New York Tribune, 18, 109, 264, 416
New York World, 85, 120, 149, 175, 179, 210, 216, 222, 297, 392
New York Yacht Club, 202
New York Yacht Club (Newport), 316, 317
Nicaragua, 22-23, 26-27
Nicholas II, czar of Russia, 302
Nichols, Charles, 100
Nickel Plate railroad, 73-75, 76, 122-123
Nineteenth Amendment, 284
North Carolina, 271-272
Northern Pacific Railroad, 266
North Star (Commodore’s yacht), 24-26, 27, 142
North Star (Neily s yacht), 302, 304, 310, 314, 316, 321, 397
North Star Weekly, 321
O
Oakland Farm, 329
Ochre Court, 244-245
Oelrichs, Mrs. Hermann, 233, 234, 240
Ogden, Aaron, 10
oil industry, 72, 73
Old Westbury Golf Club, 414
Olmsted, Frederick Law, 136, 272-274, 275, 278, 400-401, 414
P
Paddock, Bishop, 269
Paderewski, Ignace, 310
Paget, Lady (Minnie Stevens), 151, 154
Palm Beach, Fla., 200, 210, 300
Panama, 21-22, 24, 27
Paramount Pictures, 398
Pans, 149, 150-151, 153-154, 174, 203, 287-288, 354
Parke-Bemet Galleries, 398, 408
Patriarch Balls, 95-97, 101, 102, 117, 203
Patriarchs, 95, 152, 229
Paul, Maury (Cholly Knickerbocker), 224, 332-333, 335, 336, 338, 345, 384
Pembroke, Reggie, 312
Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Company (Penn Central), 411-412
Pennsylvania Railroad, 56-57, 76, 77-78, 411
People’s Independent Line, 27
People’s Line, 33
Perkins, Mrs. C. L„, Jr., 117
Perry, Matthew, 248
Perry, Oliver Hazard, 248
Pershing, John Joseph, 310
Peters, Madison, 268
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, 266
philanthropy, 46-48, 135, 139-140, 180-181, 217, 223, 281
physicians, magnetic, 49, 61
Pinkerton guards, 138, 268, 389
Pisgah National Forest, 414
Pope, Alexander, 155
Potter, Codman, 168, 172
Preservation Society of Newport County, 413, 414
Prince, Frederick H., 292
private railroad cars, 71-72, 141, 148, 200, 213, 217, 272, 274, 338, 352, 397
Prohibition, 391
Prometheus, 22
prostitution, 65
Pullman strike (1894), 266
Q
quadrilles, 104, 112, 117-118, 206, 246, 269
R
Racquet and Tennis Club, 202
Radio City Music Hall, 391, 404
railroads:
competition of, 31-37, 71, 73-78
equipment of, 37-38, 39, 71, 410
growth of, 1, 4, 29-39, 129
labor unrest and, 56-58, 266
laws pertaining to, 70-71
mergers and consolidations of, 410-411
narrow-gauge, 75
powerful leadership of, 70-71, 72
strikes of, 56-58, 266
train wrecks on, 29, 48, 71
Rapallo, Charles, 53, 139, 140
rate wars, 10-12, 27, 73-78
Redburn, Frank, 65-66
Richelieu, Cardinal, 276
Ringling, John, 291
robber barons, 265
Roberts, George, 77
Rockefeller, John D., ix
Rockefeller Center, 391, 396
Rockefeller family, 299
Rogers, Herman, 123
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 388-389
Roosevelt, Isaac, 98
Roosevelt, J. R., 114
Roosevelt, Theodore, 307, 310
Roosevelt family, 123
Rothschild family, 81, 248
Russell, Lillian, 233
Rutherfurd, Lewis, 152
Rutherfurd, Winthrop, 147-148, 268
Consuelo and, 149, 152-153, 156-159, 170, 174, 254, 415
Rutherfurd family, 95, 108, 152
S
Sage, Russell, 310
St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, 115, 137, 180, 181, 182, 184, 218, 400
St. Luke’s Hospital, 180, 181
St Patrick’s Cathedral, 282
St. Paul’s School, 318, 327
St. Regis Hotel, 261, 294, 393
St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church, 165, 167-169, 171-173, 294-295, 322
Sandy Point Farm, 328-329, 331, 338-339, 341-342, 343
San Francisco, Calif., 17, 23, 27, 91
San Francisco Illustrated Daily Herald, 323
Santa Fe Railroad, 266
Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 45, 57, 58, 84, 215, 298, 328
Schermerhorn, Caroline, see Astor, Caroline Schermerhorn
Schermerhorn family, 95, 96, 104, 108
schooners, 8, 17, 141-143
Senate, U.S., 266, 299
