The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-04-09
yANDERBlLT'S WEALTH,
An Estimate of Over One Hundred
Millions.

An bsttmote OF Over One Hundred
Millions.
The wealth of the Vanderbilt family
has been variously estimated, and the |
reticence of the Commodore himself |
has admitted of little else than mere
conjecture on this point. There is q
general opinion, however, among those |
who are in position to Judge most COR
rectly that the wealth vested in Commo-
dore Vanderbilt exceeds one hundred
millions of dollars, and prominent
member of the family recently said
that the "old man was worth more
than that sum. This vast fortune was
acquired by Cornelius Vanderbilt
through his own efforts, starting early
in life without capital or influence.
His parents were poor, and his first
money was earned in conveying people
to and fro in row-boat between New
York and Staten Island. He made
large amount of money in steamboat
ing, but the great bulk of his wealth
has been acquired in railroad combina-
tions and in the manipulation of rail-
road stocks. He is and has been all
his life a very remarkable man. His
self-reliance and pluck are as natural
with him as drawing breath, and his
will and purpose are indomitable. A
man of such tremendous mental force
has he been that he has moved forward
to the accomplishment of his objects
with power as irresistible as one of
his steamboats,. His one purpose in
life has been the acquisition of money.
To this end he has trained his mental
and physical resources with the great
est care. He has made of himself o
machine that has always obeyed the
requirements of his intellect, and
wherever he has struck it has been
with telling force and effect He has
had very few vices. He has always
drank moderately and lived regularly,
taking just the requisite amount of ex.
ercise always. Smoking and whist
playing are the only indulgences which
he has permitted himself to any con-
siderable degree. Every day he is to
be seen driving on the road, with the
stump of cigar between his teeth, and
until within q year past he has had
every evening some of his cronies in
for rubber at whist and TO talk horse.
a subject of which he never tires. Lat
terly, however, his evenings have been
passed very quietly. He has always
been strict man of business, kept his
own counsel, and admitted or known
no partners. He never allows the plea
of affection OF charity to interfere with
his business matters. He has been
we'll, active, and in the harness all his
life, and has never tired or Weekend.
He will be eighty years of age in May,
and his sixty odd years OF constant hard
work show that he has had one of the
strongest physical constitutions ever
given to man. Some people look at
him and say that he will never die, bui
it is well known that the machine sc
} admirably built and which has lasted
! so long is slowly but surely wearing
} out. His mental faculties remain ,ln
| impaired, but his gait is less steady
t than it was, and he no longer trust;
3 himself with the duties he used to per
t form. He frequently complains of. ex
/ haustion, and when he drives out it il
Q to be noticed that he no longer drive:
3 fast. He is getting ready to lay hi
/ harness aside, and has, doubtless, made
full provision for the distribution of hi
colossal accumulations. For numbe
of years his son-in-law, d. B. Allen
@ was his right hand man, but of lat
d years his son William Ii. has repre-
v sented him in carrying out the NOR
: active duties of administration. vii
n liam FL. is as assiduous in his attention
= to work as his father ever was, i
: scarcely, if ever, seen in public, ant
i can nearly always be found during busi
t ness hours at his desk in the Gran,
t Central Depot. Cornelius Vanderbilt
e was born in May, 1894, at Stapleton
IS Staten Island, and his parents wer
d also born on Staten Island. Thei
l. parents came over from Holland. Th
% house in which he was born is stil
+ standing, and is owned by him. A
J, the age of nineteen he married Sophi
d Johnson, his second cousin, who wa
is then eighteen. She died five years ag
Ie last August. She was as remarkable
le woman as he was a man, possesse
g. great firmness, very shrewd manager
re strong principle, and it is said sh
i earned every dollar that she spent afte
/, her marriage. Thirteen children in a
a. were born to them, nine girls and for
a. boys, of whom are now living eigl
70 daughters and two sons.