- Born May 27th, 1794 - January 4th, 1877
- Built wealth in railroads in shipping
- Never lost the family wealth, all descendants lived in mansions
- Their prominence lasted until the mid-20th century
- Quit school at the age of 11
- A Dutch- American family
- At 16, started his own ferry service
- Married his first cousin and had 13 cousins
- Became Thomas Gibbsons business man
- Started taking over two different ferry companies slowly
- Became secret partners with Daniel Drew on steam boating
- Took an interest in railroads in 1850s and started serving on the several boards
- Erie Railway, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Hartford and New Haven, and the New York and Harlem (popularly known as the Harlem). In 1863, Vanderbilt took control of the Harlem in a famous stockmarket corner, and was elected its president.
- Bought many railroads
- After first wives death, married another cousin.
- He is worth 143 billion dollars.
- Famous for- Becoming and starting the railroad industry
- Background ^^
- Success- He had already owned and ran a steamboat company so he had much experience. He got into many different railroads board companies and in the position of power.
- Nation- He created railroads, the transportation that allowed the 18th century people and nation get to one another without the wagon trail. one of the greatest inventions of all time.
- What was his greatest accomplishment? Cornelius started the actual railroad industry, improving and buying all railroads he could.
- What was his background? Cornelius dropped out of school at age eleven. He went into the steamboat business and started running one himself. He married his first cousin and had 13 children. He worked on stream boating for a while, and eventually moved onto railroads. He joined over 5 different boards and eventually bought many and improved them. Eventually he became the name and face for many of the nations railroads.
- What factors enabled him to be successful? He had already owned and ran his own steam boat company, so he had training in the field of owning and running a personal business. He got into a large position of power by becoming part of over 5 different railroads.
- How did he help our nation? He created the work of railroads. This transportation allowed people of the 18th century and on to move across the nation without using the wagon trail, and started the rise of many many civilizations.