of twenty-six years, sole reviser of the 1779 he was sent by Washington to decolonial statutes. When the Revolution- stroy the settlement of the Onondaga ary War broke out he was one of the Indians, for the performance of which New York committee of correspondence; service Congress gave him its thanks. but when the question, Shall the Ameri- He was made brigadier-general by brevet, can colonies take up arms against Great Oct. 10, 1783. Van Schaick was a rigid Britain had to be answered by every disciplinarian, and his regiment one of American citizen, his voice was in the neg- the best in the service. He died in ative, and during the war he was a con- Albany, N. Y., July 4, 1787. scientious loyalist, but maintained an at- Van Twiller, WOUTER or WALTER, titude of strict neutrality. He did not colonial governor; was a resident of escape persecution, for suspicion was Nieukirk, Holland, about 1580; was everywhere keen-scented. The committee chosen to succeed Peter Minuits as govon conspiracies at Albany summoned ernor of New Netherland in 1633. He him before them (June, 1777), and re- was one of the clerks in the West India quired him to take the oath of allegiance Company's warehouse at Amsterdam, and to the Continental Congress. He refused, had married a niece of Killian Van and was ordered to Boston within ten Rensselaer, the wealthiest of the newly days. From that time he was constantly created patroons. Van Rensselaer had restrained; and when he asked the privi- employed him to ship cattle to his domain lege of taking his wife, who was dying on Hudson River, and it was probably with consumption, to New York, it was his interest to have this agent in New refused. She died, and he was banished Netherland; so, through his influence, the from his native country in October, 1778, incompetent Van Twiller was appointed when he went to England, and remained director-general of the colony. He was there until the summer of 1785, when he inexperienced in the art of government, returned home, and was received with slow in speech, incompetent to decide, open arms by men of all parties. While narrow-minded, and irresolute. He was in England he had associated with the called by a satirist Walter the Doubtmost distinguished men of the realm, who er." Washington Irving, in his broad regarded him as one of the brightest caricature of him, says: "His habits were Americans among them, for his scholar- as regular as his person. He daily took ship, legal attainments, and rare social his four stated meals, appropriating exqualities were remarkable. These made actly an hour to each; he smoked and his mansion at Kinderhook the resort of doubted eight hours, and he slept the resome of the most eminent men of the maining twelve of the four-and-twenty." land, and his society was sought con- He knew the details of the counting-room tinually. He died in Kinderhook, N. Y., routine, but nothing of men or the afSept. 17, 1832. fairs of State. He ever came into collision with abler men in the colony.

Van Schaick, GOZEN, military officer; born in Albany, N. Y., in January, 1737; In the company's armed ship Soutserved in the French and Indian War, berg, with 104 soldiers, he sailed for Mantaking part in the expeditions against hattan. With him also came Everardus Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort Fronte- Bogardus, the first clergyman sent to New nac, and Niagara (1756-59), and was Netherland, and Adam Roelandsen, schoolmajor in Colonel Johnson's regiment in master. The chief business of Van Twil1759. On the breaking-out of the Revo- ler's administration appears to have been lutionary War, he was made colonel of to maintain and extend the commercial the 2d New York Regiment, and late operations of his principals, the West Inin 1776 was in command of a battalion dia Company. He repaired Fort Amstersent to the vicinity of Cherry Valley to dam, erected a guard-house and barracks, protect the inhabitants against Brant and built expensive windmills; but the and his followers, in which work he was latter were so near the fort that their vigilant and active. In the battle of wings frequently missed the wind. BuildMonmouth he was a brigadier-general ings were erected for officers and other under Lord Stirling. In the spring of employés, and several in various parts

of the province.

Of this extravagance United States Senator from North Carocomplaint was made, and his shortcom- lina in 1879-94. He died in Washington, ings were severely denounced by Dominie D. C., April 14, 1894.

N., there was any interior sea or water communication between the known gulfs of the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. He sailed from England in April, 1791, and

Bogardus, who, in a letter to him, called Vancouver, GEORGE, navigator; born in him a "child of the devil," and threaten- England about 1758; accompanied Caped him with "such a shake from the pul- tain Cook in his last two voyages. In pit" on the following Sunday "as would 1790 he was made master in the royal make him shudder." His administration navy, and was sent out in command of was so much complained of in Holland the Discovery to ascertain whether in that he was recalled in 1637. He left the North America, between lat. 30° and 60° colony in a sorry condition, but with an ample private estate. Van Rensselaer seems to have had confidence in Van Twiller, for he made him executor of his last will and testament. In a controversy, in the spring of 1792 crossed from the Van Twiller took sides against the West India Company, and vilified the administration of Stuyvesant. The company were indignant, and spoke of Van Twiller as an ungrateful man who had sucked for waters, and returned to London, late his wealth from the breasts of the company which he now abuses." He died in Amsterdam, Holland, after 1646.

