former father-in-law
FAMILY WITH HIM AT END
He Won Distinction as Soldier, Inventor, Engineer, Yachtsman--Often Host to Royalty
Miami Beach, Fla., March 1, 1942
Brig. Gen. Cornelius Vanderbilt, who defied his wealthy family in his youth and later became famous in his own right as soldier, inventor, engineer, business man and financier, died here today of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 68.
Great-grandson and namesake of Commodore Vanderbilt, founder of one of America's railroad empires, who died in 1877, the general was stricken yesterday and never recovered consciousness. He was under an oxygen tent for several hours before his death, which occurred at 6 P.M. on his yacht.
Members of his family, notified of his condition, were at his bedside when he died. They were Mrs. Vanderbilt, their son, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., well-known writer, their daughter, Mrs. Robert Stevens, and General Vanderbilt's sisters, Countess Szechenyi and Mrs. Harry Payne (Gertrude) Whitney.
General Vanderbilt had been confined to the yacht, the 100-foot Ambassadress much of the time once his arrival here in October to spend the winter, but occasionally went for walks about Miami. Some of his time during the last days was spent working at a wood lathe on the yacht--one of his hobbies
Two physicians, Dr. C.F. Roche of Miami Beach and Dr. M. J. Tiogg, and three nurses were attending him when he died. A funeral service and burial will take place in New York.
Brig. Gen. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in New York Sept. 5, 1873, the son of Cornelius Vanderbilt and the former Alice Claypoole Gwynne. They had seven children, two of whom died in their youth. Their eldest son, William H. Vanderbilt, died while a student at Yale University. Cornelius was the oldest of the others. The others were Gertrude Vanderbilt, who was married to the late Harry Payne Whitney; Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, who lost his life on the Lusitania; and Reginald C. Vanderbilt, who died in 1925, and Gladys, who became the Countess Laszlo Szechenyi.
The General was educated by private tutors at St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, and at Yale University where he took the degree of Bachelor of the Arts in 1895; that of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1898, and that of Mechanical Engineer in 1899. At Yale, he had the reputation of being a steady plodder. He was known to his intimates as "Neely."
Long before he had finished his college career, however, he had become intensely interested in the mechanical and engineering aspects of railroading. He frequently visited the drafting rooms and shops of the New York Central railroad system, of which his father was then the dominant figure, and donning overalls, worked out in a practical way the problems that interested him
Married Miss Grace Wilson
Disregarding the parental opposition, Mr. Vanderbilt married Miss Wilson at the cost of his inheritance. After the ceremony had been performed in the home of Miss Wilson's parents at 511 Fifth Avenue, the couple went to Saratoga Springs.
Through the good offices of his sister Gertrude, young Vanderbilt was partially reconciled to his father in 1898. Evidence that the family breach was healed came in 1926, when General Vanderbilt's mother announced that her son and his wife would occupy her summer home in Newport for that season. His mother, who died in 1934, provided for him in her will, a life interest in her residuary estate.
When Cornelius Vanderbilt Sr. died in 1899, leaving an estate of $70,000,000, he cut off Cornelius Jr. with $500,000 and the income from a trust fund of $1,000,000, while each of the four other children received approximately $7,350,000. In addition, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt received the residuary estate of about $36,000,000, which had been destined for Cornelius Vanderbilt before his breach with his parents over his marriage.
When the contents of the will were made public, however, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt gave his brother about $6,000,000 out of the residuary estate to equalize his share with that of their brother and two sisters. The gift was made without any threat of a contest and purely from family affection, it was said at the time by Chauncey M. Depew, one of the executors.
Shortly after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt Jr. began a brilliant social career marked by international successes. They visited Germany, where at a naval regatta at Kiel Kaiser, Wilhelm called upon them and was their dinner host. Mr. Vanderbilt formed a firm friendship with the Kaiser that lasted many years and led to recurrent reports that he was to be appointed Ambassador to Germany.
By special request of the Kaiser, Prince Henry of Prussia was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt when he visited New York in 1902, the only private function of the sort that he attended. Later, at Newport, they also entertained Grand Duke Boris of Russia. While abroad they were received by Czar Nicholas II and the royal family of Russia.
Besides the Kaiser they also entertained Edward VII and George V of England on their yacht during frequent visits abroad before the first World War. They were hosts to the late King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium when the royal couple visited America in 1919.
Thirty inventions to his credit.
Meanwhile General Vanderbilt was devoting even more time and attention to his mechanical and engineering talents than to his social career. He patented more than thirty devices for improving locomotives and freight cars, including several which brought him large royalties, it was reported.
On his frequent visits abroad General Vanderbilt's keen interest in transportation led him to study closely the underground railroads of London and Paris. He realized that New York would soon have to have subways, and on his return he allied himself with August Belmont in the organization of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company for the construction of the first subway here.
General Vanderbilt's business activities were constantly broadening, meanwhile, and by the early part of the century he was a member of the board of directors of a score of important corporations, including railroads, banks and insurance companies. He never was content to be a figurehead, but always insisted on familiarizing himself with the detailed conduct of the corporation, his associates said.
