[Illustration:  CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.]

II.

CAPITALISTS.

CHAPTER IX.

CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.

Staten Island lies in the beautiful bay of New York, seven miles distant from the great city.  Its lofty heights shut in the snug anchorage of the inner bay, and protect it from the rude storms which howl along the coast.  It lies full in sight of the city, and is one of the most beautiful and attractive of its suburbs.  The commanding heights and embowered shores are covered with villas and cottages, and afford a pleasant and convenient summer resort for the people of New York.  It now contains a large and flourishing population, and maintains a speedy and constant communication with the metropolis by means of steam ferry-boats, the total travel on which sometimes reaches as many as ten or twelve thousand passengers per day.

Seventy-six years ago, Staten Island was a mere country settlement, and its communications with the city were maintained by means of a few sail-boats, which made one trip each way per day.

One of these boats was owned and navigated by Cornelius Vanderbilt, a thriving farmer, who owned a small but well cultivated estate on Staten Island, near the present Quarantine Grounds.  He was a man of exemplary character, great industry, and was generally regarded as one of the most prudent and reliable men on the island.  Having a considerable amount of produce to sell in the city, he purchased a boat of his own for the purpose of transporting it thither.  Frequently, residents of the island would secure passage in this boat to the city in the morning, and return with it in the evening.  He realized a considerable sum of money in this way, and finally ran his boat regularly between the island and the city.  This was the beginning of the New York and Staten Island Ferry.  Mr. Vanderbilt, by close application to his farm and boat, soon acquired a property, which, though small, was sufficient to enable him to maintain his family independently.  His wife was a woman of more than usual character, and aided him nobly in making his way in the world.

This admirable couple were blessed with nine children.  The oldest of these, CORNELIUS, the subject of this sketch, was born at the old farm-house on Staten Island, on the 27th of May, 1794.  He was a healthy, active boy, fond of all manner of out-door sports, and manifesting an unusual repugnance to the confinement and labors of the school-room.  He has since declared that the only books he remembers using at school were the New Testament and the spelling-book.  The result was, that he merely learned to read, write, and cipher, and that imperfectly.  He was passionately fond of the water, and was never so well pleased as when his father allowed him to assist in sailing his boat.  He was also a famous horseman from his earliest childhood,