Van Wart, ISAAC, patriot; born in Greenburg, N. Y., in 1760; engaged in farming in Westchester county, N. Y, During the Revolutionary War he was an ardent sympathizer with the patriot cause, and on Sept. 23, 1780, with John Paulding and David Williams, captured MAJ. JOHN ANDRÉ (q. v.) when that officer was returning from the American lines. For this act each of the three captors received the thanks of Congress, a pension of $200 per annum for life, and a silver medal. He died in Mount Pleasant, N. Y., May 23, 1828. A monument was erected to his memory by the citizens of Westchester county in 1829.

Vance, ZEBULON BAIRD, legislator; born near Asheville, N. C., May 13, 1830; received a collegiate education; admitted to the bar in 1852: elected to Congress in 1858 and re-elected in 1859: strongly opposed the secession of his native State, but afterwards entered the Confederate army as colonel; and was elected governor of North Carolina in 1862. While in office he purchased a Clyde steamship, which successfully ran the blockade several times, landing clothing, arms, and general supplies. In 1863 he advocated peace negotiations with the national government, and urged Jefferson Davis to seek a cessation of hostilities. He was re-elected governor in 1864 and 1876; and was

Sandwich Islands to the American coast, when Nootka was surrendered by the Spaniards, in accordance with previous arrangements. He did not find the sought

in 1795, with shattered health. His name was given to a large island on the western coast of North America. He devoted himself to the arrangement of his manuscripts for publication, and the narrative of his voyages, published in 3 volumes after his death, was edited by his brother. He died near London, May 10, 1798.

Vancouver Island, an island in the North Pacific Ocean, near the mainland of the State of Washington and British Columbia, from which it is separated by the Gulf of Georgia. It is about 300 miles long, and was named after Capt. Geo. Vancouver, an English navigator, who was sent on a voyage of discovery to seek any navigable communication between the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans. He sailed in April, 1791, and returned Sept. 24, 1795. He compiled an account of his survey of the northwest coast of America, and died in 1798. Settlements, made here by the English in 1781, were seized by the Spaniards in 1789, but restored. By treaty with the United States, in 1846, the island was secured to Great Britain. It has become of importance since the discovery of gold in the neighboring mainland, in 1858, and the colonization of British Columbia. The island was united with British Columbia in August, 1866; and on May 24, 1868, Victoria, founded in 1857, was declared the capital.

Vanderbilt, CORNELIUS, financier; born near Stapleton, Staten Island, N. Y., May

27, 1794; at the age of sixteen years he bought a small boat, with which he carried passengers and "truck" between Staten Island and New York. At eighteen he owned two boats, and was captain of a third. Prosperity constantly attended management, represented an aggregate him. He married at nineteen, and when he was twenty-three he was worth $9,000 and out of debt. Then he settled in New York, where he bought vessels of various kinds; and in 1817 assisted in building the first steamboat that plied between New York and New Brunswick, of which he was captain, with a salary of $1,000 a year. He commanded a finer boat in 1918, his wife at the same time keeping

turned his capital and his energies in that direction. He obtained control of one railroad after another; and at the time of his death his various roads covered lines more than 2,000 miles in extent, and, under one

capital of $150,000,000, of which he and members of his family owned fully onehalf. His entire property at his death, in New York City, Jan. 4, 1877, was estimated in value at nearly $100,000,000, nearly all of which he bequeathed to his son William H., that the great railroad enterprise might go on as a unit and increase. In 1873 Mr. Vanderbilt founded the Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., with

a hotel at New Brunswick. He soon had $500,000, afterwards increased to $700,000.

full control of that steam

boat line, and in 1827 he

made $40,000 a year profit. He started. steamboats in various watersthe Hudson, the Delaware, Long Island Sound, etc., everywhere seeking to have a monopoly of the business and profits. His wealth greatly increased. He engaged in establishing steamboat and other connection between New York and California. After 1848 he fought opposition vigorously and triumphed. In 1856 he received a large subsidy for withdrawing his transit line; and in 1861 he presented to the government of the United States the Vanderbilt, a steam-vessel that cost $800,000, which was used in cruising after Confederate privateers. During his steamship career he owned twenty-one steamships, eleven of which he built; and, with steamboats, his entire fleet numbered sixty-six. For many years he was popularly called

Commodore."

When he abandoned the

water in 1864 his accumulations were estimated at $40,000,000. As early as 1844 he had become interested in railroads; now he

CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.

to that of the donor. Later Mr. Vanderbilt increased his donation to $1,000,000, and at various times his son, William Henry, made gifts amounting to $450,000. The university has departments of

Henry Vanderbilt; received an academic Methodist Episcopal Church, South, until education and became a clerk in the Shoe the elder Cornelius Vanderbilt gave it and Leather Bank, and later in the bank- $500,000, when its name was changed ing firm of Kissam Brothers; began his study of finance and railroad management in 1865, and became treasurer of the Harlem Railroad in 1867. When his father died, on Dec. 8, 1885, he became head of the Vanderbilt family and managed the theology, medicine, law, dentistry, enVanderbilt system of railroads till 1895. gineering, and pharmacy. In 1900 it He was stricken with paralysis in July, reported: Professors and instructors, 1896, and never entirely recovered. He ninety; students, 777; volumes in the made numerous gifts to education and library, 30,000; productive funds, $1,250,charity, including $850,000 to the Church of St. Bartholomew; $1,500,000 to Yale University, part of which was given to erect Vanderbilt Hall, a dormitory built as a memorial to his son William H., who died there while a student; $100,000 to the Church of St. John the Divine; $50,000 to St. Luke's Hospital; and a like sum to the Episcopal Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. He died in New York City, Sept. 12, 1899.

