He made a great deal of money that summer, and with his earnings built a splendid little schooner, which he named the “Dread.”  In 1815, in connection with his brother-in-law, Captain De Forrest, he built a fine schooner, called the “Charlotte,” for the coasting service.  She was celebrated for the beauty of her model and her great speed.  He continued to ply his boat in the harbor during the summer, but in the fall and winter made voyages along the coast, often as far south as Charleston.  During the three years succeeding the termination of the war he saved nine thousand dollars in cash, and built two or three small vessels.  This was his condition in 1818.

By this time it had become demonstrated to his satisfaction that the new system of steamboats was a success, and was destined to come into general use at no very distant day.  He therefore determined to identify himself with it at once, and thereby secure the benefits which he felt sure would result from a prompt connection with it.  Accordingly, in 1818, to the surprise and dismay of his friends, he gave up his flourishing business, in order to accept the captaincy of a steamboat which was offered him by Mr. Thomas Gibbons.  The salary attached to this position was one thousand dollars, and Captain Vanderbilt’s friends frankly told him that he was very foolish in abandoning a lucrative business for so insignificant a sum.  Turning a deaf ear to their remonstrances, however, he entered promptly upon the duties of his new career, and was given command of a steamboat plying between New York and New Brunswick.

Passengers to Philadelphia, at that day, were transported by steamer from New York to New Brunswick, where they remained all night.  The next morning they took the stage for Trenton, from which they were conveyed by steamer to Philadelphia.  The hotel at New Brunswick was a miserable affair, and had never paid expenses.  When Captain Vanderbilt took command of the steamer, he was offered the hotel rent free, and accepted the offer.  He placed the house in charge of his wife, under whose vigorous administration it soon acquired a popularity which was of the greatest benefit to the line.

For seven years he was harassed and hampered by the hostility of the State of New York, which had granted to Fulton and Livingston the sole right to navigate New York waters by steam.  Thomas Gibbons believed this law to be unconstitutional, and ran his boats in defiance of it.  The authorities of the State resented his disregard of their monopoly, and a long and vexatious warfare sprang up between them, which was ended only in 1824, by the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in favor of Mr. Gibbons.