William Kissam Vanderbilt II
William Kissam Vanderbilt II | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date New York City, U.S. |
| Died | January 8, 1944 (aged 65) |
| Occupation(s) | Automobile racing aficionado, yachtsman |
| Known for | Vanderbilt Cup, Long Island Motor Parkway, Vanderbilt Museum |
William Kissam Vanderbilt II (October 26, 1878 – January 8, 1944) was a notable American automobile racing aficionado and yachtsman, belonging to the influential Vanderbilt family.
Early life
He was born in New York City on October 26, 1878, as the second child and eldest son of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith. Commonly referred to as Willie K., he was the sibling of Harold Stirling Vanderbilt and Consuelo Vanderbilt. Raised within the grand Vanderbilt residences, he frequently traveled throughout Europe and sailed on yachts owned by his father.
His education was provided by private tutors and at St. Mark's School, followed by enrollment at Harvard University, which he left after completing two years.
Career
Although much of his time was devoted to travel and leisure pursuits, Willie held a position at the family's offices for the New York Central Railroad located in Grand Central Terminal, Manhattan. In 1905, he collaborated with other Vanderbilts on a project along Fifth Avenue, commissioning McKim, Mead & White to create a mansion at 666 Fifth Avenue.
Already possessing considerable wealth from a trust fund and his presidency of the New York Central Railroad Company, Willie inherited a vast multimillion-dollar estate following his father's passing in 1920.
Life as an heir
While he maintained interests in horse racing and yachting, his greatest enthusiasm was for automobiles. At just ten years old, he traveled by steam-powered tricycle from Beaulieu-sur-Mer to Monte Carlo. By the age of twenty in 1898, he had ordered a French De Dion-Bouton motor tricycle shipped to New York, soon acquiring additional motor vehicles which he frequently drove at high speeds across Long Island en route to his parents' summer residence, Idle Hour.
An accomplished sailor, he secured victory in the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup in 1900 with his 70-foot yacht Virginia, named after his wife. Beginning in 1902, he commenced construction of "Deepdale" in Lake Success, Long Island, and in 1903 purchased Tarantula, recognized as the first steam yacht powered by turbines worldwide.
Although successful in sailing competitions, his primary focus shifted toward high-speed automobiles. In 1904, he achieved a land speed record of 92.30 miles per hour driving a Mercedes-Benz at Daytona Beach. That same year, he established the Vanderbilt Cup, marking America’s inaugural major automobile racing trophy aimed at encouraging domestic manufacturers by attracting leading European racers. The event held in Nassau County attracted significant audiences; initially won by a French Panhard, an American driver named George Robertson claimed victory in 1908.
The Vanderbilt Cup encountered challenges with crowd management; following a fatal accident in 1906, Willie initiated construction of the Long Island Motor Parkway—among the earliest paved parkways designed both for racing purposes and regional growth. This toll road project began in 1907, extending 48 miles from Queens to Lake Ronkonkoma. Despite its innovation, it failed to produce lasting financial returns and was transferred to local authorities in 1938 due to unpaid taxes.
Supporting this roadway was a rail service that facilitated swift departures from Manhattan. In 1910, he began developing the intricate "Eagle's Nest" estate located in Centerport, Long Island. A passionate collector of natural history and anthropological items gathered during extensive global voyages aboard his yacht and overland expeditions, he served with the U.S. Navy during World War I and later authored "A Trip Through Sicily, Tunisia, Algeria, and Southern France." Additionally, he embarked on a scientific expedition to the Galapagos Islands accompanied by artist William Belanske from the American Museum of Natural History.
By 1922, Vanderbilt constructed a public museum on his estate to exhibit his expanding collection; within ten years, a second floor was added. Belanske took on the role of full-time curator for this institution.
Military service
In 1913, Vanderbilt upgraded his steam turbine yacht Tarantula by commissioning a new motor yacht bearing the same name. On May 9, 1917, the United States Navy officially commissioned this second Tarantula at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as patrol boat SP-124, with Lieutenant Vanderbilt appointed as its commanding officer. The Navy leased the yacht for wartime operations, assigning Vanderbilt to patrol and convoy escort missions along the coasts of New York and New Jersey. He was relieved from active duty on October 1, 1917, allowing him to return to his position as vice-president of the New York Central Railroad. Shortly thereafter, he was elected president and maintained this role throughout the duration of the conflict.
Following the war, Vanderbilt received a promotion to lieutenant commander in the United States Navy Reserve on May 17, 1921. He remained in this capacity until January 1, 1941, when he was transferred to the Honorary Retired List due to physical disability.
