HIS WILL TRANSMITS $200,000,000.
Unlike his father, William H. Vanderbilt did not bequeath the major portion of his fortune to one son. He left $50,000,000 equally to each of his two sons, Cornelius and William K. Vanderbilt. Supplementing the fortunes they already had, these legacies swelled their individual fortunes to approximately $100,000,000 each—about the same amount as their father had himself inherited. The remaining $100,000,000 was thus disposed of in William H. Vanderbilt's will: $40,000,000, in railroad and other securities, was set apart as a trust fund, the income of which was to be apportioned equally among each of his eight children. This provided them each with an annual income of $500,000. In turn, the principal was to descend to their children, as they should direct by will. Another $40,000,000 was shared outright among his eight children. The remaining $20,000,000 was variously divided: the greater part to his widow; $2,000,000 as an additional gift to Cornelius; $1,000,000 to a favorite grandson; sundry items to other relatives and friends, and about $1,000,000 to charitable and public institutions.
He was buried in a mausoleum costing $300,000, which he himself had ordered to be built at New Dorp, Staten Island; and there to-day his ashes lie, splendidly interred, while millions of the living plundered and disinherited are suffered to live in the deadly congestion of miserable habitations.