As his interests expanded, General Vanderbilt was able to devote less and less time to his engineering and inventive work, but even after he had given it up as a serious occupation he never missed an opportunity to get around locomotives and other machinery. He once said that working with tools had been his greatest pleasure ever since he could remember.
Despite the pressure of affairs he found time for still another major interest as an officer of the military forces of New York State or the United States. He was appointed a Second Lieutenant of the old Twelfth Infantry Regiment, New York National Guard, on September 20, 1901, and remained continuously in service for 33 years.
When the State troops were mustered into the Federal service in 1916 after the Villa raids on the Mexican border, Lieut. Col. Vanderbilt went to the border with them as was promoted to Colonel in Command of the 22nd Engineers. On behalf of his fellow soldiers, he fought a test case establishing their right to East New York State votes during the absence in the service.
During the World War he went oversees in command of the 22nd Engineers then designated the 102nd Engineers, and led it into active service as part of the 27th Division. On June 26, 1918 he was commissioned a Brigadier General in command of the 25th Infantry Brigade. He was ordered back to the United States, where he was temporarily in command of the 13th Division for about a month pending the arrival of the permanent division commander.
After the conclusion of peace he served as a Brigadier General of the organized reserves until January, 1935, when he asked to be relieved of his duties because of the pressure of his business interests. In transferring him to the unassigned list at that time, Maj. Gen. Dennis E. Nolan congratulated him on the "splendid work" he had done.
General Vanderbilt, for his services with the A. E. F., and at home won the Distinguished Service Medal of the United States, the Belgian Croix de Guerre, the Order of the Crown of Belgian (Commander), the New York State Conspicuous Service Medal, the Mexican Border Service Medal and the Victory Medal and was made a Commander of the Legion of Honor of France.
His North Star was among the most famed of his yachts of which he was host, with Mrs. Vanderbilt, to the rulers of Great Britain and Germany, often at the annual regattas at Cowes and Kiel. The schooner yacht Atlantic was another bought in 1922, with which he won a transatlantic race for a cup offered by the Kaiser.
He had some swift craft in earlier years, one of the sloop Aurora, which won the King Edward VII cup of the New York Yacht Club in 1910. Three years later he was at the head of a syndicate which planned to built a defender for the America's Cup, but the plan was cancelled by the First World War. Later he owned the $1,000,000 226-foot Winchester, that did 35 knots on occasion.
He had been a member of the New York Yacht Club since 1891, in which he was Rear Commodore in 1903-05 and Commodore in 1906-08.
General Vanderbilt was one of the most active clubmen in New York, at least in point of maintaining membership in many of the leading social organizations. Every year when the annual compilation of club members of New York was made, he was usually listed as a member of sixteen or seventeen clubs, which was usually the greatest figure for any individual.
Home Scene of Brilliant Parties
The Vanderbilt home at 640 Fifth Avenue is one of the several remaining private mansions south of Fifty-ninth Street, a Brownstone structure built by the general's grandfather, William H. Vanderbilt, with an adjoining twin house that many years ago was demolished owing to the encroaching of trade. Here for many years were centered many of the most brilliant social functions of the city. The house was sold in May 1940, to the Astor Estate, and in 1941, it was opened three times for public benefits.
In recent years General Vanderbilt, on account of his health, retired from activities that would bring him into the public eye, spending much of his time cruising in Southern waters. In the Fall of 1936, he entered Doctor's Hospital here for observation after ailing for some time.
He suffered a severe illness late in March 1940, aboard his yacht, Sabiha III, at Miami Beach, Fla., but improved. His physician stated at the time he had suffered from a heart ailment for more than a year.
Military Leaders, Financiers, Large Group From Society Pay Honor to General
1,000 IN THE AUDIENCE
Service is Held at St Thomas, No Honorary Bearers, Burial in New Dorp, S.I.
Military leaders, including retired officers, and men of the first World War, and representatives of New York Society, and financiers made up the greater part of a gathering of 1,000 persons who attended the funeral service yesterday in St Thomas Episcopal Church, Fifth Avenue and Fifty-third Street, for Brig. Gen. Cornelius Vanderbilt.
General Vanderbilt, great-grandson and namesake of Commodore Vanderbilt, founder of the family fortune, died Sunday at the age of 68, aboard his yacht the Ambassadress, at Miami Fla. His body in a flag-draped coffin, had arrived here on Wednesday, and had been taken to the Vanderbilt home at 640 Fifth Avenue.
Scores of floral tributes were banked throughout the chancel of the church. The Rev. Dr. Roelif H. Brooks, the rector, read the Episcopal ritual, with the fourteenth chapter of St John as the lesson. Dr. T. Tertius Noble, the organist, was the console, and the choir of sixty men and boys sang.