servants, cost of, 53-54
Shelburne Farms, 271
Shepard, Elliott F., 131, 270
Shepard, Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt, 131, 270
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), 266
Sherry-Netherland Hotel, 355, 409
Sherry’s, 232-233, 234, 263, 327
Shoe and Leather Bank, 177-178, 179
Simpson, Wallis Warfield, 359
Sloane, pmily Thorn Vanderbilt, see White, Emily Thorn Vanderbilt Sloane
Sloane, William D., 132, 270
Smith, Ada, 115
Smith, Murray Forbes, 85, 86, 140
Smith, Phoebe Desha, 85, 86, 127, 162
Smyth, Herbert C, 368-370, 378
Society As I Have Found It (McAllister), 227
Southern Railway, 272
Southfield, 137
South Pennsylvania Railroad, 77-78
Sower, The (Millet), 134
spiritualism, 3-4, 42-44, 45, 60, 61, 66-68, 81
Staten Island, N.Y., x, 5-6, 53
Vanderbilt homes on, 5, 13, 14-17, 21, 25, 27, 55, 134, 137, 177, 178, 399, 409
Vanderbilt mausoleum on, 135-136, 137-138, 274, 281, 294, 342, 389
Staten Island Railroad, 40
steamships, 5, 8-12, 22-27, 29, 33, 130
Stevens, Doris, 292, 293
Stevens, Mrs. Paran, 211
Stewart, A. T., 23, 98
Stewart, Lispenard, 195, 268
stock market crash of 1929, 387-389
Stoddard, Charles, 66-68
Stoddard, Lillian, 66-68
strikes, railroad, 56-58, 266
Stuyvesant, Peter, 152, 237, 277
Stuyvesant family, 94
Swiftsure, 1
Szapary, Countess Anthony, 413
Szapary, Gladys, 413
Szapary, Paul, 413
Szechenyi, Countess Gladys Vanderbilt, 181, 222, 223, 303, 338, 395, 413
Szechenyi, Count Laszlo, 303, 413
T
Tammany Hall, 71-72, 329, 330
taxes, ix, 72, 223, 266, 269, 281, 306, 329, 393, 396
Thaw, Benjamin, 369
Thaw, Consuelo Morgan, 359-360, 362, 363, 364, 366, 369, 374-375, 381-382
Tiffany, Louis Comfort, 394
Tinney, Harold B., 413
Toilet of Venus, The (Boucher), 111, 410
Town Topics, 173-174, 177, 220, 224-225, 227, 300
Twain, Mark (Samuel Clemens), 28-29, 310
Tweed, William Marcy “Boss,” 206
Twombly, Alice, 402, 403
Twombly, Florence Adele Vanderbilt, 115, 132, 270, 272, 338, 399-407, 414
estate of, 408
lifestyle of, 403-407
motherhood of, 402-403
Twombly, Hamilton McKown, 270, 272, 278, 399-403
Twombly, Hamilton McKown, Jr., 402, 403
Twombly, Ruth, 402, 403, 405, 406-408, 414
U
unemployment,
56-57, 266-267, 387-388
Union Pacific Railroad, 180, 266
“Use and Misuse of Wealth, The” (Peters), 268
V
Valiant, 147-149, 248, 280
Vanderbilt, Alfred, 181, 188, 192, 216, 217, 222-223, 303, 327, 329
death of, 332, 335, 342, 392, 410
inheritance of, 223, 297-298
Vanderbilt, Alice Claypoole Gwynne, x, 114-115, 118, 163, 272, 286, 300, 324
Alva and, 177, 181-184, 185-186
appearance of, 181, 185, 222, 303, 327, 337, 392
Breakers and, 185-188
children’s relations with, 188-189, 191-192, 197, 199, 204-207, 209, 217, 219-220, 303-304, 332, 336-342, 392, 395
Cornelius II and, 181-189, 193, 204, 205, 207, 213, 221-223, 265, 299
death of, 395
estate of, 395
inheritance of, 223, 393
mourning dress of, 222, 303, 337, 392
personalitv of, 181, 184-185, 186, 187, 332, 337, 342
Vanderbilt, Alice Gwynne, 181, 188
Vanderbilt, Alva, see Belmont, Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt, Anne Harriman Sands Rutherfurd, 254, 281
Vanderbilt, Cathleen, 328, 332, 335, 336, 343
Vanderbilt, Cathleen Neilson, 328, 332, 336
Vanderbilt, Commodore, see Vanderbilt, Cornelius “Commodore”
Vanderbilt, Consuelo, see Balsan, Consuelo Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt, Cornelia, 277, 278
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 5-6
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, II, x, 53, 59, 135, 197-198, 201, 202, 271, 272
Alice and, 181-189, 193, 204, 205, 207, 213, 221-223, 265, 299
appearance of, 107, 114-115, 179
