Cornelius Vanderbilt III

Brigadier General Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III (September 5, 1873 – March 1, 1942) was an American military officer, inventor, engineer, and yachtsman. He was a member of the Vanderbilt family. Early life Born in New York City to Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne, he was educated by private tutors and at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. Vanderbilt attended Yale University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1895. Against his father's wishes, in August 1896 he married Grace Graham Wilson, the youngest child of New York banker Richard Thornton Wilson Sr., and Melissa Clementine Johnston. As a consequence, his father disinherited him. Vanderbilt continued to study at Yale, and earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1898 and a Master of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering in 1899. Inheritance Upon his father's death in 1899 Vanderbilt received $500,000 in cash and the income from a $1 million trust fund. The bulk of his father's $70 million estate went to Vanderbilt's brother Alfred, who then transferred $6 million to Vanderbilt. However, as a result of his parents' attitude towards his marriage, it would be 27 years after his father's death before he finally reconciled with his aging mother. Vanderbilt and his wife Grace remained married until his death and had two children, Cornelius IV (1898–1974), who would marry seven times, and Grace (September 25, 1899 – January 28, 1964). Interests Neily Vanderbilt was an inveterate tinkerer with all things mechanical and patented more than thirty inventions for improving locomotives and freight cars, including several which brought him a significant royalty income. Some of the most important were a corrugated firebox for locomotives that resulted in a substantial increase in fuel efficiency, a cylindrical styled tank car for the transport of bulk oil, and a revolutionary type of locomotive tender. In addition, on his travels to London and Paris he saw the potential for adapting their subway systems for use in New York City and partnered with August Belmont Jr. to establish the Interborough Rapid Transit Company for the construction of the city's first subway.