Title: Collection of William M. Vanderbilt

Dates: 1903-1978

Collection Number: ARC-001

Creator/Collector:

Extent: 7 files in 1 document case

Repository: Marin History Museum

Abstract: This collection contains ephemera related to the interests of William Vanderbilt in the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, horticulture, the Marin County Historical Society, local civil defense, and his son Newell’s involvement with the 30th Infantry in the Spanish-American War.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open and available for research use.

[Identification of item]. Collection of William M. Vanderbilt. Collection Number: ARC-001. Marin History Museum

Donated by Bill Vanderbilt on January 5, 1990.

William Murray Vanderbilt was born in San Rafael on February 12, 1914 at the family home on Fifth Avenue, across the street from the Mount Tamalpais Military Academy where his father, Major Newell F. Vanderbilt, was the Commandant. His paternal grandfather was William P. Vanderbilt, a Tomales pioneer and former assessor of Marin County, and his maternal grandfather was Adam Murray, an early San Rafael builder and lumber dealer who built the Boyd Gate House in 1879. William Vanderbilt attended the Mount Tamalpais Military Academy where his father served. After business college, he spent 43 years with the California Packing Corp., which became Del Monte. During World War II he served overseas in the Signal Corps and U.S. Air Force. In 1945, he married Helen Clara Milner and raised his family in San Anselmo. He was active in the Marin Council Boy Scouts of America, the Marin County Historical Society, the San Anselmo Historical Commission, and as a member of the first Board of Deacons of the First Presbyterian Church in San Rafael. William M. Vanderbilt died on July 17, 1998, and was buried at Mount Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael.

See finding aid for collection contents.