He supported the ornithologist John James Audubon in his studies, art work, and travels, and the presidential campaign of Henry Clay, Kentucky statesman. ==Marriage and family== On September 19, 1785, Astor married Sarah Cox Todd (April 9, 1762 – August 3, 1842).
John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and by investing in real estate in or around New York City.
Astor was highly wealthy and became a famed patron of the arts. He was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States. ==Biography== ===Early life=== Johann Jakob Astor was born in 1763 in Walldorf, near Heidelsberg, in the Electoral Palatinate.
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.
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.
While there, he learned English and anglicized his name to John Jacob Astor. ===Immigration to the United States=== In 1783 or March 1784, Astor emigrated to New York City, just after the end of the Revolutionary War when the United States became independent of Great Britain.
While there, he learned English and anglicized his name to John Jacob Astor. ===Immigration to the United States=== In 1783 or March 1784, Astor emigrated to New York City, just after the end of the Revolutionary War when the United States became independent of Great Britain.
The young couple married in 1785.
He supported the ornithologist John James Audubon in his studies, art work, and travels, and the presidential campaign of Henry Clay, Kentucky statesman. ==Marriage and family== On September 19, 1785, Astor married Sarah Cox Todd (April 9, 1762 – August 3, 1842).
She assisted him in the practical details of his business, and managed Astor's affairs when he was away from New York. They had eight children: Magdalena Astor, 1788–1832 Sarah Todd Astor, stillborn in 1790 John Jacob Astor Jr., 1791–1869, sickly and mentally unstable William Backhouse Astor Sr., 1792–1875 Dorothea Astor, 1795–1874 Henry Astor II, 1797–1799 Eliza Astor, 1801–1838.
who married Vincent Rumpff. Unnamed son, 1802, died within a few days of birth ==Fraternal organizations== Astor belonged to the Freemasons, a fraternal order, and served as Master of Holland Lodge #8, New York City in 1788.
She assisted him in the practical details of his business, and managed Astor's affairs when he was away from New York. They had eight children: Magdalena Astor, 1788–1832 Sarah Todd Astor, stillborn in 1790 John Jacob Astor Jr., 1791–1869, sickly and mentally unstable William Backhouse Astor Sr., 1792–1875 Dorothea Astor, 1795–1874 Henry Astor II, 1797–1799 Eliza Astor, 1801–1838.
She assisted him in the practical details of his business, and managed Astor's affairs when he was away from New York. They had eight children: Magdalena Astor, 1788–1832 Sarah Todd Astor, stillborn in 1790 John Jacob Astor Jr., 1791–1869, sickly and mentally unstable William Backhouse Astor Sr., 1792–1875 Dorothea Astor, 1795–1874 Henry Astor II, 1797–1799 Eliza Astor, 1801–1838.
She assisted him in the practical details of his business, and managed Astor's affairs when he was away from New York. They had eight children: Magdalena Astor, 1788–1832 Sarah Todd Astor, stillborn in 1790 John Jacob Astor Jr., 1791–1869, sickly and mentally unstable William Backhouse Astor Sr., 1792–1875 Dorothea Astor, 1795–1874 Henry Astor II, 1797–1799 Eliza Astor, 1801–1838.
After gold was discovered, Astor looked for business throughout the United States. ===Fortune from fur trade=== 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.
She assisted him in the practical details of his business, and managed Astor's affairs when he was away from New York. They had eight children: Magdalena Astor, 1788–1832 Sarah Todd Astor, stillborn in 1790 John Jacob Astor Jr., 1791–1869, sickly and mentally unstable William Backhouse Astor Sr., 1792–1875 Dorothea Astor, 1795–1874 Henry Astor II, 1797–1799 Eliza Astor, 1801–1838.
She assisted him in the practical details of his business, and managed Astor's affairs when he was away from New York. They had eight children: Magdalena Astor, 1788–1832 Sarah Todd Astor, stillborn in 1790 John Jacob Astor Jr., 1791–1869, sickly and mentally unstable William Backhouse Astor Sr., 1792–1875 Dorothea Astor, 1795–1874 Henry Astor II, 1797–1799 Eliza Astor, 1801–1838.
