The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

CORNELIUS VANDERBILT

Cornelius Vanderbilt (Commodore Vanderbilt) was an American capitalist. He was born in 1794 and died in 1877. The son of a small farmer he began in business at the age of sixteen by ferrying passengers and goods between New York and Staten Island. In 1851 he established a steamship line between New York and California via Nicaragua. In 1855 he established a line between New York and Havre. In 1857 he turned his attention to railways, and became one of the foremost 'railroad kings' in America. In 1867 becoming president of the New York Central Railway. He founded Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee.
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