Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history.
Cornelius Vanderbilt’s great-great-grandfather, Jan Aertson or Aertszoon, was a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt in Utrecht, Netherlands, who emigrated to New York as an indentured servant in 1650. The Dutch van der (“of the”/”from”) was eventually added to Aertson’s village name to create “van der Bilt” (“from De Bilt”), which was eventually condensed to Vanderbilt.
From Wikipedia
Images: Corbis.com
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