Vanderbilt family


The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy. Cornelius Vanderbilt's descendants went on to build grand mansions on Fifth Avenue in New York City; luxurious "summer cottages" in Newport, Rhode Island; the palatial Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina; and various other opulent homes.
The Vanderbilts were once the wealthiest family in America. Cornelius Vanderbilt was the richest American until his death in 1877. After that, his son William acquired his father's fortune, and was the richest American until his death in 1885. The Vanderbilts' prominence lasted until the mid-20th century, when the family's 10 great Fifth Avenue mansions were torn down, and most other Vanderbilt houses were sold or turned into museums in what has been referred to as the "Fall of the House of Vanderbilt".
Branches of the family are found on the United States East Coast. Contemporary descendants include journalist Anderson Cooper, actor Timothy Olyphant, musician John P. Hammond and screenwriter James Vanderbilt.

History

The progenitor of the Vanderbilt family was Jan Aertszoon or Aertson, a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt in Utrecht, Netherlands, who emigrated to the Dutch colony of New Netherland as an indentured servant to the Van Kouwenhoven family in 1650. Jan's village name was added to the Dutch "Van" to create "Van der Bilt", which evolved into Vanderbilt when the English took control of New Amsterdam. The family is associated with the Dutch patrician Van der Bilt.
His great-great-great-grandson Cornelius Vanderbilt began the prominence of the family, the fourth of nine children born to a Staten Island family of modest means. Through his paternal great-great grandmother Abigail Southard, he descends from Republic of Salé President Jan Janszoon and his son Anthony Janszoon van Salee. They were among the earliest arrivals to 17th-century New Amsterdam. In a number of documents dating back to this period, Anthony is described as tawny or mulatto, as his mother was of Berber origin from Cartagena in the Kingdom of Murcia. Cornelius Vanderbilt left school at age 11 and went on to build a shipping and railroad empire that, during the 19th century, would make him one of the wealthiest men in the world. Starting with a single boat, he grew his fleet until he was competing with Robert Fulton for dominance of the New York waterways, his energy and eagerness earning him the nickname "Commodore", a United States Navy title for a captain of a small task force. Fulton's company had established a monopoly on trade in and out of New York Harbor. Vanderbilt, based in New Jersey at the time, flouted the law, steaming in and out of the harbor under a flag that read, "New Jersey Must Be Free!" He also hired the attorney Daniel Webster to argue his case before the United States Supreme Court; Vanderbilt won, thereby establishing an early precedent for America's first laws of interstate commerce.
The Vanderbilt family lived on Staten Island until the mid-1800s, when the Commodore built a house on Washington Place. Although he always occupied a relatively modest home, members of his family would use their wealth to build magnificent mansions. Shortly before his death in 1877, Vanderbilt donated US$1 million for the establishment of Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
The Commodore left the majority of his enormous fortune to his eldest son, William Henry Vanderbilt. William Henry, who outlived his father by just eight years, increased the profitability of his father's holdings, increased the reach of the New York Central Railroad, and doubled the Vanderbilt wealth. He built the first of what would become many grand Vanderbilt mansions on Fifth Avenue, at 640 Fifth Avenue. William Henry appointed his first son, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, as the next "Head of House".
Cornelius II built the largest private home in New York, at 1 West 58th Street, containing approximately 154 rooms, designed by George B. Post. He also built The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island.
Cornelius II's brother, William Kissam Vanderbilt, also featured prominently in the family's affairs. He also built a home on Fifth Avenue and would become one of the great architectural patrons of the Gilded Age, hiring the architects for Grand Central Terminal. He also built Marble House at 596 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island.
George Washington Vanderbilt II, the 3rd and youngest son of William Henry Vanderbilt and youngest brother of Cornelius II, hired Architect Richard Morris Hunt and Landscape Architect Frederick Law Olmsted to construct Biltmore Estate on 125,000 acres near Asheville, North Carolina. The 250 room mansion and 175,856 square feet of floor space remains on top of the list of largest houses in the United States to date.
While some of Cornelius Vanderbilt's descendants gained fame in business, others achieved prominence in other ways, e.g.:
In 1855, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt donated 45 acres of property to the Moravian Church and Cemetery at New Dorp on Staten Island, New York. Later, his son William Henry Vanderbilt donated a further four acres. The Vanderbilt Mausoleum was designed in 1885 by architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted.

Family Tree

The following list includes Amy Vanderbilt, although it is believed she descended from either an uncle or brother of Cornelius Vanderbilt and is therefore not a descendant of Cornelius Vanderbilt.
  1. Cornelius Vanderbilt
  2. William Henry Vanderbilt
  3. Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt
  4. Cornelius Vanderbilt II
  5. Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt
  6. William Kissam Vanderbilt
  7. Emily Thorn Vanderbilt
  8. William Knapp Thorn
  9. Florence Adele Vanderbilt
  10. Frederick William Vanderbilt
  11. Eliza "Lila" Osgood Vanderbilt
  12. George Washington Vanderbilt II
  13. Cornelius Vanderbilt III
  14. Alice Louise Vanderbilt Shepard
  15. Gertrude Vanderbilt
  16. Elliott Fitch Shepard, Jr.
  17. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt
  18. Consuelo Vanderbilt
  19. William Kissam Vanderbilt II
  20. Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt
  21. James Watson Webb II
  22. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt
  23. Gladys Moore Vanderbilt
  24. Flora Payne Whitney
  25. John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough
  26. Cornelius Vanderbilt IV
  27. Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill
  28. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
  29. Muriel Vanderbilt
  30. Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt
  31. Governor William Henry Vanderbilt III
  32. Mary Cathleen Vanderbilt
  33. Frederick Vanderbilt Field
  34. Amy Vanderbilt
  35. John Henry Hammond Jr.
  36. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr.
  37. George Washington Vanderbilt III
  38. James Watson Webb III
  39. Whitney Tower
  40. Gloria Laura Vanderbilt
  41. George Henry Vanderbilt Cecil
  42. John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough
  43. William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil
  44. Lady Rosemary Spencer-Churchill
  45. Christopher Denys Stormont Finch-Hatton, 16th Earl of Winchilsea
  46. John Wilmerding
  47. John Paul Hammond
  48. Kenneth Peter Lyle Mackay, 4th Earl of Inchcape
  49. Jonathan Edward Pease
  50. John LeBoutillier
  51. Charles James Spencer-Churchill, 12th Duke of Marlborough
  52. Lady Henrietta Mary Spencer-Churchill
  53. William Douglas Burden III
  54. Anderson Hays Cooper
  55. Daniel Finch-Hatton, 17th Earl of Winchilsea
  56. Timothy David Olyphant
  57. James Platten Vanderbilt
  58. George John Godolphin Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford
  59. Tobias Finch-Hatton, Viscount Maidstone