In 1863 he began to invest in railroads, purchasing a large part of the stock of the New York and Harlem Railroad. His property was at this time estimated at $40,000,000. He soon gained controlling interest in other roads. His chief maxim was, "Do your business well, and don't tell anybody what you are going to do until you have done it." In February, 1873, Bishop McTyeire of Nashville, Tenn., was visiting with the family of Mr. Vanderbilt in New York City. The first wife was dead, and Mr. Vanderbilt had married a second time. Both men had married cousins in the city of Mobile, who were very intimate in their girlhood, and this brought the bishop and Mr. Vanderbilt into friendly relations. One evening when they were conversing about the effects of the Civil War upon the Southern States, Commodore Vanderbilt, as he was usually called, expressed a desire to do something for the South, and asked the bishop what he would suggest. The Methodist Church at the South had organized Central University at Nashville, but found it impossible to raise the funds needed to carry on the work. The bishop stated the great need for such an institution, and Mr. Vanderbilt at once gave $500,000. In his letter to the Board of Trust, Mr. Vanderbilt said, "If it shall through its influence contribute even in the smallest degree to strengthening the ties which should exist between all geographical sections of our common country, I shall feel that it has accomplished one of the objects that has led me to take an interest in it." Later, in his last illness, he gave enough to make his gift a million. The name of the institution was changed to Vanderbilt University. Mr. Vanderbilt died in New York, Jan. 4, 1877, leaving the larger part of his millions to his son, William Henry Vanderbilt. He gave $50,000 to the Rev. Charles F. Deems to purchase the Church of the Strangers. Founder's Day at Vanderbilt University is celebrated yearly on the late Commodore's birthday, May 27, the day being ushered in by the playing of music and the ringing of the University bell. Bishop McTyeire, who, Mr. Vanderbilt insisted, should accept the presidency of the University, used to say, "My wife was a silent but golden link in the chain of Providence that led to Vanderbilt University." When an attractive site of seventy-five acres of land was chosen for the buildings, an agent who was recommending an out-of-the-way place protested, and said, "Bishop, the boys will be looking out of the windows there." "We want them to look out," said the practical bishop, "and to know what is going on outside."