So, how did Cornelius Vanderbilt treat his workers? Cornelius Vanderbilt began his career at the age of 11, working with his father to ferry cargo and passengers between Staten Island and Manhattan.

How did Cornelius Vanderbilt become successful? After establishing a steamship line in New York in the late 1820s, he started his own business in the late 1830s and operated ferry lines throughout the ...

Getty Images; Elm Court Estate; Library of Congress Elm Court Estate was built in 1886 as a summer home for Emily Vanderbilt, granddaughter of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, and her family.