The Vanderbilt Family and the Biltmore House
Patricia A. Barnes
Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877), became the most successful entrepreneur and American businessman of the time. He made his fortune developing steamship lines and railroads and extended his investments in manufacturing and banking. Vanderbilt became known as “Commodore” because of his steamship interests.
The Vanderbilts were originally Dutch farmers who immigrated to America prior to 1685. (7) There isn’t much information on the early families and it wasn’t until Cornelius Vanderbilt came along and borrowed a hundred dollars from his parents to buy a boat, that the name Vanderbilt would become a name of stature and fame. (7) Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794, in Port Richmond on Staten Island, New York. He was raised in a modest farm house on Bay Street, in Stapleton, Staten Island with his parents. He had five sisters and one brother. At the age of 16, he bought a small piragua boat,(this is a flat bottom type of sailing barge), which he used to ferry freight and passengers. He was so successful with this venture that he paid his parents back the one hundred dollars, he had borrowed in one year. His desire to succeed was shown by the fact that he signed on as an apprentice on numerous types of large ship bearing vessels so he could learn as much about the seagoing industry as possible. (1) page-16.
During the War of 1812, (1812-1815) Cornelius Vanderbilt transported supplies to forts along New York Harbor. He formed a steamship company in 1829 and soon dominated shipping along the Atlantic coast and on the Hudson River. (11)
It was early on in the California gold rush when Vanderbilt established a steamship line that carried prospectors from New York to San Francisco. His expansion and visions continued into the mid-1850’s, Vanderbilt’s ships made regular trips to and from Europe, which positioned Cornelius as the leading American steamship owner.
It was in the 1840’s, that Vanderbilt began buying shares in railroads in New York and New Jersey. By the mid-1860’s he managed to gained control of the Hudson River Railroad. Vanderbilt took the opportunity to merge his line with the New York Central Railroad and formed a rail system that ran from New York City to Buffalo, New York. His expansion continued to grow and by 1873, he owned rail lines that extended as far west as Chicago. (11)
Vanderbilt helped develop the nation’s transportation network. Some of his tactics for increasing his business shares were hard and fierce, for he would often cut freight rates to force his competition to sell out to him. Vanderbilt did not support charities. But for some reason, late in life, he gave $1 million dollars to Vanderbilt University in Nashville and $50,000 dollars to the Church of the Strangers in New York City. At his death on Jan. 4, 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt’s fortune was about $105 million dollars, the largest in United States history up to that time. The majority of which went to his son William Henry Vanderbilt. The reading of the will caused a huge uproar amongst the family and even though the will was contested, the Will stood and William Henry became one the richest men in the world. (3) page-51.
Cornelius Vanderbilt’s heirs were one son and eight daughters. His final Will was written two years before Cornelius’ death. (2) page-28. He left the majority to his son William Henry Vanderbilt, $90 million and $10 million divided equally to William Henry’s four sons. Cornelius’s widow received $500,000, plus the house at 10 Washington Place. His eight daughters split $2, 450,000. Cornelius Vanderbilt’s main concern was for his New York Central Railroad and he felt that William Henry would strive to keep it going. (2) page-58.
William Henry Vanderbilt, was the only son of Cornelius Vanderbilt. In his earlier years his father deemed him unworthy and his father sent him to work and live on a farm on Stanton Island. One of the many things that changed Cornelius’ mind about Henry’s worth was when William Henry pulled off a double-crossing deal that the Vanderbilts in general enjoyed. In addition Henry bought manure from his father’s stables at $4 a load and Cornelius watched him load several loads on to one wagon. And asked him why he thought that was one load. Henry told him, ”A load is a load,” and Cornelius gained respect for Henry for getting one over on him. He then turned the farm and a bankrupt railroad over to Henry and Henry turned both of them profitable. These events led to Cornelius’ decision to leave Henry the majority of his wealth. Cornelius felt Henry would keep his railroads going. Henry’s business practices worked quite well, for William, by the time he retired in 1883, he had almost doubled his fathers’ estate value. (3) pages-18 & 50.
William Henry’s mind set of being wealthy and his dedication to the railroads was evidenced in an interview by a reporter. The reporter stated: “But don’t you run it, being the railroad, for the public benefit?” William Henry replied: “The public be damned! What does the public care for the railroads except to get as much out of them for as small a consideration as possible?” (1) page-73. Once this hit the papers it went world-wide and William Henry realized it was one of his biggest blunders. For it became associated with the Vanderbilts from then on and was associated with the arrogance of the wealthy of that era. (1) page-74. You know what they say. “Once out of the mouth you can’t take it back.”
