THE ASTOR FAMILY

Otago Witness, Issue 3594, 30 January 1923, Page 24

THE ASTOR FAMILY

•,S. A ROMANCE OF RICHES. (San Francisco Chronicle.) The history of the Astor family and "its rise to a pinnacle of wealth that is almost staggering for the every-day mortal to contemplate, is a rather prosaic romance of riches. There are a few picturesque details woven around the career of John Jacob Astor, the founder of the family fortune in his early struggles with adversity and his trafficking with the Indians in building up a fur trade that brought him the cash which lie invested to such good purpose in reality in the district that is now the heart of the City of New York. Other than these details and a few spectacular performances by later members of the family, the story of the Astor millions is but one of an enormous fortune running into the hundreds of millions mainly through the growth of land values in a great metropolis. FOUNDER DRIVEN FROM HOME. John Jacob Astor, the founder of the fortune, was born in 1763, in a peasant’s cottage in the small village of Waldorff, in the duchy of Baden, Germany. Young John J acob was driven from home by the bitterness of a stepmother. He went to London, where he remained until 1783, at the close of the Revolutionary war, when he came to Americt, settling in New York. He acted as the American agent of his brother George, who had a large musical instrument factory in London, and took furs in exchange for his wares, and was so successful in his transactions that by 1800 he was worth a quarter of a million dollars. He went into the fur trade exclusively, and soon had representatives throughout the country and even at the most distant trading posts. The present city of Astoria, in Washington, was an outcome of his operations in the North-west, and was named after him. INVESTED IN NEW YORK REALTY. All the spare capital which he maje in furs and afterward in the Chinese and Eastern trade, was invested in New York realty, until he had large tracts upon which in his later years he erected rows of houses, thereby expanding the limits of the city, and enhancing the value of his lands. His motto was to buy land but never to sell. When he died in 1848 his holdings were worth many millions. In 1785 Astor married Sarah Todd, a daughter of Revolutionary parents, and by her had seven children. At his death the

great fortune was bequeathed to his third child, William B. Astor, who was born in 1792. He was well equipped by Nature and education for the administration of the estate, and had early in life been taken into partnership in the firm, which now became J. J. Astor and Son. Within 20 years after his father’s death he had doubled the value of the estate and was the owner of 70C houses in New York City (later increased to more than 1000). He was constantly employed in building operations. At his death in 1875 .the Astor fortune was shared equally by two of his sons, John Jacob Astor and William B. Astor. Both of these sons were capable managers of the vast properties left them, and were patriotic supporters of the Union Government during the War of the Rebellion, both with money and service. RICHES FALL TO TWO SONS. John Jacob Astor 111, as one of these brothers was known, had one son, William Waldorf Astor, and the other brother became the father of John Jacob Astor IV, who at his death became the head of the family. The Astor fortune, valued at more than 200,000,000 dollars, was eventually divided between these two brothers, the property inherited by William Waldorf Astor being his outright and under his personal control. With the division of the Astor millions between these two brothers there also came another division, that of country, whereby came the American A store and the English Astors, as the latter are now called. The story of this division was one that stirred two nations. WILLIAM WALDORF QUITS AMERICA, It was in 1891 that William Waldorf Astor packed his baggage, closed his New York residence, and left for London, with the announcement that he was through with America and that it was “no fit place for a gentleman to live in.” The cause of his antagonism to the country which his father had fought to preserve in ’62 was the failure to win in certain political aspirations, and, as he said, the vulgar freedom with which the American press had commented on him. His political career began with being elected to the New York Legislature. Then he ran for Congress. In consideration of his generous contributions to the party, he was nominated for a safe district, as was thought. To his disgust, he was defeated. The party tried to console him with a term as Minister to Italy, but he came back disgruntled, and resented the fun which was poked at him through the because of his social pretensions. Then there was rivalry between his wife and Mrs William Astor as to who was “the Mrs Astor” in high society circles! That was the last straw, and after putting his financial affairs in .order he '.removed to London permanently 'in 1891. RENTS HOME IN LONDON. He rented the handsome Lansdowne House in London and afterwards purchased Clevedon House on the Thames, a beautiful house and estate, from the Duke of Westminster. He then plunged into a career of social conquest. He also purchased He vcl Castle, near Sevenoaks, said to be the most perfect specimen of medieval dwelling in England. Another of his acts on arrival in England was to renounce his American citizens-un and become, a British subject. Ho purchased the Pall Mall Gazette, buying it from William T. Stead for 1,000,000 dollars, and other journals. Under the editors heplaced in charge it rapidly declined. He made it a high Tory organ, placing an earls son as editor. He also purenased the flag of the U.S. frigate Chesapeake of 1812 war fame at an auction in London for 4250 dollars and presented it to the British Museum. His aet was considered an insult to the United States. SPENT MONEY LAVISHLY. ' As an entertainer he spent money lavishly. He especially tried to win the favour of the Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII. but did not meet with the expected suocess. Becoming an English subject in 1899, it was not until 1916 that he attained his consuming ambition to become a member of the peerage. In that year he became Baron Astor of Hever Castle. At the time a London paper came out with an announcement that the peerage had cost Astor 11,750,000 dollars, and it published a list of his purchases of Tory newspapers, contributions to Tory campaign funds, contributions to hospitals and war relief funds, entertaining King George and Queen Mary, and entertainments which made up the total. SONS TYPICAL BRITONS. Viscount Astor’s two sons are said to be typical Britons in every way. Major Waldorf Astor, the eldest son. is now Viscount Astor, his father having died in October, 1919 He was educated at Oxford, and married Mrs Nannie Langhorne Shaw, one of the famously beautiful Langhorne sisters of Virginia. She is a brilliant woman, proud of her American birth, yet active in the public affaire of her husband’s country. She is at present a member of Parliament from the borough of Plymouth, and lately was a visitor to this country. The second son, John Jacob Astor, who has just announced his intention, according to news despatches, of transferring his wealth from America to England, became an officer in the Life Guards, the premier regiment of the British Army. He served through the World War and holds the rank of Major. He lost a part of one leg in battle. In August, 1916, he was married to Lady Nairne-Minto, daughter of the fourth Earl of Minto. The present head of the Astor family in New York is Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV. The father of Vincent Astor lost his life in the Atlantic Ocean when the steamer Titanic was sunk in 1912, and was among those passengers who heroically sacrificed their lives in order that the women and children of the illfated steamer might be placed in the lifeboats. Vincent Astor inherited 70,000,000 dollars, nearly all in New York, realty. The fortune, which was left by Viscount Astor to his two sons, gave them 50,000,000 worth of realty, much of it in New York City.