Part 1 Chapter 4 Corsair Summary and Analysis

In 1882, Pierpont and Fanny move to Madison and East Thirty-Sixth Street into the first private residence with electricity. Drexel, Morgan is the financier for Thomas Edison's company, Edison Electric Illuminating Company. In spite of their wealth, Fanny and Pierpont shun the extravagant life styles of the Astors and Vanderbilts. Pierpont is an active philanthropist who shuns social welfare agencies. He prefers to establish institutions like Groton and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In spite of their differences and Pierpont's infidelities, Fanny and Pierpont devote Sundays to religion and Saint George's Church.

Pierpont buys a yacht named the Corsair which becomes the setting for many business and other meetings. The railroads continue their battles with one another and Pierpont acts as arbiter between many of them through trips on his yacht. The nation suffers from overbuilding of railroads...