "The public be damned," when asked by a reporter whether railroads should be run for the public benefit. References Brewer, Thomas B., Vanderbilt. (1973) McGrawHill Encyclopedia of World Biography (Volume V). Chicago: McGraw-Hill, Inc. pp. 80-81 Entrepreneurs and Inventors, Vanderbilt, Cornelius. (1994) The Grolier Library of North American Biographies (Volume 3). Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier Educational Corporation pp. 213-216 Malone, Dumas, Editor, Vanderbilt, Cornelius. (1964) Dictionary of American Biography (Volume X). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons pp. 169-173 Vanderbilt. (1988) Academic American Encyclopedia. Lexicon Publications, Inc. pp. 518-519 ======== Vanderbilt genealogy: http://www.crocker.com/~jcamp/abfam.html Sophia Johnson (direct descendant of Adam Brouwer, who sailed in 1641 to Brazil in the ship Swol as a soldier in the service of the West India Company. He came to New Netherlands in 1642, for when he took the Oath of Allegiance in September 1687, being then a resident of Brooklyn, he made the statement that he had been in this country for 45 years. He settled first in New Amsterdam where he bought a house and garden lot from Hendrick Jansen, blacksmith, on 21 February 1645. On that some day he had given a power-of-attorney to collect money due him from the West India Company, which he repeated on 21 September 1646. At his wedding party on 21 March 1645, Domine Bogardus criticized Director Keift. Together with Isaac de Forest, Adam Brouwer built and operated at Gowanus a flour mill on land patented 8 July 1645, to Jan Evertse Bout. The will of Adam Brouwer Berchoven of "Bruckland" was dated 22 January 1691/92. He left his wife Magdalena his entire estate. http://www.crocker.com/~jcamp/ab.html#1) married - CORNELIUS "Commodore" VANDERBILT , a descendant of Jan Aertsen van der Bilt, who had emigrated to this country from Holland around 1650. [Cornelius thought he had a better solution for reaching California in 1849 from the East Coast – Nicaragua. The San Juan River runs along the border with Costa Rica for 119 miles and then empties into Lake Nicaragua. One Hundred miles long and 50 miles wide, the western shore of Lake Nicaragua is only 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Why not shorten the route to California by using Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River? In 1851 he formed the Accessory Transit Company and paid the Nicaraguan government $10,000 for a charter to cross the country. Vanderbilt personally piloted a small steamboat up the San Juan River to test the route (which many locals said couldn’t be done). He had the river cleared of obstacles, placed a steamboat on Lake Nicaragua, and built a road from the west shore of the lake to San Juan del Sur – a port he constructed on the Pacific coast. Vanderbilt’s route was 600 miles and 2 days shorter to California and cheaper – he immediately slashed the prevailing fare of $600 to $400. His two competitors were subsidized by the U.S. government to the tune of $500,000 to carry the mail to California. Vanderbilt not only cut fares, he offered to carry the mail for free! Eventually the fare dropped to $150 and Vanderbilt still made money. After some political machinations involving some crooked subordinates and the American adventurer William Walker, Vanderbilt lost control of his Accessory Transit Company, switched his steamships to the Panama route, regained his Nicaraguan interests, and, finally, was paid by his subsidized rivals a fee of $672,000 (of the $900,000 subsidy) a year not to operate a steamship line on the California route. http://voteview.gsia.cmu.edu/vanderb2.htm] Cornelius' son, William H. Vanderbilt's son, George, married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser. Their daughter, Emily Thorn Vanderbilt, married William Douglas Sloane. Cornelius, Jr.'s daughter married Harry Payne Whitney, and his son, Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt, married Gloria Laure Mercedes Morgan; their daughter was "little Gloria". DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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