charitable interests of, 180-181, 217, 223
Commodore and, 53, 177-179, 181, 182
conscientiousness of, 107, 149. 178-181, 327
fatherhood of, 115, 181, 221-223
illness and death of, 213-215, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221-222, 279, 342, 392
inheritance of, 53, 139-140, 179-180, 182
last will and testament of, 222-223, 297-298, 327, 343, 392-393
Neily and, 181, 204-206, 210-213, 214, 215, 217-220, 221-223, 296-297, 299, 316
personality of, 107, 149, 178-181, 184, 205, 223
railroad career of, 107, 123, 126, 178-181, 410
wealth of, 194, 211, 212, 223
Willie and, 126, 139-140, 149, 177, 180, 181
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, III “Neily,” 181, 188, 251, 312-313
death of, 397
disinheritance of, 223, 297-298, 336
family objections to marriage of, 204-206, 209-213, 214, 215, 217-223, 296-297, 299, 303-304, 316, 332, 336, 392, 395
financial losses of, 387, 396
Gertrude and, 204-205, 207, 208-209, 214, 397
Grace and, 202-212, 215-223, 268, 296, 298-301, 305-306, 310-313, 316-317, 323-324, 332, 336, 392, 396-397
income of, 218, 223, 297-298, 304, 323
inventions of, 221, 299, 304, 323, 327
Neil and, 316-319
personality of, 203, 310, 312, 316-317
railroad career of, 210, 220-221, 298
rheumatism of, 203, 204, 212
wealth of, 323
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, IV “Neil,” 311-325, 398-399
army service of, 319-320, 324
childhood of, 220, 303, 311-312, 313-319, 320-321
education of, 315-316, 318-319
inheritance of, 323-324, 395
marriages of, 322, 414
newspaper career of, 320-325, 387-389, 395
parents’ relations with, 313-325, 396
Vanderbilt, Cornelius “Commodore,” 135, 223
ambition of, x, 7, 10, 27-28, 73
appearance of, 7, 12, 13, 29, 87
autopsy of, 52-53, 61, 68
burial of, 53, 137, 342
business methods of, 7, 9-12, 23, 27, 28, 30-34, 35, 37, 38-39, 415, 416-417
childhood of, 5-7
competitive zeal of, 9-11, 26-27, 29, 30-31, 32, 58, 73, 78, 79
Corned and, 17-20, 25, 40, 53, 62-63, 65
Cornelius II and, 53, 177-179, 181, 182
court case concerning will of, 58-69, 297, 399, 415
criticism of, 23, 28-29, 39
death of, ix, 52-53, 57, 81, 83, 130, 179
early business ventures of, 7-12, 91
education lacked by, 3, 6, 26, 41-42, 47, 53
ego of, 39, 47, 48
employees of, 12, 57-58
epithets used by, 3, 13-14, 62, 75, 138, 415
estate of, 4, 24, 51-52, 53-54, 57, 58-69, 271, 279
fatherhood of, 4-5, 9, 13, 17, 40, 42, 52, 53, 58-59, 68-69, 87
first marriage of, 7-8, 14
frugality of, x, 8, 9, 10, 12, 28, 50, 123
as grandfather, 42, 52, 53, 87, 115, 177-179, 181, 270-271
horse team of, 1-2, 42, 48
illnesses of, 1-5, 48-53, 60, 61
importance of money to, 27-28, 78
infidelity of, 21, 43-45, 60
last will and testament of, 4, 51-52, 53-54, 58-69, 88, 297, 415
occult beliefs of, 3-4, 43-44, 45, 60, 61, 66-68, 81
personality of, x, 2, 7, 8, 12-13, 27-28, 29, 39, 55, 78-79, 85, 102
philanthropy of, 46-48
press reports of, 23, 24-25, 28-29, 39, 49, 53
railroad empire of, 29-39, 40-42, 44, 45, 49, 52, 56, 69-70, 73, 75, 78, 136, 410
seafaring interests of, 6-7
second marriage of, 45-46, 68
siblings of, 53, 59
social position of, 12-13, 26, 88, 102
steamship operations of, 8-12, 14, 17, 22-27, 29
train accident of, 29, 48
vulgarity of, 7, 12-13, 102
wealth of, 12, 23-24, 27-29, 49, 53-54, 57, 206
William H. and, 5, 13-17, 21, 25-26, 40-41, 45, 49, 51-56, 58, 62, 66-70, 73, 75, 77, 78-81, 130, 138, 140, 177, 270, 399, 415
women as seen by, 4, 13
Vanderbilt, Cornelius Jeremiah “Corned”:
appearance of, 17, 59
asylum commitment of, 18
Commodore’s will contested by, 58-69, 297, 399, 415
epilepsy of, 17, 25
gambling of, 18, 20, 63-65, 68, 69
indebtedness of, 18-20, 62-65
