John Jacob Astor

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John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by exporting opium into the Chinese Empire, and by investing in real estate in or around New York City during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States.<ref name="TitleMax 2019">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Born in Germany, Astor immigrated to England as a teenager and worked as a musical instrument manufacturer. He moved to the United States after the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Seeing the expansion of population to the west, Astor entered the fur trade and built a monopoly, managing a business empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and north into British North America (future Dominion of Canada), and later expanded into the Western United States and the American frontier West and extended to the far West Coast and Pacific Ocean. Following a decline in demand due to changing European styles and tastes in beaver fur mens' hats and clothing tastes, he got out of the fur trade in 1830, diversifying by investing in New York City real estate. Astor became one of the wealthiest men in the United States and became a prominent patron of the arts.<ref name="Madsen2001">Axel Madsen, John Jacob Astor: America's First Multimillionaire (2001)</ref>

At the time of his death, Astor's estate was estimated to be $20 to $30 million,<ref name="Madsen2001"/>Template:Rp roughly equivalent to $Template:Inflation billion to $Template:Inflation billion in Template:Inflation/year.Template:Inflation/fn In proportion to the GDP, he was one of the richest people in modern history, with 0.9% to 1.35% of the US GDP at his time of death.Template:Citation needed This was previously popularised by Nathaniel P. Tallmadge remarking "one in every 100 dollars in this country ends up in J Astor's hands" during Tallmadge's 1839-1840 campaign for the U.S. Senate.<ref name="TitleMax 2019" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Template:Anchor

Biography

Early life

Johann Jakob Astor was born in 1763 in Walldorf, a town near Heidelberg in the Electoral Palatinate, which is in the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg.Template:Sfnp Template:Sfnp He was the youngest son of Johann Jacob Astor and Maria Magdalena vom Berg. His three older brothers were George, Henry, and Melchior. In his childhood, Johann worked in his father's butcher shopTemplate:Sfnp and as a dairy salesman.<ref name="Walker 2015">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1779, at the age of 16, he moved to London to join his brother George in working for an uncle's piano and flute manufacturer, Astor & Broadwood.Template:Sfnp While there, he learned English and anglicized his name to John Jacob Astor.<ref>Herbert C. Ebeling: Johann Jakob Astor – Ein Lebensbild. pp. 63–69.</ref>

Migration to the United States

In November 1783,Template:Sfnp just after the end of the American Revolutionary War, Astor boarded a ship for the United States, arriving in Baltimore around March of the following year.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> There, he rented a room from Sarah Cox Todd, a widow, and began a flirtation with his landlady's daughter, also named Sarah Cox Todd. The young couple married in 1785. His intent had been to join his brother Henry, who had established a butcher shop in New York City.<ref name="Walker 2015" /><ref name="Notable Biographies">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A chance meeting with a fur trader on his voyage had inspired him to join the North American fur trade as well.Template:Sfnp<ref name="Notable Biographies" /> After working at his brother's shop for a time, Astor began to purchase raw hides from Native Americans, prepare them himself, and resell them in London and elsewhere at great profit.Template:Sfnp He opened his own fur goods shop in New York in the late 1780s and also served as the New York agent of his uncle's musical instrument business. In 1789, along with Dubois & StodartTemplate:Who, he co-founded the Francis Bacon Piano Company.Template:Cn

Fortune from fur trade

File:John Jacob Astor.jpg

John Jacob Astor, by Gilbert Stuart, Template:Circa

Astor took advantage of the 1794 Jay Treaty between Great Britain and the United States, which opened new markets in Canada and the Great Lakes region. In London, Astor at once made a contract with the North West Company, which from Montreal rivaled the trade interests of the Hudson's Bay Company, then based in London.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Astor imported furs from Montreal to New York and shipped them to Europe.<ref name="americana">Template:Cite Americana</ref> By 1800, he had amassed over a quarter of a million dollars<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> (equivalent to about $Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation/year)Template:Inflation/fn and had become one of the leading figures in the fur trade. His agents worked throughout the western areas and were ruthless in competition. In 1800, following the example of the Empress of China, the first American trading vessel to China, Astor traded mostly opium, but also, furs, teas, and sandalwood at the port of Canton in China, and greatly benefited from it.<ref name="Madsen">Madsen, John Jacob Astor (2001)</ref>

