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Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 - January 4, 1877) was an American industrialist, born on Staten Island, New York. He entered the transportation business at the age of 16 when he established a freight-and-passenger ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, known as "the Commodore, " was in his 79th year when he decided to make the gift that founded Vanderbilt University in the spring of 1873. The $1 million that he gave to endow and build the university was Vanderbilt's only major philanthropy.
A biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the quintessential “robber baron,” a man widely revered as well as hated. By Michael Kazin. Page 1 of 10. 1. 2.
