Biography history channel youtube transportation
Biography history channel youtube transportation videos
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Cornelius Vanderbilt: Early Years
A descendant of Dutch settlers who came to America in the mid-1600s, Cornelius Vanderbilt was born into humble circumstances on May 27, 1794, on Staten Island, New York.
His parents were farmers and his father also made money by ferrying produce and merchandise between Staten Island and Manhattan in his two-masted sailing vessel, known as a periauger. As a boy, the younger Vanderbilt worked with his father on the water and attended school briefly.
Biography history channel youtube transportation
When Vanderbilt was a teen he transported cargo around the New York harbor in his own periauger. Eventually, he acquired a fleet of small boats and learned about ship design.
Did you know? During the U.S.
Civil War, Cornelius Vanderbilt donated his largest and fastest steamship, named the Vanderbilt and built for around $1 million, to the Union Navy. The vessel was used to chase down Confederate raiders.
In 1813, Vanderbilt married his cousin Sophia Johnson, and the couple eventually had 13 children