Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr.

He called himself Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. All of his friends called him "NEIL." We used to go to the beach with his pal Silas Seadler. Loved hot dogs. I met one of his 7 wives. Ann who did his bookkeeping. She was sweet and beautiful. There was nothing snooty about Neil. Just a friendly and jolly guy who never acted pretentiously or rich was very endearing. Amanda Stevenson. Born April 30, 1898 Staten Island, New York, U.S. Died July 7, 1974 (aged 76) Reno, Nevada, U.S. Other names Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. Education St. Paul's School Parent(s) Cornelius Vanderbilt III Grace Graham Wilson Relatives See Vanderbilt family Cornelius Vanderbilt IV (April 30, 1898 – July 7, 1974) was a newspaper publisher, journalist, author and military officer. He was an outcast of high society who was disinherited by his parents when he became a newspaper publisher. He desired to live a "normal" life but was burdened by large debt and could not maintain the lifestyle associated with his family's social position. Further information: Vanderbilt family Cornelius Vanderbilt IV was born on April 30, 1898 in Staten Island to Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III (1873–1942) and Grace Graham Wilson (1870–1953).[1][2] Throughout his life, the younger Vanderbilt was known as "Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr." whereas his father, after 1918, was commonly referred to as "General Vanderbilt", as he had served as a brigadier general in the First World War. The younger Vanderbilt was commonly called "Neil" by his family and friends. Career World War I service Shortly after the United State declared war on Germany, much to the chagrin of his mother, Vanderbilt enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 1917, at the age of 19. He was originally assigned to the headquarters of the ammunition train of the 27th Division of the New York National Guard, commanded by Major General John F. O'Ryan.His first posting was in Spartanburg, South Carolina where he was a wagoner driving mules. As this assignment was not to his liking, Vanderbilt made a deal with General O'Ryan's orderly into changing his orders to go with the division overseas. In exchange, Vanderbilt became the orderly's assistant and helped with various chores. He went overseas with the division in May 1918 aboard the transport Great Northern. Upon arriving in Brest, France, he was assigned as an orderly to the commander of the U.S. Army stockade there. Vanderbilt disliked his commander, whom he referred to as "my torturer". By chance, he was able to get a temporary assignment as driver to General Douglas Haig, the commander of the British forces in France. He got the posting when he was in a group of soldiers who asked if anyone knew how to drive a Rolls Royce. Vanderbilt raised his hand since his family only used Rolls-Royces and he was familiar with the peculiarities of their operation. Vanderbilt was honorably discharged from the Army on January 25, 1919. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant of the Infantry branch in the Officers Reserve Corps. Post war life To his parents' dismay, he decided to become a newspaperman. His parents detested the press, seen by them as an invasion of privacy. He worked as a staff member of the New York Herald and later The New York Times in which he had several articles published. Considered a bohemian by his parents, he was frequently at odds with them. In the early 1920s, Vanderbilt launched several newspapers and tabloids—the Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News, the San Francisco Illustrated Daily Herald and the Miami Tab among them. Vanderbilt Inc. ceased operations with losses amounting to nearly $6 million. Vanderbilt subsequently went to work as an assistant managing editor of the New York Daily Mirror. In 1922, he joined the newly organized New York Civitan Club, an organization whose purpose is "to build good citizenship by providing a volunteer organization of clubs dedicated to serving individual and community needs with an emphasis on helping people with developmental disabilities." In 1929, he released Reno, a novel about divorce set in Reno, Nevada, where he had been living since his first divorce in 1927. The book was adapted into the similarly titled 1930 film Reno, starring Ruth Roland in her sound film debut.Then, in 1931, he was engaged by Columbia Pictures to make a comedy about the city, in association with John P. Medbury, a humorist. In 1957, the 59 year-old Vanderbilt married Anna Bernadetta Needham (b. 1933), his 25 year-old secretary. Among the guests at the wedding, which took place at the home of his lawyer, John Sinai, were Charles H. Russell, the Governor of Nevada, and George W. Malone, U.S. Senator of Nevada.[48] They divorced on May 5, 1960. In 1967, Vanderbilt, now 69, married Mary Lou Gardiner Bristol (b. 1926), who was 41, in Reno, Nevada. She was previously married to Albert S. Bristol of Terrell, Texas, with whom she had three children.They remained married to until his death in 1974. Death and burial Cornelius Vanderbilt IV died on July 7, 1974, aged 76, in Reno, Nevada and was buried in the Vanderbilt family mausoleum in the Moravian Cemetery on Staten Island.