The U.S. Embargo Act of 1807 disrupted Astor's import/export business because it closed off trade with Canada. With the permission of President Thomas Jefferson, Astor established the American Fur Company on April 6, 1808.<ref>Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "American Fur Company". Encyclopedia Britannica (2018), https://www.britannica.com/topic/American-Fur-Company. Accessed April 5, 2021.</ref> He later formed subsidiaries: the Pacific Fur Company, and the Southwest Fur Company (in which Canadians had a part), in order to control fur trading in the Great Lakes areas and Columbia River region. His Columbia River trading post at Fort Astoria (established in April 1811) was the first United States community on the Pacific coast. He financed the overland Astor Expedition in 1810–1812 to reach the outpost. Members of the expedition were to discover South Pass, through which hundreds of thousands of settlers on the Oregon, Mormon, and California Trails used to later pass through the Rocky Mountains.<ref name="Madsen"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Astor's fur trading ventures were disrupted during the War of 1812, when the British captured his trading posts. In 1816, he joined the opium smuggling trade. His American Fur Company purchased ten tons of Ottoman-produced opium, and shipped the contraband to Canton onboard the packet ship Macedonian. Astor later left the Chinese opium trade and sold opium solely in Britain.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Astor's business rebounded in 1817 after the U.S. Congress passed a protectionist law that barred foreign fur traders from U.S. territories. The American Fur Company came to dominate trading in the area around the Great Lakes, absorbing competitors in a monopoly. Astor had a townhouse at 233 Broadway in New York<ref name="Madsen 2002">Template:Cite book</ref> and a country estate, Hellgate, in the northern part of the city.<ref name="Madsen 2002" />

In 1822, Astor established the Robert Stuart House on Mackinac Island in Michigan as headquarters for the reorganized American Fur Company, making the island a metropolis of the fur trade. Washington Irving described this at length, based on contemporary documents, diaries, etc., in his travelogue Astoria. Astor's commercial connections extended over the entire globe, and his ships were found in every sea. He and Sarah moved to a townhouse on Prince Street in New York.<ref name="nie">Template:Cite NIE</ref>

Real estate and retirement

Astor began buying land in New York City in 1799 and acquired sizable holdings along the waterfront. After the start of the 19th century, flush with China trade profits, he became more systematic, ambitious, and calculating by investing in New York real estate. In 1803, he bought a 70-acre farm on which he built the Astor Mansion at Hellgate. The property ran west of Broadway to the Hudson River between 42nd and 46th streets. That same year, and the following year, he bought considerable holdings from the disgraced Aaron Burr.<ref>Burrows, Edwin G.; Wallace, Mike (1998). Gotham A History of New York City to 1898. Oxford University Press. p. 337. Template:ISBN</ref>

In the 1830s, Astor foresaw that the next big boom would be the build-up of New York, which would soon emerge as one of the world's greatest cities. Astor sold his interests in the American Fur Company, as well as all his other ventures, and used the money to buy and develop large tracts of Manhattan Island real estate. Astor correctly predicted the city's rapid growth northward on the island, and he purchased more and more land beyond the then-existing city limits. Astor rarely built on his land, but leased it to others for rent and their use. After retiring from his business, Astor spent the rest of his life as a patron of culture. He supported the ornithologist John James Audubon in his studies, artwork, and travels, and the presidential campaign of Henry Clay.<ref name="Madsen"/>

Marriage and family

File:Mrs. John Jacob Astor (Sarah Todd).jpg

Sarah Cox Todd

On September 19, 1785, Astor married Sarah Cox Todd (April 9, 1762 – August 3, 1842). Her parents were Scottish immigrants Adam Todd and Sarah Cox.<ref>Herbert C. Ebeling. Johann Jakob Astor – Ein Lebensbild, p. 141.</ref> Although she brought him a dowry of only $300, she possessed a frugal mind and a business judgment that he declared better than that of most merchants. She assisted him in the practical details of his business,<ref name="appletons">Template:Cite Appletons'</ref> and managed Astor's affairs when he was away from New York.<ref name="Immigrant Entrepreneurship">Template:Cite web</ref>

They had eight children:

