Cornelius Vanderbilt III

Cornelius Vanderbilt III

Vanderbilt III c. 1910–1915
Born September 5, 1873
New York City
Died March 1, 1942 (aged 68)
Miami Beach, Florida
Cause of death
 Cerebral hemorrhage
Resting place
 Moravian Cemetery
Residence 640 Fifth Avenue
Other names Neily Vanderbilt
Education St. Paul's School
Yale University
Political party
 Republican
Spouse(s) Grace Graham Wilson
Children Cornelius Vanderbilt IV
Grace Vanderbilt
Parent(s) Cornelius Vanderbilt II
Alice Claypoole Gwynne

Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III (September 5, 1873 – March 1, 1942) was an American military officer, inventor, engineer, and yachtsman, and a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family.

Biography

He was born in New York City on September 5, 1873 to Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne. He was educated by private tutors at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire before attending Yale University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1895. Against his father's wishes, in August 1896 he married Grace Graham Wilson, the youngest child of New York banker Richard Thornton Wilson, Sr. and Melissa Clementine Johnston. Remaining at Yale until 1899, he earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree and, having a great deal of interest in the mechanical and engineering aspects of his family’s railroad business, he also earned a degree in mechanical engineering.

Upon his father's death in 1899 Neily received only $500,000 in cash and the income from a $1 million trust fund. The bulk of his father's $70 million estate went to Neily's brother, Alfred, who then helped Neily by giving him $6 million. However, as a result of his parents' attitude towards his marriage, it would be 27 years after his father's death before he finally reconciled with his aging mother. Neily and Grace remained married for the rest of their lives and had two children, Cornelius IV (1898–1974), who would marry seven times, and a daughter, Grace (September 25, 1899 - January 28, 1964).[1]

Neily Vanderbilt was an inveterate tinkerer with all things mechanical and patented more than thirty inventions for improving locomotives and freight cars, including several which brought him a significant royalty income. Some of the most important were a corrugated firebox for locomotives that resulted in a substantial increase in fuel efficiency, a cylindrical styled tank car for the transport of bulk oil, and a revolutionary type of locomotive tender. In addition, on his travels to London and Paris he saw the potential for adapting their subway systems for use in New York City and partnered with August Belmont, Jr. to establish the Interborough Rapid Transit Company for the construction of the city's first subway.

In 1906 he was admitted as an hereditary member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati by right of his descent from Surgeon Henry Collins Flagg of the Continental Army. He also served as the commodore of the New York Yacht Club from 1906 until 1908.

Military service

In 1901, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Twelfth Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard and remained a member of the National Guard for 33 years. He was promoted to first lieutenant in December 1902 and served as an aide de camp to the Governor of New York from September 1903 to December 1904. He was promoted to captain in June 1907 and served as an aide to the division commander from October 1908 until is promoted to lieutenant colonel and inspector general in June 1912.

He served on the Mexican border in 1916, and, by early 1917 had been promoted to colonel and placed in command of the 22nd New York Engineer Regiment.

When the United States entered World War I in April 1917 the 22nd New York was federalized and placed on active duty as the 102nd Engineer Regiment. The 102nd was part of the 27th Division, which was composed of activated units of the New York National Guard and served overseas in France. The 27th Division departed New York for a training camp in Spartanburg, South Carolina in September 1917 and was shipped overseas in May and June of 1918.

Vanderbilt was promoted to brigadier general in July of 1918.[2] He returned from France to the United States and was assigned to Camp Lewis in Washington state where he commanded the 25th Brigade, which was part of the 13th Division.[3][4] As most new recruits and draftees were being sent to France to replace casualties, the 13th Division was not at full strength until November 1, 1918, nine days before the Armistice, and was not sent overseas.[5] [6]

For his services during the war, General Vanderbilt was decorated with the Distinguished Service Medal by the government of the United States, the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross, made a commander of the Order of the Crown from Belgium and awarded that country's Croix de Guerre. The government of France invested him as a Commander of the Legion of Honor. He was also entitled to the Mexican Border Service Medal and World War I Victory Medal.

His citation for the Distinguished Service Medal, awarded in 1919, is as follows:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Brigadier General Cornelius Vanderbilt, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. As Commanding Officer, 102d Engineers, and as Engineer Officer of the 27th Division, General Vanderbilt's marked qualities of leadership and thorough training and instruction developed a high state of military efficiency in his command, as demonstrated throughout its entire service.

After the war, Vanderbilt remained active in the New York National Guard. He commanded the 77th Division of the Army Reserve when it want to Camp Dix, New Jersey for two weeks of field training in July 1931. [7]

Postwar life

Following the First World War, Vanderbilt and his wife frequently returned to Europe, becoming friends and guests of numerous members of European royalty including former Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and his brother, Prince Henry of Prussia, King Albert I of Belgium, Crown Prince Olav of Norway, Queen Marie of Romania, Reza Pahlavi of Iran, and every British monarch since Queen Victoria.

As with other members of the Vanderbilt family, yachting was one of Neily Vanderbilt's favorite pastimes as an escape from a busy life that included a seat on the boards of directors of a number of major American corporations. He was a member of the nine-member syndicate that built the yacht Reliance for the successful defense of the America's Cup in 1903.[8] He was commodore of the New York Yacht Club from 1906 to 1909. In 1910, he piloted his 65 foot sloop Aurora to victory in the New York Yacht Club's race for the King Edward VII Cup in Newport, RI.[9]

Residences

In 1940, Vanderbilt sold the mansion he inherited in 1914 from his uncle George, located at 640 Fifth Avenue in New York City, to members of the Astor family. The family retained occupancy of the house there three years after his death in 1942.

The mansion, built in 1880 by William Henry Vanderbilt, was originally one of two sharing that block designed with identical exteriors and together known as the "Twin Mansions." Neily's wife Grace lived there until 1944 when she moved into the William Starr Miller House at 1048 Fifth Avenue which still stands today as the Neue Galerie.[10]

Vanderbilt also had a summer residence in Newport, Rhode Island named Beaulieu which was designed by Calvert Vaux. The mansion was located on fashionable Bellevue Avenue and is adjacent to the Marble House which was built by Vanderbilt's uncle William K. Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt's widow retained Beaulieu as he summer residence until her death, after which it was sold to Ambassador Wiley T. Buchanan.

Death

Brigadier General Cornelius Vanderbilt III died aboard his yacht from a cerebral hemorrhage while vacationing in Miami Beach, Florida in 1942.

Grace Vanderbilt died on January 7, 1953. She was buried with her husband in the Vanderbilt family mausoleum in the Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp on Staten Island, New York.[11]

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ Vanderbilt, Arthur T., II (1989). Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-07279-8.
  2. ↑ Vanderbilt, Arthur T., 312
  3. ↑ "New Army General Officers". Army-Navy-Air Force Register (Washington, DC). July 6, 1918. p. 8.
  4. ↑ Register of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York, Volumes 1-3. New York, NY: Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 1923. p. 122.
  5. ↑ New York Times. December 7, 1918.
  6. ↑ http://www.newrivernotes.com/topical_history_ww1_oob_american_forces.htm
  7. ↑ New York Times, July 12, 1931.
  8. ↑ New York Times. April 29, 1903.
  9. ↑ New York Times. August 13, 1910.
  10. ↑ Stuart, Amanda (2006). Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-621418-1.
  11. ↑ Vanderbilt, Cornelius (1956). Queen Of Golden Age: The Fabulous Story Of Grace Wilson Vanderbilt. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 1-258-03824-2.