Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1905)
THE SUKDa? OTTOMAN, FGurCZZD, kTL TSt). Ninety-one descendants of John Jacob Astor, founder of the oldest multi-millionaire family in America, are living todajr. , The first foundation stones of the Astor fortunes -were laid, six years before the beginning of )the last century, by a German lad of 21, who, iike thousands of other immigrants, had been driven from his own home because there seemed to be no room for him in the Old "World. Yet he was able to win vast fortunes in the New. He came from a peasantry whose lives aftd notions were crude in the extreme, whose measure of wealth was and, in some parts of Germany still is, the size of the stable manure pile before the front door. The lot of the best of these .was hard enough in the ISth century; his had been moreg rigorous and less promising than that of almost any other lad in his own village. He reached the city of New York, where his descendants are now the heaviest individual .landlords, when it was only a big backwoods colonial village, set on the point of an island composed mostly of rocks, swamp and scraggly woods. His only capital was represented by a few musical instruments, and his first employment j-ielded a wage of only $2 a. week, but he had unconquerable energy, nerve and determination, and these lasted him till he had gathered a reluctant $2,000,000 profit from the fur itrade, though much of that sum became his because he did his own transportation, whenever and wherever he could. The fifth generation of the descendants is now on the stage. None of tlrem has ever shown more than a glimpse of the splendid courage and energy of the family's founder.1 Some of them have displayed lofty ambitions, but they have all been held down by ike incubus of great wealth, and the highest achievement of any -has been either the timid, orderly following of his footsteps in real- estate, or the accomplishment of social leadership. Yet the. Astor history, though presenting some sordid details, is full of romance, passion and strivings beyond the history of most families. First John Jacob Starts Out to Seek His Fortune. IT IS just 125 years ago, in the Spring, that a husky youth o 17 sat in the shade of a tree in the German princi pality of Baden and took a long last look at the village of Walldorf, where he was born, and which, though his life there had been everything but pleasant, he hated to leave. He was not alone while looking his farewells. The village schoolmaster (who had taught the lad to read, to write, to cipher and to sing hymns bo loudly that the windows were in danger when he lift ed up his voice), and one or two others sat under the tree with him. "When the boy had strapped upon his back the little packet of clothing, which, with the equiv alent of $2 in cash, formed his entire worldly wealth, the schoolmaster turned to one of the other, and said: "Hanyakob" (for thus they nicknamed the future New "World multi-millionaire) "will make a good journey through the world, for he has a clear head, and his skull is thick behind his ears." In Eng lish this doesn't sound very compliment ary, but it is a common form of laudation to this day among the German poasants of Baden. The lad's father, half-farmer, half butcher, and wholly shiftless, had been driven to drink and laziness by his -second wife. As stepmother, her treatment of the boy had been cruel and disheartening, and owing-to the father's increasing Idle ness and brutality there had lately been many days when John Jacob had literally to go hungry, and more than once he had been obliged to leave the house at night and sleep under a shed or in a barn. There were two older brothers, George, who had gone to London, where he was a maker and vendor of musical instruments?, and Henry, who had come to America and set up a butcher shop in New York. The revolution of the British colonists was still in progress, but Henry had writ- i ten John .Jacob that the colonists were j sure to win some time, and that when they did the Now World was bound to bo j the best place on earth for any one anx- ; ious to better himself. It was John Ja- ' cob's ambition, therefore, to come here. j His brother Georgo had said he would be welcome in London, and the lad ; planned to make the British capital a i place of sojourn upon his Western jour- j ney. He expected to walk to the coast, and to use his little stock of cash to buy passage across the North Sea, but, luck ily, he got a chance to work his way down the river Rhine on alumber raft. He reached London in just three weeks, and was set to work at once in his brother's piano factor. John Jacob worked hard in London a little more than three years, by day at manual labor in the piano factory, by night at his books, and all the time pick ing up the English tongue. Ho never learned to get his p's and b's and th's right, but his knowledge of It when he reached America was quite sufficient. in aepiemDer, nw, ne neara or. me sign- i sometlmos. for the