inheritance of, 53, 58-59, 68
lifestyle of, 17-20, 62-65, 68, 69
marriage of, 19-20
monthly allowance of, 18, 20, 64
suicide of, 69
Vanderbilt, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser, 277, 278-279
Vanderbilt, Elizabeth, 13
Vanderbilt, Ellen Williams, 19-20, 63, 64
Vanderbilt, Elsie French, 300
Vanderbilt, Frank Crawford “Frankie,” 44-48, 85
appearance of, 2, 44
Commodore and, 2, 3, 45-46, 48, 50-52, 53
inheritance of, 53
religious leanings of, 45, 46-47
Vanderbilt, Frederick W., 59, 182, 215, 270, 272, 282
Vanderbilt, George Washington, 40, 64
Vanderbilt, George Washington, II, 182, 209, 271-279, 306
art collection of, 274, 276, 305
Biltmore built by, 271-279, 402, 413-414
estate of, 278-279, 305, 413-414
inheritance of, 182, 271, 277, 305
personality of, 271, 272-273
Vanderbilt, Gertrude, see Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt, Gladys, see Szechenyi, Countess Gladys Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt, Gloria Laura Morgan “Little Gloria,” 340
childhood of, 346-350, 354-386
court testimony of, 379-383
custody battle for, 356-386
Gertrude and, 350, 354-356, 358-359, 361-368, 372-373, 378, 381, 383, 384-385
inheritance of, 343-344, 344-346, 348, 356, 386, 395
Vanderbilt, Gloria Morgan, 332-346
appearance of, 333, 336-
337
and custody battle for Little Gloria, 356-386
income of, 343-344, 345-346, 356
lifestyle of, 344-346, 347, 349-350, 356, 357, 369-372, 384
Reggie and, 332-343, 360, 392, 393
Vanderbilt, Grace, 303, 313-314, 315, 318, 321
Vanderbilt, Grace Wilson, 296-318
appearance of, 202, 203, 301, 310, 396
death of, 409, 410
jewelry of, 218, 301, 307, 311, 392
Neil and, 313-316, 319, 323-324
Neily and, 202-212, 215-223, 268, 296, 298-301, 305-306, 310-313, 316-317, 323-324, 332, 336, 392, 396-397
personality of, 310-311
reputation of, 207, 209, 219, 296, 337
social position of, 299-313, 390-392, 395-399
Vanderbilt, Harold, 250, 259, 290, 413
Alva and, 259, 290, 292-293
childhood of, 124, 125, 147, 163, 168
inheritance of, 281, 283
railroad career of, 411
Vanderbilt, Jacob, 59
Vanderbilt, Lulu, 272, 338
Vanderbilt, Maria Louisa Kissam, 14, 85, 87, 116, 168, 218, 271, 272, 276, 277
William H. and, 78, 131, 139, 177
Vanderbilt, Phebe, 5, 6, 25, 49, 182
Vanderbilt, Phebe Jane, 13
Vanderbilt, Rachel Littleton, 322
Vanderbilt, Reginald Claypoole “Reggie,” 181, 188, 221, 222, 223, 303, 326-343
Alice and, 332, 336-338, 339-340, 341, 342, 392
appearance of, 327, 333
first marriage of, 328, 332
horse breeding by, 328-329, 333
illness and death of, 328, 340-342, 357, 410
inheritance of, 327, 328, 335-336
last will and testament of, 343
personality of, 327, 329, 334-335
as playboy, 327-332, 335-336, 339
second marriage of, 338-339, 360
Vanderbilt, Sophia Johnson, 64, 182
Commodore and, 7-9, 14, 17, 20-21, 25, 45, 67
death of, 42, 45, 67
Vanderbilt, William Henry “Billy,” 5, 13-17, 18, 85, 391, 400
Alva and, 85, 131, 140, 141, 182
appearance of, 13, 16, 59, 66, 71, 80, 87, 115, 130-131
art collection of, 82, 131, 134-135, 305, 398, 410
attitude toward money of, 73, 81, 82-83
business abilities of, 15-17, 40-41, 55-56, 57-58, 75, 76-78, 177
Commodore and, 5, 13-17, 21, 25-26, 40-41, 45, 49, 51-56, 62, 66-68, 80-81, 130, 138, 140, 177, 270, 399, 415
Commodore’s management style compared with, 56, 58, 69-70, 73, 75, 77, 78-79, 80
conspiracy attributed to, 65-68
criticism of, 70-71, 73, 79-80, 82, 129, 134, 320
death and funeral of, 137-138, 270, 271, 281, 305, 342, 389
estate of, 138-141, 305
fatherhood of, 53, 59, 78, 115, 131-132, 138-140, 177, 271
fortune split up by, 140, 182, 415
health of, 14, 82-83, 129-130
horses owned by, 82, 130-131