John Jacob Astor (1763 - 1848)

Born 17 Jul 1763 in Walldorf, Kurpfalz, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 29 Mar 1848 at age 84 in New York City, New York County, New York, United States

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Biography

John Astor is Notable.

John Astor was a businessman, merchant, fur trader, and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States. He is ancestor of J.J. Astor IV, who died on the Titanic.

Johann Jakob was born in 1763 in Walldorf. He was the son of butcher Johann Jacob Astor and Maria Magdalena.^[1] He moved to England as a teenager, where he worked as a musical instrument manufacturer.

John immigrated to the United States in 1789. He was the creator of the first trust in America. He built a fur-trading empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and Canada, and later expanded into the American West and Pacific coast. the American Fur Company. Their main purpose was to organize the trapping industry to capitalize on the monetary gain this would produce. Their main competitor was the Hudson's Bay Company. The Hudson's Bay Company was a very established business with trading posts and enjoyed good relationships with the American Indians participating in trading furs. The American Fur Company was interested in beaver pelts and they did the one thing Hudson's Bay Company did not. They went to the traders with goods to trade rather than have the traders come to them. This saved the traders months of traveling and ensured the American Fur Company the beaver fur trade.^[2]

In the early 19th century, he diversified into New York City real estate and later became a famed patron of the arts.

Astors, The: High Society | Full Documentary | Biography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvi29qybXYY

Sources

1. ↑ Church book Walldorf, Baden: Landeskirchliches Archiv Karlsruhe > Walldorf > Mischbuch 1700,1701,1701 - 1788,1788,Jan. 1789 Archion image 44
2. ↑ Page 333, Marshall, Peter, and David Manuel.

• Marshall, Peter, and David Manuel. From Sea to Shining Sea. Old Tappa: F.H. Revell, 1986. Print.
• Wikipedia contributors, "John Jacob Astor," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Jacob_Astor&oldid=1123957207 (accessed December 12, 2022).
• Wikidata: Item Q57423, en:Wikipedia
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40/john-jacob-astor: accessed 12 December 2022), memorial page for John Jacob Astor Sr. (17 Jul 1763–29 Mar 1848), Find a Grave Memorial ID 40, citing Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum, Manhattan, New York County (Manhattan), New York, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.