most Insignificant ing of the treaty of peace between Great j articles of barter, such as bits of Britain and the United States, and got ; paint, or beads, or pieces of colored ready to leave London at once. He had sjass. when he exchanged real com managed to save 15 guinea, or about 57o, j moditles for furs he always sot good out of his small wages; the parage (on a t Drices and sat whi hnwn yZ i ffimSM SSoSL 'Sta'Sit,!8 ! oMactc,rcookIdisbcUnred a had a little leas than 550 left. His notion rr .ronT.a . . . " was to be a dealer in musical instru ments, like h'l3 brother George, and he in vested about half of his remaining capital in seven German flutes, so that when the ship, sailed dway he had about 525 in his pocket. The vessel on which he embarked, buf- feted and tossed by tumbling seas, did not reach this side till January, 1784. She was bound for Baltimore, as the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, being farther south-! than the harbor of New York, was not so likely to be ice-bound. When the ship t reached the capes which guard the Chesa- ) peake, however, much ice was found, and i it was still two "long months before the! passengers were able to land. One of them, German, like John Jacob, had made some money In the fur trade, and the two spent many hours, during the six months they were together, talking of Its possi bilities. Began Beating Furs at Two Dollars a Week. WHEN, at last, the ship was moored at Baltimore, John Jacob had pot enough money left to pay the fare by stage coach to NewYork, so he tramped part of the way. packing his flukes and his spare clothing. After selling the flutes at a profit, Instead of going to work for his brother in New Yprk, as he had in London, lie got a job with a Quaker furrier, named Bonne, beating skins at $2" a week. Bonne found young Astor's judgment good, and sent him North through Now York state and Into Can ada to buy pelts and skins of all sorts. Bonne died In 1766 and then Astor decided to start out for himself. How to get money enough to do so was a problem. Finally he went to his broth er Henry, who had often lent small sums to him, and stated the case. "I'm tired of lending you money," said Henry, "and I won't be bothered any more. But if you will sign a piece of pa per, on which is written a promise never to aek me for money again, I will give you $500 outright.' John Jacob signed the paper as soon s it could be written. He felt sure hat with such a capital he could run alone, and as soon as he got the money ;he set about proving his case. In 17S5 he had married a young woman named Sarah Todd, collaterally a Brevort. She brought no money, but she was strong, clever, and willing to work. They established themselves in Gold street, now away down town in a mlxed-yp Jun gle of new skyscrapers and ancient two and three-story brick buildings, and hung out a sign. ''J. J. Astor, Furs and Pi anos." -Then the couple went to work with the tireless vim that compels suc cess. Mrs. Astor stopped at nothing. Beating raw furs Is a highly odorous oc cupation, even when they are dried, but she did it willingly until the $503 capital, furnished by the butcher Astor, had grown so that helpers could be hired. Much of the time she had sole charge of the little establishment, for her hus band spent weeks and months In the in terior buying skins, and every year went personally to London with a consignment of furs. The Mrs. Astor of .that day was no so ciety leader. The aristocratic old colonials knew her only as the pelt-dealors wife, though they must all have met hor; it was to her little shop that they had to g when they wanted pianos for their drawing-rooms, or furs for their backs, for, though there were other dealers In furs and musical instruments, "that German, Astor," and his wife kept the best is both lines. While Sarah Todd-Astor was nursing her children, and selling pianos and furs, John Jacob was learning more about his adopted country than many men of his day wore able to acquire. He drove, rode, and traveled all over Now York State and that part of Canada Just north. He was familiar with the hills and valleys and streams and lakes. He knew Just where the -best furs were to be had. and at the lowest price. He mot and studied both the pioneers and the Indians, whom they were gradually displacing. He was an adept bargainer, and his 5500 capital grew rapidly. By 1609, when Sarah Todd's j oldest child was a lass of 33, he was worth I 5250.000 at least, and was looked upon j with respect by all who knew him. j In 1B07. when he was 44. four years j older than the age which Dr. Osier sets j as the limit of productive human enort. i the first John Jacob planned the biggest ; operations in fur trading, save those of the Hudson's Bny Company, that were ever attempted. Reaching Out Into the Vast Unknown West 7JLB i w LREADY he had gone much farthor est than the boundaries of New York State In seiwch of pelts, and had established headquarters at Mackinac, where the waters of the groat