He and Sarah moved to a townhouse on Prince Street in Manhattan, New York. ===Real estate and retirement=== Astor began buying land in New York City in 1799 and acquired sizable holdings along the waterfront.
By 1800, he had amassed almost a quarter of a million dollars (the equivalent of six million dollars in 2020) and had become one of the leading figures in the fur trade.
In 1800, following the example of the Empress of China, the first American trading vessel to China, Astor traded furs, teas, and sandalwood with Canton in China, and greatly benefited from it. The U.S.
She assisted him in the practical details of his business, and managed Astor's affairs when he was away from New York. They had eight children: Magdalena Astor, 1788–1832 Sarah Todd Astor, stillborn in 1790 John Jacob Astor Jr., 1791–1869, sickly and mentally unstable William Backhouse Astor Sr., 1792–1875 Dorothea Astor, 1795–1874 Henry Astor II, 1797–1799 Eliza Astor, 1801–1838.
who married Vincent Rumpff. Unnamed son, 1802, died within a few days of birth ==Fraternal organizations== Astor belonged to the Freemasons, a fraternal order, and served as Master of Holland Lodge #8, New York City in 1788.
In 1803, he bought a 70-acre farm on which he built the Astor Mansion at Hellgate.
Embargo Act in 1807, however, 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.
He financed the overland Astor Expedition in 1810–12 to reach the outpost.
His Columbia River trading post at Fort Astoria (established in April 1811) was the first United States community on the Pacific coast.
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. 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.
Astor later left the Chinese opium trade and sold opium solely in Britain. Astor's business rebounded in 1817 after the U.S.
John Jacob Astor had a townhouse at 233 Broadway in Manhattan and a country estate, Hellgate, in Northern New York City. 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.
Seeing a decline in demand due to changing European tastes, he got out of the fur trade in 1830, diversifying by investing in New York City real estate.
That same year, and the following year, he bought considerable holdings from the disgraced Aaron Burr. 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.
He was president of the German Society of the City of New York from 1837 to 1841. ==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 at least $20 million, or 0.9% of estimated US GDP at the time, which would be approximately $210 billion in equivalent 2020 value.
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. Astor left the bulk of his fortune to his second son William, because his eldest son, John Jr., was sickly and mentally unstable.
He was president of the German Society of the City of New York from 1837 to 1841. ==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 at least $20 million, or 0.9% of estimated US GDP at the time, which would be approximately $210 billion in equivalent 2020 value.
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. Astor left the bulk of his fortune to his second son William, because his eldest son, John Jr., was sickly and mentally unstable.
He supported the ornithologist John James Audubon in his studies, art work, and travels, and the presidential campaign of Henry Clay, Kentucky statesman. ==Marriage and family== On September 19, 1785, Astor married Sarah Cox Todd (April 9, 1762 – August 3, 1842).
John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and by investing in real estate in or around New York City.
He was president of the German Society of the City of New York from 1837 to 1841. ==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 at least $20 million, or 0.9% of estimated US GDP at the time, which would be approximately $210 billion in equivalent 2020 value.
6 (June 1908), pp. 345–368; Part 2: vol.
7 (July 1908), pp. 436–441; Part 3: vol.
Lippincott, 1929. Youngman, Anna.
Walldorf: Astor-Stiftung, 2004. Emmerich, Alexander.
By 1800, he had amassed almost a quarter of a million dollars (the equivalent of six million dollars in 2020) and had become one of the leading figures in the fur trade.
He was president of the German Society of the City of New York from 1837 to 1841. ==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 at least $20 million, or 0.9% of estimated US GDP at the time, which would be approximately $210 billion in equivalent 2020 value.
By comparison, the fortune of Jeff Bezos was worth approximately $200 billion in 2020, similar to Astor at approximately 0.9% of US GDP. In his will, Astor bequeathed $400,000 to build the Astor Library for the New York public, which was later consolidated with other libraries to form the New York Public Library.
His estimated net worth would have been equivalent to approximately $649.5 million in 2021 U.S.
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