Residences
In 1925, Vanderbilt traded his luxury yacht Eagle in exchange for ownership of Fisher Island, Florida, which he developed into a winter home. He constructed a mansion named Alva Base that included yacht docking facilities, a seaplane hangar, tennis courts, a swimming pool, and an eleven-hole golf course; the estate was designed by architect Maurice Fatio. Besides Alva Base and his Long Island property Eagle's Nest, crafted by Warren & Wetmore, Vanderbilt also possessed a farm in Tennessee and Kedgwick Lodge—a hunting retreat on the Restigouche River in New Brunswick, Canada—originally designed for his father by architect Stanford White.
Personal life
In 1899, Vanderbilt married Virginia Graham Fair (1875–1935), an affluent heiress whose father, James Graham Fair, amassed wealth from mining the Comstock Lode. Their honeymoon took place at the Idle Hour estate, which was later destroyed by fire. The couple had three children before their divorce:
- Muriel Vanderbilt (1900–1972), who married three times; her first marriage was to Frederic Cameron Church, Jr. in 1925.
- Consuelo Vanderbilt (1903–2011), who entered into four marriages, including unions with Earl E. T. Smith, former U.S. Ambassador to Cuba, and Henry Gassaway Davis III, grandson of Senator Henry G. Davis.
- William Kissam Vanderbilt III (1907–1933), noted for his enthusiasm for high-speed automobiles and travel; he died as a result of a car accident.
After ten years together, they separated but did not finalize their divorce until 1927 when Vanderbilt planned to remarry. The divorce was discreetly arranged in Paris while he and Rosamund Lancaster Warburton (1897–1947), heiress to the John Wanamaker department store fortune and former spouse of Barclay Harding Warburton II, awaited its completion. The couple wed at the Hotel de Ville in Paris on September 5, 1927. Through this marriage, Vanderbilt became stepfather to Barclay Harding Warburton III.
Vanderbilt passed away on January 8, 1944, due to heart disease and was laid to rest in the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum located on Staten Island, New York.
Wealth
Following his father's death in 1920, Vanderbilt's inheritance was appraised at roughly $21,253,000 after accounting for taxes and liabilities.
In 1935, he was appointed co-executor of the Will of his first wife, Virginia Fair Vanderbilt, which had been executed in 1930 despite their divorce three years prior. Although he did not receive any portion of her $7 million fortune directly, her Will established Trust Funds providing annuities of $150,000 to their daughter Consuelo Vanderbilt Smith; $75,000 to Muriel Vanderbilt Phelps; and $50,000 to their son William K. Vanderbilt III (who predeceased her).
At his own death in 1944, his gross estate was initially estimated at about $36,323,000. Subsequent assessments revealed a net estate valued at $35,815,614 from which approximately $18.8 million in Federal Estate Taxes and $5.6 million in New York Estate Taxes were deducted. Additionally subtracted were $1.6 million in charitable contributions; $1.3 million covering administration and funeral costs; and $220,000 in outstanding debts. By 1945, his widow petitioned for a reduction in the estate’s valuation claiming that only $5 million remained after State and Federal Income Taxes.
His Will bequeathed his Long Island property Eagle's Nest along with a $2 million Trust Fund to Suffolk County, New York for the purpose of establishing a museum. Furthermore, it granted a life interest in his residual estate to his second wife; thereafter dividing it into eighteen shares distributed among surviving heirs:
- Daughter Muriel Vanderbilt Phelps received life interest in nine shares (50%); upon her passing five shares would go to the Eagle's Nest Park Maintenance Fund while four shares were designated for her children or alternatively those of her sister Consuelo;
- Two shares each were allocated to granddaughters Iris Smith and Virginia Smith (daughters of Consuelo);
- Three shares were assigned to step-daughter Rosemary Warburton Gaynor;
- Two shares were given to step-son Barclay K. Warburton III
Legacy
In 1931, Vanderbilt commissioned the 264-foot diesel-powered yacht Alva from Krupp Germaniawerft located in Kiel, Germany. This vessel was gifted to the U.S. Navy on November 4, 1941, and subsequently transformed into the gunboat USS Plymouth (PG-57), which entered service on December 29, 1941. Throughout its naval tenure, the Plymouth primarily escorted convoys along the East Coast and throughout the Caribbean until it was struck by a torpedo from a German U-boat on August 5, 1943, leading to the loss of 95 lives.
During the 1940s, Vanderbilt arranged for his estate known as Eagle's Nest, along with a $2 million fund designated for its upkeep, to be conveyed to Suffolk County, New York for use as a public museum. Since 1950, this property has functioned as the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum.
In 2025, Vanderbilt received posthumous induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
External links
- William K. Vanderbilt Jr. (VanderbiltCupRaces.com)