Can't Tell Your Vanderbilts Without a Number

The New York Sun appears to think that Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (who died in 1877) and his wife Sophia (who died in 1868) visited Europe in 1890, and there bought some Turner paintings. It was, of course, the grandson: Cornelius Vanderbilt II, and his wife Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt. As previously noted, a similar confusion appears in Anne Sebba's new book American Jennie. The writer for the Sun also comments that the Vanderbilt descendants are "close-knit." Really? Not that I've noticed, although I try to introduce them to each other whenever I get the opportunity.