CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE YOUNG VANDERBILTS AND THEIR FORTUNES.

REMARKABLE FOR PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL ABILITY.—THE MIXTURE OF RACES

AND THE LAW OF SELECTION.—THE WONDERFUL WILL AND THE WISE

DISTRIBUTION OF TWO HUNDRED MILLIONS.—TASTES, HABITS AND SOCIAL

PROCLIVITIES OF THE YOUNG VANDERBILTS.—THE MARRIED RELATIONS OF SOME

OF THEM.—BEING HAPPILY ASSORTED THEY MAKE GOOD HUSBANDS.—THEIR

PROPERTY REGARDED AS A GREAT TRUST.—THEIR RAILROAD SYSTEM AND ITS

GREAT ARMY OF EMPLOYES.—THE YOUNG MEN CAUTIOUS ABOUT SPECULATING,

AND CONSERVATIVE IN THEIR EXPENSES GENERALLY.

The young Vanderbilts who have succeeded to the estate of their father,

William H., are all remarkable for both intellectual and physical power,

as well as a high degree of refinement, showing how fast human evolution

under favorable circumstances progresses in this country. In other

countries it takes many generations to develop such men as the present

Vanderbilts. In this country three generations in this instance have

produced some of the best samples of nature’s nobility, which is

superior in every respect to the proud and vain-glorious production

which emanates from the succession of “a hundred earls” in England, or

even a greater number of barons, princes and kings on the Continent of

Europe. It would be difficult to produce better types of men in the

short period named than Cornelius, William K., Frederick and George

Vanderbilt, in personal appearance, breeding and culture.

The mixture and amalgamation of races from all parts of the world have

doubtless had a great deal to do with such favorable results in the

reproduction of our species in the United States. In the old country

close intermarriages seem to have a deteriorating effect on the race,

with probably the one apparent exception, namely, the house of

Rothschild, and a little longer time may tell that the rule of

deterioration holds good in this case also.

The four sons of William H. Vanderbilt have had the greatest start in

life of any family in all the records of history, ancient and modern,

with the single exception, probably, of the five Rothschild brothers,

the sons of old Anselm, and they had not near so much money to begin

with, but had the advantage of the Vanderbilts in their locations and in

their methods of combination. These methods, as I have observed

elsewhere, could only be attained through the Hebrew religion. By the

provisions of the remarkable will, which revealed such enormous wealth

as to make almost every other millionaire feel comparatively poor, the

greater portion of 200 million dollars was divided among the eight

children of the testator. Millions were distributed in this case as

other millionaires have been in the habit of dealing with thousands. The

ordinary human mind fails to grasp the idea of such a vast amount of

wealth. If converted into gold it would have weighed 500 tons, and it

would have taken 500 strong horses to draw it from the Grand Central

Depot to the Sub-Treasury in Wall Street. If it had been all in gold or

silver dollars, or even in greenbacks, it would have taken Vanderbilt

himself, working eight hours a day, over thirty years to count it. If

the first of the Vanderbilts had been a contemporary of old Adam,

according to the Mosaic account, and had then started as president of a

railroad through Palestine, with a salary of $30,000 a year, saving all

this money and living on perquisites, the situation being continued in

the male line to the present day, the sum total of all the family

savings thus accumulated would not amount to the fortune left by Wm. H.

Vanderbilt, unless this original $30,000 had been placed at compound

interest, and that in a bank from which young Napoleons of finance had

been strictly excluded.

[Illustration:

_W K Vanderbilt_

]

The will itself affords one of the best tests on record of the sound

judgment and equitable mind of the testator. He was under filial

obligations to a certain extent to revere the memory and respect the

opinions of the father through whom he had acquired the means of

accumulating this wonderful fortune.

The Commodore had modified ideas of primogeniture, not exactly in the

English sense of the term, but he had an intense desire to perpetuate

his name and wealth, and would doubtless have advised William H., and

perhaps he did, to bequeath nearly all his possessions to one of his

sons, leaving the rest of the family a bare independence.

