Vanderbilt shot and killed himself. Croffut gives this highly
enlightening account of the compromising of the suit:

"At least two of the sisters had sympathized with 'Cornele's' suit,
and had given him aid and comfort, neither of them liking the
legatee, and one of them not having been for years on speaking terms
with him; but now, in addition to the bequests made to his sisters,
William H. voluntarily [sic] added $500,000 to each from his own
portion.

"He drove around one evening, and distributed this splendid largess
from his carriage, he himself carrying the bonds into each house in
his arms and delivering them to each sister in turn. The donation was
accompanied by two interesting incidents. In one case the husband
said, 'William, I've made a quick calculation here, and I find these
bonds don't amount to quite $500,000. They're $150 short, at the
price quoted today.' The donor smiled, and sat down and made out his
check for the sum to balance.

"In another case, a husband, after counting and receipting for the
$500,000, followed the generous visitor out of the door, and said,
'By the way, if you conclude to give the other sisters any more,
you'll see that we fare as well as any of them, won't you?' The donor
jumped into his carriage and drove off without replying, only saying,
with a laugh, to his companions, 'Well, what do you think o' that'"--
"The Vanderbilts": 151-152.] A few millions were distributed among
the founder's other surviving children, and some comparatively small
sums bequeathed to charitable and educational institutions. The
Vanderbilt dynasty had begun.