John Jacob Astor IV was born on July 13, 1864, in Rhinebeck, New York, a son of William Backhouse Astor Jr and Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
John was a Harvard graduate.[3] He traveled abroad for a few years, then returned to the United States to join in managing the family fortune.[3] He dabbled in writing as well as inventing.[3]
John became active in real estate development, building the Astoria section of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1897, the Waldorf having been built by his cousin William Waldorf Astor.[3] He built several other notable New York City hotels, notably the St. Regis, which some have said was his greatest achievement.[3]
John also helped during the Spanish-American War, even going so far as to offer the use of his yacht, Nourmahal.[3]
John married Ava Willing on May 1, 1891.[3] They had one son and one daughter together, then were divorced in 1909.[3][8][9] He married Madeline Force in 1911.[3]
The couple decided to travel the world a bit while the gossip died down concerning their marriage (she was a year younger than John's son from his first marriage, Vincent).[3] It was their decision to journey home on the Titanic that would lead to John's demise.[3]
When the Titanic hit the ice, John went to investigate and came back to calm his wife.[3] While lounging and waiting for action, John had cut into his life belt to show Madeline what it was made of. This action also affected his survival.[3]
John Jacob Astor drowned in the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 after making sure his pregnant wife got into one of the lifeboats.[3] He tried to join her, but could not.[3] He said goodbye to her and stood on the deck of the ship as it began to sink. Astor drowned in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912.[3] His body was recovered April 22, 1912.[3] His body was shipped back to New York and he was buried in Trinity Cemetery in Manhattan.[3][10]
Madeleine named their son John Jacob in tribute to his father.[citation needed]
On April 27, 2024, John Jacob Astor's 14-carat gold watch fetched the highest ever price for a piece of Titanic memorabilia. The watch was recovered from John Jacob's body, restored and worn by his son, Vincent. It was purchased by an anonymous buyer from the United States for £900,000. Included in the lot was a copy of a baptismal certificate belonging to William Dobbyn V, Astor's Executive Secretary, a letter from Astor's second wife, Madeleine, and a photograph copy of Vincent.[11]
Featured German connections: John Jacob is 14 degrees from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 20 degrees from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 20 degrees from Lucas Cranach, 10 degrees from Stefanie Graf, 15 degrees from Wilhelm Grimm, 15 degrees from Fanny Hensel, 24 degrees from Theodor Heuss, 11 degrees from Alexander Mack, 31 degrees from Carl Miele, 10 degrees from Nathan Rothschild, 20 degrees from Hermann Friedrich Albert von Ihering and 13 degrees from Ferdinand von Zeppelin on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
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Categories: The Four Hundred | RMS Titanic | Hoteliers | This Day In History April 15 | 1st Class Passengers on Titanic | Example Profiles of the Week | Society of the Army of Santiago de Cuba | United States Volunteers, Spanish-American War | Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum, Manhattan, New York | Notables
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/27/gold-pocket-watch-of-richest-man-on-titanic-fetches-record-breaking-12m
John Was born in Rhinebeck, New York on July 13th, 1864. His father was William Astor http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Astor-13