Wm. H., in accordance with his sensitive disposition, upright mind, and

a due respect for the feelings, opinions and even the prejudices of

others, resolved to make what public opinion would be likely to consider

an approximately fair division of his immense estate. In this attempt, I

think he succeeded pretty well, considering all the circumstances and

difficulties with which he had to grapple. A synopsis of the will

itself, however, herewith inserted, will enable the public to be the

best judge of the equity of the case.

In the first place Mr. Vanderbilt devised to his wife the palatial

residence, which cost two millions, situated between 51st and 52d

streets on Fifth avenue, the stables on Madison avenue, the paintings

and statuary, and an annuity of $200,000 per annum. He also empowered

her to dispose of, by will, in any way she might desire, $500,000 out of

the sum set apart to produce her annuity of $200,000.

He bequeathed to each of his four daughters, Mrs. Elliott F. Shepard,

Mrs. William Sloane, Mrs. Hamilton McK. Twombly and Mrs. William Seward

Webb, an elegant house on Fifth avenue in the vicinity of his own

mansion. He then devised 40 million dollars’ worth of securities, 25

millions of which were in United States bonds, to be divided by the

trustees equally among his eight children, five millions each. Next he

bequeathed 40 millions more in securities, ten millions of which were in

United States bonds, and the balance in securities of his own railroads,

to his eight children, share and share alike.

He gave to his son Cornelius two million dollars in addition to all

other bequests made to him.

George W., his youngest son, is to receive at the death of his mother

all that she possessed during her natural life, and if he should die

without issue his inheritance shall go to Wm. H., the son of Cornelius,

but in the event of this contingency not occurring, the grandson, Wm.

H., is to receive a million on attaining the age of 30.

Then followed a host of small legacies to relatives, friends and

employes. He left $2,000 a year to each of his uncle Jacob’s three

children.

He gave $200,000 to the Vanderbilt University of Nashville, Tenn.,

founded by his father; and he left about a million in the aggregate to

twelve charitable and religious institutions.

The twenty-second clause of the will is the most important, especially

to his two eldest sons. It reads as follows:

“All the rest, residue and remainder of all the property and estate,

real, personal and mixed, of every description and wheresoever situated,

of which I may be seized or possessed, or to which I may be entitled at

the time of my decease, I give, devise and bequeath unto my two sons,

Cornelius Vanderbilt and William K. Vanderbilt, in equal shares, and to

their heirs and assigns, to their use forever.”

Mrs. Vanderbilt was appointed executrix and her four sons executors of

the will. The witnesses were Judge Charles A. Rapallo, Samuel F. Barger,

C. C. Clarke and I. P. Chambers.

This remainder, left to his two sons named in the clause cited, amounted

to about 50 million dollars each, in addition to their other bequests,

thus leaving each of them nearly as wealthy as their grandfather was

when he died. Cornelius is said to be worth over 80 million dollars.

Cornelius is the oldest son. He is a year or two over forty. He received

a good education, and had an excellent business training in his father’s

offices at the Grand Central Depot. He has always been remarkable for

strict attention to business, and for his thorough familiarity with

everything connected with his own department, as well as having a good

general knowledge of all the departments of the great railroad system.

When his father retired from active work, and the presidency of the

roads, Cornelius succeeded him as Chairman of the Board of Directors in

New York Central and Michigan Central.

Wm. K. took a similar position in Lake Shore, and was also elected

President of New York, Chicago & St. Louis, generally called the Nickel

Plate road.

Cornelius was married about fourteen years ago to Miss Alice Gwinn, a

handsome young lady of Cincinnati, and has four children. He resides in

an elegant house, at the corner of Fifty-seventh street and Fifth

Avenue, and has a handsome summer residence, “The Breakers,” at Newport.