Before the service Dr. Noble, the organist had played Beethoven's Largo in C and portions of the prelude to Wagner's "Parsifal." The hymns sung during the service were "Onward Christian Soldiers," as the processional; "Abide With Me," the 121st Psalm, and as a recessional, "Nearer My God To Thee," for the postlude. There were no honorary pallbearers, in accordance with family wishes.
Heading representatives of the Army and Navy were Major Gen. Irving J. Phillipson, commander of the Second Corps Area, and Mrs. Phillipson; Rear Admiral Adolphus Andrews, commandant of the Third Naval District, and Mrs. Andrews, and Mrs. Hugh A. Drum, wife of Lieut. Gen. Drum.
Officers and men of the 102nd Engineers who served with General Vanderbilt overseas assembled at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-fourth Street and marched into the church, under the command of Colonel Thomas Crimmins, retired. Other contingents consisted of officers of the 102nd Engineers, all of whom also served overseas with General Vanderbilt.
An additional military unit of men who served with General Vanderbilt in France consisted of the officers of the Twenty-seventh Division staff, headed by Major Gen. Henry F. O'Ryan, retired, and including Brig. Gen. Henry S. Sternberger, Brig. Gen. Frederick M Waterbury, Brig. Gen Louis W. Stotesbury, and Colonel P. Mayhew Wainwright, all retired. Other units represented the Seventy-seventh Division Reserves and the Twelfth Regiment.
Relatives and Friends Present
Members of the immediate family of General Vanderbilt present were the widow, her son, Major Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr.; her daughter, Mrs. Robert L. Stevenson, who was accompanied by Mr. Stevens;
Mr. Vanderbilt's sisters; Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney and the Countess Laszlo Szechenyi; also Countess Szechenyi's daughters, the Misses. Sylvia and Nadine Szechenyi, and Mrs. Eugene Roberts, who was accompanied by Mr. Roberts.
Others were Mr. and Mrs. Wintrop W. Aldrich, Mr. and Mrs. John E. Berwind, Mrs. George F. Baker, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Budd, Mrs. Truxtun Beale, James Campo, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony D. Cassatt, Mr. and Mrs. Bainbridge Colby, Mr. and Mrs. James W. Gerard, Mr. and Mrs. William Greenough, Mr. and Mrs. Morin Hare, Miss A. C. Henderson, Albert L. Hoffman, Miss Dorothy Kane.
Also, Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, Countess Mercati, Mr. and Mrs. Junius Morgan, Mrs. Frank L. Polk, Mr. and Mrs. Ogden Reid, Mr. and Mrs. Myron Taylor, Mary Hoyt Wilborg, Mrs. Drummond Wolff, Mr. and Mrs. George Henry Warren, Mr. and Mrs. William Woodward.
Others were Mrs. August Belmont, Mr. and Mrs. Forsyth Wickes, Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Whitehouse, Conde' Nast, Miss Beth Leary, John D. Rockefeller Jr., James A. Farley and Prince Serge Obolensky.
Several hundred passer-by lined the sidewalks in Fifty-third Street as the cortege left the side door of the church on its way to Staten Island. Inspector George Lang was in charge of thirty patrolmen at the church. Dr. Brooks read the committal service at the Vanderbilt mausoleum in New Dorp.
Widow, Daughter and Son Get Estate of General Who Died on March 1
Cornelius Jr. to Lose Advances for His Publishing Ventures
Bequests to Servants
May 6, 1942
Brig. Gen. Cornelius Vanderbilt who died on March 1, left his entire estate to his family. In his will, filed for probate in Surrogate's Court yesterday, he also exercised a power of appointment for the benefit of his son and daughter over trust of the residuary estate of his mother, Mrs. Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt, from which he received a life income.
The Will was drawn on April 19, 1935. He bequeathed to his widow, Mrs. Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, of 817 Fifth Avenue, all household and personal effects, except his yacht. The life use of their Fifth Avenue mansion, and the income from half his residuary estate. On the death of Mrs. Vanderbilt the home is to revert to the residuary estate and the principle of her trust is to be shared equally by her son and her daughter.
In his Will, General Vanderbilt directed that $910,000. advanced by him to his son in connection with his newspaper or publishing undertakings in California and Florida was to be charged against the principle of the trust for his benefit, and that of the amount charged, two-thirds should be added to the share to be held in trust for the benefit of the widow and the remaining third added to the trust for the daughter.
The Will provided bequests of $500.00 each for nine servants in Mr. Vanderbilt's employ for at least 5 years.
The Will also provided that in the event his wife had predeceased him, all the money deducted from his son's trust was to be added to the daughter's trust, and that the residuary was to be divided into three parts, one share to be paid to his sister, Countess Gladys Szechenyi, Yale University was also named a contingent residuary legatee.
General Vanderbilt named as his executors Frank L. Polk and the Central Hanover Bank and Trust Company. His Will was the second one of the family filed in as many days, which distributed a large part of the fortune made by his grandfather, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. The Will of the General's sister Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, was filed Monday.
General Vanderbilt died aboard his yacht, the Ambassadress, off Miami Beach, Fla. He was 68 years old.
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