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May 2018 63 boatingonthehudson.com
York Central—and numerous mansions, yachts, and race horses. At his
death in 1938 Frederick William Vanderbilt was worth $79,845,478.00.
Frederick, born February 2, 1856, was one of “Commodore” Cornelius
Vanderbilt’s grandsons. By the way, Cornelius, at age 19, married his first
cousin Sophia, and they had 13 children together. Around 150 years later
Jerry Lee Lewis gets slammed... Frederick’s father, Willam Henry “Billy”
Vanderbilt was the fourth of Cornelius’s thirteen. Billy had eight kids, and
Frederick was number three.
Frederick and Louise—the former Louise Holmes Anthony of Newport,
Rhode Island—were married in 1878. He was 22, she was 34, and was
divorced from his cousin (one of his sister’s sons), Alfred Torrance. It was “a
bit of a scandal” at the time. They were “unable to have children”.
In 1895 they bought a mansion and a 700-acre working farm in Hyde
Park for $125,000.00: a pretty hefty sum in those days. They tore down the
“structurally unsound” original mansion and built a new, very sound, 54-room
mansion between 1896 and 1898. Astonishingly they lived in it for only six
weeks in the Spring and six weeks in the Fall. The mansion was run by a full-
time staff of 60 locals. His siblings referred to Frederick’s Hyde Park mansion
as “Freddie’s little cottage on the Hudson”. His brother George Washington
Vanderbilt’s 250-room “Biltmore” in North Carolina had 43 bathrooms...
Frederick and Louise also owned fancy property in Manhattan, “Rough
Point” in Newport, Rhode Island, “Sonogee” in Bar Harbor, Maine, and
an Adirondack Great Camp on the Saint Regis River. Spring in Hyde Park,
Summers between Bar Harbor and the Adirondacks, Fall in Hyde park, and
Winters in New York City and Palm Beach, Florida. Yup... Louise made yearly
trips to Europe: Paris was her favorite. She died there in 1926 at age 82 from
a failed appendix operation. He died in the Hyde Park mansion in 1938,
also at 82.
The mansion and 211acres on the river side of Route 9 were given to
the National Park Service in 1940 by Louise’s niece Margaret Van Alen (of
Newport...): wealthy in her own right, she “didn’t want it”.
Henry Hudson: a Readers Digest version:
Famously sailed up the Hudson River in 1609, seeking the fabled Northwest
Passage to the riches of India, where he also hoped to pick up some good
vegetarian recipes for his cousin Harriet. He is greeted by peaceful, friendly
natives in what is now Yonkers. He opens fire on them.
It wasn’t the Hudson then, the natives called it “Muhheakunnuk”—”the river
that flows two ways”—or more commonly, just “the river”; much easier to
pronounce, and spell. Henry briefly considered renaming the river “Harriet”
after his favorite cousin, but wisely thought better of this.
His favorite cousin??? Oh no!!!!!!!
Roosevelt Mansion
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