He is connected, as an active worker, with various charitable and

religious institutions, and is very favorably known and highly respected

in the best social circles. He is gaining a great reputation through

various donations to laudable objects. Among these may be mentioned the

Club House in the vicinity of the Grand Central Depot, for the

accommodation of employes of the various railroads connected with the

Vanderbilt system. Also his magnificent gift to the Metropolitan Museum

of Art, the celebrated picture of Rosa Bonheur, “The Horse Fair,” which

is valued at $60,000. In this he surpassed the most liberal efforts of

Mr. George I. Seney, in one of his grand specialties, namely,

contributions to Art.

William Kissam Vanderbilt, the second son of Wm. H., also received a

fair education, and graduated in business in the Transportation

Department of his father’s great railroad system, where he exhibited

marked ability in mastering all the essentials, and in doing his work

with rapidity and accuracy. He is considered the most handsome and the

most imposing in appearance of any of the family, although, as I have

intimated at the beginning of this chapter, they are all above the

average in regard to the manly and gentlemanly virtues, owing to what

Darwin would have designated the “natural law of selection.” Wm. K. has

a grand mansion, on the corner of Fifty-second street and Fifth Avenue,

and a country residence at Islip, Long Island, where he usually summers.

He is about thirty-eight years of age. He is married to Miss Alva Smith,

the daughter of a wealthy merchant of Savannah. She is a leading lady in

society, considerably above the average in good looks, and possessed of

rare conversational powers, with an ample fund of wit and humor. They

have three children.

Frederick W. Vanderbilt, the third son of the late millionaire, seemed

to have had a greater desire for study than the two former, hence after

going through the ordinary course for boys at home, he went to Yale,

where he graduated in the Sheffield Scientific School. Thus equipped he

went into his father’s office, and made himself thoroughly acquainted

with the general routine of the whole business, in every department.

He married Mrs. Torrance, formerly the wife of his cousin. Young

Vanderbilt fell in love with her and married her in a year afterward.

She is an exceedingly attractive woman, and the union is a very happy

one. Mr. Vanderbilt gave Frederick the house at Fortieth street and

Fifth Avenue, in which he himself had resided prior to his removal to

the Fifth Avenue palace. This house was built by the old Commodore for

his son W. H. It was considered to be the finest residence in the city

at the time of its completion.

[Illustration:

_F. W. Vanderbilt._

]

George W. Vanderbilt, the youngest of the four sons, is now about 25

years of age. He is not so robust as the others, but enjoys pretty good

health. He manifested a decided tendency at an early age for study and

reading.

He is said to be extensively read in literature for his age, and has

written some essays on various subjects, which give considerable promise

of success with perseverance in that line. He is a lover of the

fine-arts, knows the history of all the pictures in the great gallery

which his father collected, and like that revered parent, whose constant

companion he was during the last few years of his life, he is very fond

of the opera. His grandfather, the Commodore, left him a million

dollars, to which his father added another million on his twenty-first

birthday.

George W. has recently made a handsome present to the Bond street free

public library, donating thereto $40,000 to build a branch of that

institution at 251 West Thirteenth street. He bids fair to be a liberal

patron of letters, and no doubt his gifts in this way will be prudently

directed and made with good judgment. The man who can appreciate

learning, as George Vanderbilt has proved he can, will never be likely

to leave the terms of an endowment to a public library, for instance,

which he intended for the benefit of the whole community, so loose that

a clique of trustees can restrict all its privileges to a limited number

of ladies and gentlemen of leisure, by narrowing the hours of keeping

the institution open, as has been done with those two fine libraries

intended by the donors for the people at large, namely, the Astor and

the Lenox.

New York is comparatively poor in its libraries, even on the supposition

that these public trusts should not be tampered with, and their original

object defeated; but when the best of them are diverted from the purpose

originally intended by the philanthropists who presented them to the

public, a great wrong is inflicted on the citizens of New York.

