Biography
The Vanderbilts: An American Dynasty
TV-PG
1995 • E4 Jan 2, 1995 45mCornelius Vanderbilt was born in New York in 1794. He grew up on the banks of New York Bay on Staten Island where his father kept a small farm and ferried goods to Manhattan. Cornelius left school at age 11 and became a scholar of the harbor. Listen to his story to find out how he parlayed his love of boats and keen business sense into an American dynasty.