lakes, Superior, Michigan and Huron, Join. This was a wonderful place for tho col lection of furs. They could be brought from almost every direction by water and by water they could be taken awav. He procured the most valuablo skins, pouna tor tea, 510 for a quart of whisky, ?8 for a blister plaster, and the like. He would make throe or four profits on about everything: he handled. Thus a beaver skin, say, that he cot in ex- chane for trinkets costing a dollar. .Uia DrlnB him 5 in London. With this he would buy cutlery that would etcn 0 in New York., Independent traders had to pay him a bonus of from ten to 25 per cent for the privilege of buying from him and selling to him. It Is really no wonder that his wealth rolled up with the rapidity of a big snowDall when such oroflts as these were possible; but they were not so big that they mightn't be bigger, the Ger man thought- There were expenses that had to be deducted, especially the cost of carriage over sea to London, and from thence to China, then the world's great fur market, as Ameri ca was the great fur producer. It seemed to John Jacob, Indeed, that he was suffering great loss In not be ing able to deal directly with the Chi nese at Cunton, instead of selling his furs to the London dealers. Constant thought along this line led hlra to plan the American Fur Company. This enterprise, he thought, could be financed for a million dollars, and he had so much faith In It that, although he tried, at first, to got Government backing, he engaged to furnish all tho money when the company secured its charter. The American Fur Company was or ganized, primarily, to deal In furs, but incidentally it was to do a great mtCny other things. It was to carry furs In Its own snips. It was to have one port on the Oregon coast of the Pacific Ocean. New York was to be its home port. Stretching over throe thousand miles between these two ports, and largely along the line of Lewis and Clark's expedition, in which Astor had been mucli interested, there was to bo a string of fur-trading stations. Sailing up and down the Pacifid, coasting ves sels were to bringfurs from the north to the south to the Oregon port, which, when founded at the Columbia's mouth, FOUNDATION WHO EARNED wasvnamed Astoria. TJhither, also furs ' were to be taken' by traders "and -trappers working in the interior. From As toria at yearly intervals,- .whloh he hoped to make shorter, ships were to sail for Canton laden with accumu lated furs.' At CfttitOn. the ships were to be laden with Oriental commodities and products, chiefly tea. Tho cargoes thus obtained were to ba brought by the way of the Cape of Good Hope to New York, thus completing the circuit of the globe. From New York, as soon ns its cargo was discharged, each vessel was to sail round the Horn to Astoria, taking a miscellaneous car go of notions and other things for bar ter with white and savage trappers. From Astoria a new clviljeatlon was to radiate, in time covering all the Pa cific' region. President Jefferson in dorsed the plan in a long and enthusi astic paper, written "and signed by his own hand. Astor's fur trade was at flood tide when he started the company. He had an army of traders traveling for him. T-flE first ship sent, around the Horn was a small vessel of 90 tons, named the.Tonquln. She carried in her hold the frame of a schooner for river and coast wise navigation, seeds, arms, tools, and a full equipment for building of Astoria. She reached the mouth of the Columbia in stormy weather, and after several mis haps involving loss of life, succeeded in making Astoria. A storehouse was built there and supplies landed, after which the- vessel sailed northward to Vancou ver Island, where her captain and crew were killed and the ship destroyed by savages. This tragedy is well described by Washington .Irving. Soon after that the AVar of 1S12 broke out, and it, addod to' the first disaster, killed the American Fur Company. Astor feared at Its beginning that the war would wind upthe enterprise, but he went ahead with afl the nerve In the world. Ship after ship sailed away from New York for tho Western Ocean never to be heard of again, some being lost at sea, but more being destroyed by the British. Finally the British frigate Phoebo set out to sweep ,the Pacific clear of Yankee ships, and that ended all. One of Astor's partners, named McDougall, sold out the Astoria trading post for a third of what it had cost, and the Astor dream of world-wide fur trading 'came to an end. When news was received of the loss of the last ship sent round tne Horn, Astor took it quite as a matter of course and a friend expressed surprise. "What do you want me to do?" queried John Jacob, "cry my eyes out?" Then he sent out for theater tickets, that he might bo amused in the evening. He sighed a little, saying that, had there been no war, he would have become the richest man in the world, but that was all. He had begun to buy real estate very early in tho game. From the beginning he saw that New York