We all know his name. We all know bits and pieces of his life story, some of which may or may not be true. When we picture his face, we think of the Commodore mascot running amuck on the sidelines of the basketball court. But really, as a student body, how much do we really know about Cornelius Vanderbilt, the endower and namesake of our fine university?
I first considered this question while walking around campus, after seeing one of those little signposts that inform the community about the history of a particular building or site. I saw one giving facts about old Cornelius, and, curiosity piqued, I decided to do some research. Here is what I found out.
Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) was born in Staten Island, N.Y., and was a descendant of the first Dutch farmers to settle in North America.
In fact, his name comes from his great uncle Jan Aertson, a Dutch farmer who came from the "De Bilt" village in the Netherlands. The Dutch "Van der" (meaning "of the" in English) was added to his name, eventually turning into "Vanderbilt."
A headstrong youth, Vanderbilt quit school at 11. His money-grubbing proclivity and entrepreneurship manifested early, as he created his own ferry company serving the residents of New York City at the age of 16. Upgrading from ferries to steamboats to railroads, Vanderbilt was a millionaire by the age of 52. At the time of his death in 1877, Vanderbilt was said to have a net worth of $100 million, making him the wealthiest man in America at the time. Now on to the fun information.
It was during the War of 1812, when Vanderbilt was 18, that he gave himself the title "Commodore." Always the eccentric, Vanderbilt believed that simultaneously being in command of three schooners that supplied forts for the war effort earned him the title.
Vanderbilt's first wife was his first cousin and neighbor Sophia Johnson, with whom he had 13 children, 12 of whom survived childhood.
Following the death of his first wife, Vanderbilt remarried five years later. Apparently, the Commodore like to keep it close to home because his second wife was also a cousin, though a bit farther removed than Sophia had been. She was also 43 years his junior.
Vanderbilt was so hard-working that he took the first vacation of his life at the age of 59, when he was netting well over a $1 million a year. His first vacation consisted of a tour of Europe aboard his luxuriously appointed steam yacht, one of the few splurges in Vanderbilt's life.
Despite the $1 million Vanderbilt endowed to Central University, renamed Vanderbilt University, he never actually visited the campus, nor had he ever been to the to the South. He contributed this money to the university hoping that it would help heal the bruised relationship between the North and the South from the Civil War.
Yet, this endowment was one of only two acts of philanthropy that the Commodore ever committed. (The other contribution was $50,000 to the Church of the Strangers in New York.) These contributions were given only because Vanderbilt wanted to compete with the Rockefellers in philanthropic contributions.
One piece of trivia that is especially pertinent to us as the newspaper is that The Hustler got its name from one of Cornelius Vanderbilt's nicknames. Vanderbilt was nicknamed "The Hustler" from his shrewd business practices.
And finally, a quote from the Commodore himself to consider while sitting in your next econ lecture: "If I had learned education, I would not have had time to learn anything else." So now you know more about the man, the myth and the legend that was Cornelius Vanderbilt.