Magdalena Astor (1788–1832), who married first Adrian Benjamin Bentzon in 1807, secondly John Bristed in 1820. She was the mother of Charles Astor Bristed.<ref name="dailyastorian2018"/>
Sarah Todd Astor (1790–1790), who was stillborn.<ref name="dailyastorian2018"/>
John Jacob Astor Jr. (1791–1869), sickly and mentally unstable.<ref name="dailyastorian2018">Template:Cite news</ref>
William Backhouse Astor Sr. (1792–1875), who married Margaret Alida Rebecca Armstrong, daughter of Senator John Armstrong Jr., in 1818.<ref name="Dickinson2021">Template:Cite book</ref>
Dorothea Astor (1795–1874), who married Walter Langdon. They owned the Langdon Estate Gatehouse.<ref name="dailyastorian2018"/>
Henry Astor II (1797–1799), who died as a child.<ref name="dailyastorian2018"/>
Eliza Astor (1801–1838), married Vincent Rumpff<ref name="Madsen2001"/>
Unnamed son (1802–1802), who died within a few days of his birth.<ref name="dailyastorian2018"/>

Fraternal organizations

Astor belonged to the Freemasons, a fraternal order, and served as Master of Holland Lodge #8, New York City in 1788. Later he served as Grand Treasurer for the Grand Lodge of New York.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was president of the German Society of the City of New York from 1837 to 1841.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legacy

At the time of his death in 1848, Astor was the wealthiest person in the United States, leaving an estate estimated to be worth between $20 and $30 million,<ref name="Madsen2001"/>Template:Rp (equivalent to about $Template:Inflation billion to $Template:Inflation billion in 2020) or 0.9% to 1.35% of estimated US GDP at the time. By comparison, the fortune of Jeff Bezos was worth approximately $200 billion in 2020,<ref>Ponciano, Jonathan. "Jeff Bezos Becomes The First Person Ever Worth $200 Billion". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 26, 2020.</ref> similar to Astor at approximately 0.9% of US GDP.<ref>https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GDP/, retrieved for Q4 2020 on April 6, 2021.</ref>

In his will, Astor bequeathed $400,000 to build the Astor Library for the New York public,Template:Sfnp which was later consolidated with other libraries to form the New York Public Library. He also left $50,000 for a poorhouse and orphanage in his German hometown of Walldorf.Template:Sfnp The Astorhaus is now operated as a museum honoring Astor. It is a renowned and popular fest hall for marriages. Astor donated gifts totaling $20,000 to the German Society of the City of New York, during his term as president, from 1837 until 1841.<ref>Wust, Klaus (1984). Guardian on the Hudson: The German Society of the City of New York, 1784–1984. New York: The Society. Template:ISBN. pp. 26–27.</ref>

Astor left the bulk of his fortune to his second son William, because his eldest son, John Jr., was sickly and mentally unstable. Astor left enough money to care for John Jr. for the rest of his life. William continued building the family fortune, and was an ancestor of John Jacob Astor III, John Jacob Astor IV, and John Jacob Astor VI.

Astor is buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan. Many members of his family had joined its congregation, but Astor remained a member of the local German Reformed congregation to his death.<ref name="books.google.com">James Parton (1865). Life of John Jacob Astor: To which is appended a Copy of his last will. New York: The American News Comp. p. 81.</ref> In the short story Bartleby, the Scrivener, Herman Melville used Astor as a symbol of men who made the earliest fortunes in New York.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The pair of marble lions that sit by the entrance of the New York Public Library Main Branch at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street were originally named Leo Astor and Leo Lenox, after Astor and James Lenox, who founded the library from his own collection. Next, they were called Lord Astor and Lady Lenox (both lions are males). Mayor Fiorello La Guardia renamed them "Patience" and "Fortitude" during the Great Depression.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The neighborhood of Astoria in Queens, New York City, is named after Astor.

Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City, was named after Astor, soon after his death.<ref name="streetbook">Template:Cite streetbook</ref>

The coastal town of Astoria, Oregon, is named after Astor, as well as an elementary school named in his honor. The background to the founding of this town is described in Washington Irving's Astoria, a book whose writing was financed by Astor.

The historic neighborhood of Astor Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is named after Astor. In 1835, John Jacob Astor founded the Town of Astor in Wisconsin. After the Town of Astor was united with the Town of Navarino to form the Borough of Green Bay, one neighborhood was named after him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1908, when the association football club FC Astoria Walldorf was formed in Astor's birthplace in Germany, the group added "Astoria" to its name in his, and the family's, honor.<ref>"Warum heißen die so? Heute: FC Astoria Walldorf" Template:Webarchive Template:In lang. Fussball.de. December 8, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2011.</ref>

Notes

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References

External links

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