Vanderbilt, WILLIAM HENRY, capitalist; born in New Brunswick, N. J., May S. 1821; son of Cornelius Vanderbilt; educated at Columbia Grammar School; settled in New Dorp, Staten Island, and became the manager of the Staten Island Railroad. When his father engaged in railroad financiering at the age of seventy (1864) William took charge as vicepresident of the Harlem and Hudson River companies, and later of the New York Central. He received about $90,000,000 under the will of his father in 1877. His gifts to various objects include $200,000 to the endowment of Vanderbilt University and $100,000 for a theological department there; $500,000 for new buildings for the College of Physicians and Surgeons; $100,000 to the trainmen and laborers of the New York Central Railroad: $50,000 to the Church of St. Bartholomew; and $103.000 to bring from Egypt and erect in Central Park the obelisk which Khedive Ismail gave to the United States. He died in New York City, Dec. 8, 1885.

000; grounds and buildings valued at $600,000; income, $125,000; number of graduates, 3,600; president, J. H. Kirkland, LL.D., Ph.D.

Vanderheyden,

DIRK, land-owner;

born in Albany, N. Y., about 1680; was an inn-keeper and engaged in land speculation. In 1720 he secured a grant of 490 acres at an annual fee of four fat fowls and five schepels of wheat. Later the grant was called Vanderheyden's Ferry, till 1789, when it was named Troy. In 1725 he built upon this site the Vanderheyden mansion, one of the best samples of Dutch architecture at that period in New York State, which was constructed with bricks imported from Holland. He died in Albany, N. Y., in October, 1738.

Vanderlyn, JOHN, painter; born in Kingston, N. Y., Oct. 15, 1776; received instructions in painting from Gilbert Stuart at the age of sixteen years, and in 1796, through the aid of Aaron Burr, went to Paris, and studied there five years. He returned, but went to Europe again, where he resided from 1803 to 1815. There he painted a large picture of Marius Seated amid the Ruins of Carthage, for which he was awarded the gold medal at the Louvre in 1808, and was the recipient of high commendation from Napoleon. On his return to the United States he painted portraits of distinguished citizens, and introduced the panoramic method of exhibiting pictures. In 1832 he received a commission to paint a full-length portrait Vanderbilt University, an educational of Washington for the House of Repinstitution in Nashville, Tenn.; an out- resentatives; and in 1839 he painted for growth of a movement in the Methodist one of the panels of the rotunda of Episcopal Church, South, for higher edu- the Capitol The Landing of Columbus. cation in that denomination. It was He died in Kingston, N. Y., Sept. 24, known as the Central University of the 1852.

Vane, SIR HENRY, colonial governor; exclusive direction of the navy. He was born in Hadlow, Kent, England, in 1612; then considered one of the foremost men was a son of Sir

Henry, Secretary of State under Kings James and Charles I. In early life he refused to take the oath of supremacy, became a Puritan and a republican; arrived at Boston in 1835 (Oct. 3), and was almost immediately chosen governor. His was a stormy administration, for it was agitated by the Hutchinson controversy (see HUTCHINSON, ANNE). Vane was enlightened and tolerant. He abhorred bigotry in every form, warmly defended the inviolability of the rights of conscience and the exemption of religion from all control by the civil authorities, and had no sympathy with the attacks of the clergy upon Mrs. Hutchinson. Winthrop, whom

he had superseded as governor of Massachusetts, led a strong opposition to him, and the next year he was defeated as a candidate for re-election, but became a member of the General Court.

SIR HENRY VANE.

in the nation, and Milton wrote a fine sonnet in his praise. He and Cromwell were brought in conflict by the forcible dissolution of the Long Parliament by the latter. Vane was leader of the Rebellion

Late in the summer of 1637 he sailed for England, was elected to Parliament, became one of the treasurers of the navy, and in 1640 was knighted. In the Long Parliament he was a member, and a strong opponent of royalty. He was the principal mover of the solemn league and covenant, and in 1648 was a leader of the Varick, RICHARD, military officer; born minority in Parliament which favored the in Hackensack, N. J., March 25, 1753; was rejection of terms of settlement offered a lawyer in the city of New York when the by the King. In 1649 he was a member Revolutionary War began, and entered of the council of state, and had almost the service as captain in McDougall's regi

Parliament in 1659. When Charles II. ascended the throne, Vane, considered one of the worst enemies of his beheaded father, was committed to the Tower in 1662, and was executed June 14. Sir Henry was chiefly instrumental in procuring the first charter for Rhode Island.

X-C

33