William Henry Vanderbilt had four sons, Cornelius, William, Frederick and George. Cornelius Vanderbilt was by far the most dedicated to keeping the family businesses successful. William Kissam Vanderbilt also worked with Cornelius to support the businesses for a while and surprisingly turned the railroads over to a management group in 1903. Frederick Vanderbilt went to Yale and was the first one in the family to get a college education. He helped his brothers for a while but didn’t play as big a role as his brothers. (1) page-74. And finally there was George Washington Vanderbilt, who was the least interested in the family businesses. It was through George’s vision and dream that the Biltmore home came to life. One very interesting point about George Vanderbilt was the fact that he was fluent in eight languages. (5) page-19.
During George’s visits with his mother, to the Ashville area, he fell in love with the area. He liked it so much that in 1888 he started to acquire surrounding land from which he was planning to place a home. It would end up being a home that would stand out as one of the largest and most beautiful houses in America.
George married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser on June 1, 1898 in Paris, France. They had one child and her name was Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt. At George’s death, Cornelia would receive the five million dollar trust that had been set up for her father and at the age of twenty five she would inherit the Biltmore estate.
The Vanderbilts had large homes of which several were designed by an architect named Richard Morris Hunt. George had gained respect and admiration for Richard Hunt to the point that he was “almost a father figure.” (2) page 55. Needless to say Richard Morris Hunt was so named the architect of the Biltmore estate. Richard Hunt did not get to see the Biltmore house completed in 1895 because he died early that year. His son, Richard Howland Hunt supervised the completion. (1) page-186.
George’s vision was more than a home. He wanted the landscaping to be breath taking and he wanted the estate to be a self-supporting. George established several entities to try and establish a self-supporting estate. They consisted of a Truck Farm established in 1900; a Pig Farm established in 1906; a Poultry Farm established in 1906; a Farm Village established in 1906; a Biltmore Dairy Delivery established in 1905; The Dairy Barn established in 1913 and a Creamery established in 1913. (10) pages-52-58.
George hired landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted. George Vanderbilt interacted with Frederick Olmsted in the design of the landscape and it was a great interaction for Frederick Olmsted stated: “the exacting, yet frank, trustful, confiding, and cordially friendly disposition towards all of us which Mr. V. manifests.” When Olmsted arrived at the Biltmore, he was informed by George Vanderbilt that he wanted to have the house completely surrounded as though in a park setting. (1) page-183 & (10). When you visit the Biltmore today, you will see that George made the best decision in hiring Olmsted.
George also wanted the surrounding forests to be studied and developed into a controlled forestry undertaking. It was through Olmsted that Pinchot was recommended as the person who could go through the existing forests and determine their current state. In addition, Pinchot would be able to determine the potential quantities of board-feet per acre, which could add an additional source of income in the future. Olmsted further advised, “If you are to have the benefit of Mr. Pinchot’s service in any way, it would undoubtedly be desirable with respect to the forest proper that nothing be done except under his advice. I say this more confidently because I am satisfied that he would…serve you with a degree of zeal that you could not expect to obtain from anyone else.” Gifford Pinchot described the current state of the forests as “burned, slashed, and overgrazed”. It should be pointed out that the estate was comprised of 125,000 acres. The forestry program launched at the Biltmore estate was the first official forestry program launched in America. (www.biltmore.com). The Biltmore’s forestry program was presented at the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893. (1) pages-184 & 186.
Biltmore, how did it get it’s name? Well originally Olmsted recommended Broadwood and George rejected it. The next suggestion was Bilton, but it was rejected by the post office authorities because of a similarity to another area named Bolton. George wanted to name the house after his ancestral heritage from Bildt, Holland. So it ended up being named Biltmore. The post office authorities accepted that. (4) page-48.
The Biltmore house was designed after the concept of a French chateau. It’s primary structure was of limestone that was shipped from Indiana. It consisted of four stories and has a total of 178,926 square feet of floor space. It has 250 rooms in house with 43 bathrooms, 33 bedrooms, 65 fireplaces and three kitchens. In its day it had the latest conveniences such as electric lights, central heating, elevator, dumbwaiter equipment and refrigeration. It was absolutely state of the art of its time. Eighty servants supported the house internally and several hundred cared for the surrounding grounds. (1) pages-170&176.
Financial concerns came upon George Vanderbilt and the Biltmore house towards completion. Construction in a few areas had to be stopped. Staff was let go and George and family moved to Europe for a while to be able to extend the finances. They would come back six months out of the year.(5) pages-24&25.
While at the Biltmore house, in the year 1914, George had an appendectomy and died as the result of a pulmonary embolism at Washington, DC hospital. It was during the last couple of years of George’s life that he was trying to sell about 90,000 acres to the government to establish the Pisgah National Forest. After his death, his wife, Edith completed the sale fulfilling her husband’s wishes. Edith had to continue selling land and businesses in order to maintain the Biltmore estate. The estate ended up with approximately eight thousand acres as it is to this very day.
