John Jacob Astor III

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name = John Jacob Astor III


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birth_date = June 10, 1822
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death_date = February 22, 1890
death_place = Manhattan, New York
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resting_place = Trinity Church Cemetery
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spouse = Charlotte Augusta Gibbes
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children = William Waldorf Astor
parents = William Backhouse Astor, Sr. and Margaret Rebecca Armstrong
relatives =John Jacob Astor, grandfather


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John Jacob Astor III [Some sources such as Time magazine list him as John Jacob Astor II, and discount the birth of John Jacob Astor (1791-1869) who was unstable.] (June 10, 1822 – February 22, 1890) was the elder son of William Backhouse Astor, Sr. and the wealthiest member of the Astor family in his generation. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Milestones |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761800,00.html |quote=To celebrate the fourth birthday of Millionheir* William Astor, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor III, invited his playmates to a party on the lawn of Chetwode, pillared Astor mansion at Newport. *When John Jacob Astor II went down on the Titanic, most of his fortune went to 20-year-old Son Vincent, only a few million to Son John Jacob III, then unborn. Since Vincent has no direct heirs, William is heir apparent to both fortunes. |work=Time (magazine) |date=1939 |accessdate=2008-08-01 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=John Jacob Astor II |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C0DE3DE103BE533A25757C2A96E9C94619ED7CF |quote=John Jacob Astor, the second of the name, was born in New-York June 10, 1822. His parents were William B. Astor, son of the founder of the family, and Margaret Rebecca, daughter and granddaughter of the Armstrongs of Revolutionary honor. |work=New York Times |date=August 24, 1890 |accessdate=2008-08-01 ]

Biography

Astor studied at Columbia College and Göttingen, following which he went to Harvard Law School. During the American Civil War he served as a volunteer aide-de-camp to General George B. McClellan. For his services during the Peninsular Campaign he was brevetted brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers.

As a businessman, he dabbled in railroad investment, but was forced to yield control of the original New York Central Railroad line (from Albany to Buffalo) to Cornelius Vanderbilt. His principal business interest was of course the vast Astor Estate real estate holdings in New York City, which he managed profitably and parsimoniously. Unfortunately, some of his properties were an exploitation of the poor in an era when municipal authorities rarely enforced building codes.

In 1846, he married Charlotte Augusta Gibbes (c. 1825-1887) of South Carolina and in 1859 he built a home at 350 Fifth Avenue, which is today the street address of the Empire State Building. Later, he added an imposing vacation home, "Beaulieu", in Newport, Rhode Island.

John Jacob Astor III had little inclination to do much in the way of charitable works beyond continuing gifts made by his ancestors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Trinity Church, and the Astor Library. However, his deeply religious wife had quite a different attitude. Charlotte Astor supported the newly formed Children's Aid Society and sat on the board of the Women's Hospital of New York, an institution that to her dismay refused to accept cancer patients. Deciding to do something about it, she persuaded her husband to donate the money to erect the New York Cancer Hospital's first wing, appropriately named the "Astor Pavilion." Ironically, Charlotte Astor died of uterine cancer.

Aristocratic by inclination, he increasingly visited London in his later years, and his only child, William Waldorf Astor, would move there permanently with his family in 1891. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Viscount Astor Died Suddenly of Heart Disease. Stricken Saturday Morning, After Having Passed Part of Preceding Day Outdoors. Body Will Be Cremated and the Ashes Placed in Private Chapel at Cliveden. Peerage Came as Reward for War Gifts. Realty Holdings Here Valued at $60,000,000. Little Known to British Public. Estate Will Pay a Heavy Tax. His Pursuit of Title Evoked Bitter Criticism. Became a British Subject in 1899. Peerage Followed War Gifts. |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9507E5D81038EE32A25753C2A9669D946896D6CF |quote=Viscount Astor died yesterday morning. His death, which was from heart disease, was unexpected. |work=New York Times |date=October 20, 1919 |accessdate=2008-08-01 ]

Death

John Jacob Astor III died on February 22, 1890 and was interred in the Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan, New York. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=John Jacob Astor Dead. Heart Disease Carries Him Off Suddenly. The End Of A Placid And Useful Life Full Of Good Deeds. William Waldorf Astor His Only Heir. |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900E2DF153BE533A25750C2A9649C94619ED7CF |quote=|publisher=New York Times |date=February 23, 1890 |accessdate=2008-06-22 ]

External links

*findagrave|2304 Retrieved on 2008-02-14

References