William H(enry) Vanderbilt

Railroad developer and financier, born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. His father, ‘Commodore’ Cornelius Vanderbilt, regarded him as incapable of playing a role in his business empire, but after William succeeded at running a farm on Staten I and then at turning around the bankrupt Staten Island Railroad (1857–63), his father appointed him vice-president of the New York & Harlem Railroad (1864). He soon became his father's closest aide and an able administrator, and after his father's death (1877) he became president of the New York Central, and expanded the railroad system even further with the purchase of other lines. Like his father, he gave good service and invested in good equipment, but also like his father he could be ruthless in pursuit of profit. He gave special rates to favoured commercial customers; he bribed officials when they threatened to expose the illegal tactic; and he fought government regulation whenever he could. Although he was, unlike his father, generous with gifts during his lifetime, he remains best known for his 1882 remark ‘The public be damned!’ When he saw that the tide was turning against such vast monopolies as his, he sold large amounts of stock in 1879. In poor health, he resigned as president of the New York Central Railroad (1883), and gave his final years to his philanthropies and his interest in horses. By his death, he had doubled the already vast family fortune, which he left to his three sons.

William Henry Vanderbilt
Born	May 8, 1821 New Brunswick, New Jersey
Died	December 8, 1885

This article is about the railroad magnate.

William Henry Vanderbilt was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. As well, he took over from his father as president of New York Central Railroad, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, the Canada Southern Railway, and the Michigan Central Railroad. It was in his time that the Vanderbilt women demanded social recognition from the older but less moneyed women of New York City society, centered on the Astor family, whom the Vanderbilts had by then far outstripped in wealth.

William Henry Vanderbilt was involved in a number of philanthropic causes including the YMCA, funding to help establish the Metropolitan Opera and an endowment for the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.

An art enthusiast, William Henry Vanderbilt's collection included some of the most valuable works of the Old Masters and over his lifetime, Vanderbilt acquired more than 200 paintings.

Among his holdings were:

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Chicago and Canada Southern Railway Detroit and Bay City Railroad Hudson River Railroad Hudson River Bridge Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad Michigan Midland and Canada Railroad New York Central and Hudson River Railroad New York Central Sleeping Car Company New York and Harlem Rail Road Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad Staten Island Rail-Road

In 1883, he resigned all his company presidencies and had his sons appointed as chairmen but left the day-to-day running of the businesses to experienced men appointed president.

William Henry Vanderbilt is perhaps most remembered for snapping "the public be damned" at an interviewer..in context, an irritated reaction to the other's suggestion that the New York Central Railroad system, which Vanderbilt controlled, ought to be operated as if it were a public trust.

On his passing, he was interred in the Vanderbilt family mausoleum at the Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp on Staten Island, New York.

William Henry Vanderbilt's estate was divided among his eight children, the bulk of which went to his four sons.

Children of William Henry Vanderbilt and Maria Louisa (Louise) Kissam:

Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899) Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt-Shepherd (1845-1924) William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849-1920) Emily Thorn Vanderbilt (1852-1956) Florence Adele Vanderbilt -Twombly (1854-1952) Frederick William Vanderbilt (1856-1938) Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt-Webb (1860-1936) George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862-1914)

His last home is on the left in the image linked at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York article.