Cornelia married John F. Cecil and they had two sons, George and William. Both George and William were born in the Biltmore house. This was the family residence, even during the Great Depression. It was during the Great Depression, that Cornelia and John were approached, by the Ashville Chamber of Commerce, to open the Biltmore Estate to the public. And they did so on March 15, 1930. On the first day of this occasion, they had about three hundred paying visitors. (5) page-14. By the end of the year nearly thirty nine thousand visitors toured the Biltmore estate. (5) page-16.
After Cornelia’s death George and William Cecil inherited the Biltmore estate and George Cecil ended up with the majority of the land and the Biltmore Farms Company and William Cecil, his younger brother, ended up with the Biltmore house. George has continued to develop the Biltmore Farms into a successful real estate business in the Asheville area. William has managed to transform the Biltmore estate into a major North Carolina tourist attraction and has built the Biltmore Winery into a profitable business as well. William’s son, Bill Jr. is president and CEO of the company today. The following Biltmore time line shows the progression of business development towards the continued success and sustainment of the Biltmore estate. I am sure George Vanderbilt would be proud of the fact that his family has tried to keep his dream alive. William and his family have tried to follow in his father’s footsteps and dream. (10)
The following chronological list represents a close approximation of the activities of the family, in order to preserve the Biltmore estate: * 1888 George Vanderbilt visited Asheville, North Carolina. * 1889 Construction of the Biltmore House begins. * 1895 George Vanderbilt Officially opens Biltmore to friends and family. * 1914 George Vanderbilt died. * 1925 John and Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil’s first son, George Henry Vanderbilt Cecil, is born at the estate. * 1928 John and Cornelia’s second son, William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil, is born in the Louis XV Room where she herself was born. * 1930 Cornelia and John Cecil open Biltmore House to the public. * 1942 Biltmore House stores art during World War II. * 1960 William Cecil returns to Biltmore. * 1971 William Cecil plants his first vines at Biltmore. * 1983 The Biltmore Estate Wine Company is established. * 2001 Inn on Biltmore Estate opens. * 2010 Antler Hill Village opens. * 2012 Biltmore honored for environmental stewardship. * 2015 Village Hotel on Biltmore Estate opens. (10)

Was George Vanderbilt’s love for the Biltmore home so strong he couldn’t leave? There have been many who have said they have witnessed paranormal sightings while at the Biltmore house. And many have said it was Vanderbilt himself in the Library and the Oak Sitting Room. Kelly Harrell, a known paranormal, stated that “I also recall in the Oak Sitting Room, seeing a man in a striped suit sitting at one of the tables that stretched alongside towering Yule trees”. (6)
While on a tour that passed by the indoor pool, Kelly Harrell stated she saw a dark figure gliding through the water and rise up from the pool. It has been noted by many and especially by members of the Biltmore staff that they have witnessed what we call paranormal activities in vacant rooms such as roaming ghosts, cigar odors in non-smoking rooms and voices. Many visitors, while in the pool area have felt overwhelmed by some spirit of a person who may have drowned there. (6)
Visiting the Biltmore estate can give you or anyone the opportunity to see a beautiful home and seeing what a dream can provide, not only for oneself but for generations to come. We just want to say, “thank you George for giving us an opportunity to share in your dream”. And who knows, one might just see old George.

Bibliography
Biltmore House and the Vanderbilt Family
By Patricia Barnes 1. Jerry E Patterson (1989) The Vanderbilts: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2. Louis Auchincloss (1989) The Vanderbilt ERA-PROFILES OF A GILED AGE: Macmillan Publishing Company. 3. Amanda Mackenzie Stuart, (2005). Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt. Great Britian by HarperCollins Publishers. 4. Powell, Lew. (1996) On this day in North Carolina/Lew Powell, : / R. R. /Donnelley & Sons. 5. Covington, Howard E. (2006) Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Estate Became an American Icon:/Howard E. Covington, Jr.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 6. Harrell, Kelly S. (2014), Haunted Biltmore: My Firsthand Paranormal Tour: Internet; http://www.kelleyharrell.com/ Published by Kelly Harrell. 7. William A. Croffut, The Vanderbilts and the Story of Their Fortune (Salem, N.H.:Ayer Company, 1985)m 49. 8. Staff (2006-03-15)” National Register Information System”. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 9. Alexander, Bill (American congressional representative). The first American forest: George Vanderbilt’s vision of a country estate gave rise to a movement powered by three of forestry’s greats. “American Forests Summer” 2005: 7+. Science in Context. Web27, Feb. 2016. 10. Official website (http://Biltmore.com)