Titans of Industry: Cornelius Vanderbilt

As I've begun this study about iconic American entrepreneurs I notice there are about 5 that stand out above the rest. Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan Chase, and Henry Ford were all titans of their respected industries and became some of the wealthiest men in American history. Their climb from obscurity to dominance is the utmost demonstration of capitalism at work. I find their stories to be very intriguing especially since they played a crucial part in making America the strongest economies in the world.

Following the Civil War and Reconstruction Era, an industrial boom occurred in America, a period known as the Gilded Age (from the 1870s to early 1900s). It was a new age of industrial machinery that gave way for ambitious businessmen to capitalize on the free market and climb to the top. My first focus will be on Cornelius Vanderbilt, also known as the "Commodore", who was the first of these major industrialists. He created a railroad empire that made him one of the wealthiest Americans from the 1950s until his death in 1870s.


Early Life of Cornelius

Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in 1794 to a working class family in Staten Island, New York. His father owned a ferry in the New York harbor of which Cornelius worked on. He later begun his own ferry service at the age of 16, and quickly gained the nickname of the "Commodore" for his aggressive business demeanor. He married his business-minded cousin Sophia Johnson in 1813, and the two had 13 children together and were married until her death in 1868.

At the age of 19 Cornelius partnered with a steamboat line operated by Thomas Gibbons to captain one of his ships. He did this while still maintaining his ferry service. It was during this time that Cornelius developed somewhat of an apprenticeship with Thomas Gibbons and learned about the many complexities of the steamboat business. He continued to work for the Gibbons steamboat line after his death in 1826 while continuing to climb the ranks of the industry. 

Steamboat Engine Business

By 1829 Cornelius begun to break away from the Gibbons steamboat line and focus on his own businesses. He established multiple lines throughout the New York harbor and the surrounding region. By the 1830s he dominated the Long Island Sound and began expanding his control to managing railroad lines, the Staten Ferry line, and various real estate. By the 1840s Vanderbilt had established himself as one of the top businessmen in the New York region commonly referred to by his nickname "the Commodore".

During the Gold Rush of 1849 Vanderbilt shifted his business focus to ocean steamboats, with lines running from the East Coast to the West coast. At the time the Transcontinental railroad nor the Panama Canal was not yet built so the cargo was transported thru Panama by train. Through numerous disputes with New York, California, and Central American businessman Vanderbilt was able to exert his dominance on the steamboat business line from New York to California. During the Civil War he donated many of his ships to the Union Army however suffered terrible grief when his eldest son George Washington Vanderbilt II died during this time.

Railroad Empire

Following the Civil War and some years of grieving for his son, Vanderbilt shifted his focus to the growing railroad business. He served as a board member on several prominent railway companies throughout New York. In 1863 he took over the Harlem Railway and brought on his son, Billy, to help him manage several other railway companies such as the Staten Island Railway. By 1864 he had sold all his steamboat companies in order to fully focus on the railroad industry which he believed to be the new booming market.

Throughout the 1860s he continued to buy out the competition such as the Hudson River Railway, New York Central Railroad, and the Lake Shore Michigan Southern Railway. By 1867 he merged all these companies into one giant corporation known as the New York Central Railroad which operated lines from New York all throughout the Midwest region. This became one of the first major corporations in the United States that made Vanderbilt the most wealthy man in America.

In 1869 Vanderbilt commissioned the Grand Central Depot be built in New York City. This became one of the largest buildings in the city at the time and served as the central defining monument of Vanderbilt's empire. Even after Vanderbilt had reached the mountaintop he continued pressing forward. He became involved in numerous business disputes such as the Erie War, which lead him to become enemies with businessman Jay Gould and James Fisk Jr.

Vanderbilt played a crucial role in empowering John D. Rockefeller early in his career, when he offered the growing business magnate a partnership to transport his oil for a fair price. Vanderbilt knew that oil had become the new booming business market and in order to secure his empire he began investing with Rockefeller. However by this point Vanderbilt's health had begun to deteriorate and he would eventually die in 1877.

Before his death he contributed 1 million dollars to help establish a university in Nashville, TN that became known as Vanderbilt University. His railroad empire was later surpassed by the automobile industry in the 1900s, however he played a pivotal role in the ascension of the American economy. To this day he is listed as the 2nd wealthiest person in American history, after John D. Rockefeller.