There has been a great deal said and written during the past few years

about the Vanderbilt system of railroads being a great monopoly. I am

not in favor of monopolies. On the contrary, I have, in this book, as

well as through other mediums of reaching the public, and in interviews

published all over the country, denounced monopolies in very strong

terms. I regard the Vanderbilt properly, however, in the light of a

great trust, the four young men above referred to, with Chauncey M.

Depew, the President of New York Central, being the trustees, and I

question very much if that eminent team of honest and able reformers,

Henry George and the Rev. Dr. Edward McGlynn, with other minor lights of

the Anti-Poverty Society, could administer that trust with greater

benefit to the public, nor could they employ a greater army of

well-paid, easy-worked, and well-fed men by any State or National

supervision or management, or by breaking up the great corporation into

probably a hundred or more small companies.

The Vanderbilt system employs 200,000 people at better wages than they

can obtain elsewhere, any place in the world. It pays over $150 an hour

for taxes. The State is paid $1 for every $2.70 received by the

stockholders.

Nor can I think it possible that the paternal system of Government

proposed by the Socialists, with all the modern discoveries and

appliances of dynamite to aid them, could accomplish as much in a

century for the well-being and advantage of the people of this State and

of the whole country as the Vanderbilt system of railroads has done in

half that time. I see no reason, therefore, to regard the present

Vanderbilt regime as a grinding monopoly.

Until the Georgeites, the McGlynnites, and the Socialists demonstrate

that their untried systems will confer greater happiness on humanity

than honest enterprise in the best circumstances, under our present

social system, with all its defects, has developed, I shall be tardy in

subscribing my adhesion to the new order of things.

I don’t wish to be understood for a moment as implying that I am averse

to free thought, the highest development of humanity, mentally and

physically, and the most advanced evolution in the same direction. I aim

at keeping abreast of all these within the free exercise of my own

judgment, and it is thus that I can heartily applaud Dr. McGlynn for his

polite but firm refusal to visit the Eternal City for the purpose of

being corrected or regulated in regard to free thought and free speech,

as viewed from the American standpoint, by a foreign potentate, who

assumes the guardianship and governorship of all human affairs, both

from a spiritual and secular point of view.

The days of Hildebrand (Pope Gregory VII.) are gone for ever, and Leo

XIII. should have sense enough to know it. McGlynn will never stand,

like Henry IV., shivering in his shirt at the door of the Vatican,

awaiting his sentence of penance to Canossa. Bismarck, however, came

pretty near repeating this little historical episode not long since, but

the great Chancellor of the German Empire, unlike McGlynn, did not have

the advantage of an American education, and the independence which it

confers. He may, therefore, to some extent be excused. I think, however,

that McGlynn will stick, and I admire his firmness. No church, no matter

how powerful its foreign allies may be, can suppress free speech in the

home of the brave and the land of the free.

So, in their battle for freedom of speech, I admire the pluck of the

George-McGlynn party, but as regards their social theories, I shall

remain in a waiting mood until I see them more fully demonstrated.

To return from this little digression, however, I wish to express the

hope that the young Vanderbilts will manage their vast estate so as to

inure to the public benefit in such a way that the most fastidious

Socialist will be unable to take exception to the benign results.

The young Vanderbilts have at intervals speculated in Wall Street, but

conservatively, with the exception of William K., who, in the past, has

made numerous and spasmodic turns, chiefly on the advice of older

operators, which have not always redounded to his interest. As a rule

these young men are shrewd and cautious financiers, and I think it is

safe to say that none of them will run the risk of losing his handsome

fortune in speculation.

[Illustration:

From Harper’s Magazine. Copyright, 1873, by Harper & Brothers.

SOLOMON ROTHSCHILD,

Head of the old House at Vienna.

CHARLES ROTHSCHILD,

Head of the old House at Naples.

ANSELM MAYER ROTHSCHILD,

Head of the House at Frankfort, 1812-35.

]

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