was bound to" be the greatest city on this side of the At lantic The completion of the Erie Canal confirmed his faith, and he saw New York catch up with and pass other American cities, such as Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, while still a comparatively young man. He went completely out of the jtur busi ness in 1S34, when he sold his Mackinac trading post, 40 years -after he had bought the first polt on his own account. It was time then, he thought, to let someone else doal in furs. The country was settling up and the fur-bearing animals were dis aonearinff. The day was not far dis- 1 tant, he foresaw, when even the famous Mackinac station would make no profit. During John Jacob Astor's later life as a real estate buyer he rose early, and aimed to be at buslners by 7. At 3 ho was homo again for dinner. After din ner he played three games of checkers every day, and drank one glass of beer. In the Summer he used to sit on the bal cony of his home, 5S5 Broadway, and smoke and 'visit" with his friends, who Included Washington Irving and Fltz Greene Hallcck, for, though never mucn of a reader after his boyhood days, he was fond of men of letters, and often was much influenced by them, it was In "re sponse to the pleadings of Irving and OF ITS WEALTH name than ho deserved Died at 84 the Richest Man in 'the United States. I NDOUBTEDLY John Jacob Astor was an able man. Washington Irving. who wrote a book on Astoria, leaves word that Astor himself ' gathered, arranged and knit together all the documents bear ing on tho American Fur Company, In cluding the correspondence with the Gov ernment, while the book was la prepara tion, and existing letters written by Astor to Albert Gallatin, though without the style of an Addison, a"rc very well com posed Indeed. The first Astor was neVer very promi nent In politics, but he had strong party views, being a Whig, and was on terms of close Intimacy with Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and others. A few times he pre sided over political meetings, and. he was a steady and for those times liberal con tributor to the campaign funds of his party.- At his death, aged 81, In 1S4S, the Astor fortune was generally estimated at from 520,000.000 to 530,000,000, the balance of opinion leaning to the smaller figures. There were others, however, who held that his wealth had been mucfi over estimated; that 57,000,000, was an outside figure. It is highly probable that the Astor real estate, disposed of at forced sale at that time, would have brought no more than the last named amount, and that on a 5 per cent basis the income de prived from it would have indicated a property of much les3 than 520,000,000, but. It must be remembered, very large blocks thereof were vacant lots, yielding no in come whatever. As late as in the '50s, William B. leased out the entire block bounded by 129th and 130th streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues for $50 a year, though even then it was worth a good deal of money. Considered with the future in view, the Astor property In ISIS was probably worth all of 510.000,000. Whatever his wealth. he was tho richest man then living In the I United 3tates. Two children survived the orlglnnl John j Jacob Mrs. Brlsted and William B. The second- son, named John Jacob, for his ' rather, out an lmDecue. died 14 year3 earlier. Mrs. Brlsted was well provided for in the will, but the great bulk of tho fortune was left to William B. Personal ly, the son had none of his father's char acteristics shown when he was building up the family fortunes, being conservative, and anything but venturesome, though by no means being so close, nor so trans parent In his closeness as his father had been In his later years. William B. Astor was well educated, having been sent to the University at Goettlngen, Germany. His life was a humdrum one, devoted sedulously to the family real estate business. In "society" he and his family held a respectable place, though they, were by no means leaders. Beginning of Famous Astor Social Leadership. THOUGH the William B. Astors stood very well in- the .society which the original John Jacob's wealth had been so Instrumental in creating, they were by no means its most eminent members. But, through the genius for social lead ership developed by Mrs.. John Jacob As tor III and her husband's greatly en hanced wealth, they soon counted the creme de la. creme i In all except the old. inner circle of pre-Revolutlonary colonial families, whose sn embers maintained LAID BY A EATING strict exclusivoness as long as ever they could. Mrs. John Jacob Astor was, however, the real, genuine. Simon-pure loador of the rich and smart society of her day. It was during her reign that the aston- ! Ishing Ward McAllister came Into social J existence, and smart society In New York today is the same circle, only extended, that crystalized about her, albeit it 'is a Mrs. Astor of the other family branch that is now the lender. It was Mrs. John Jacob Astor who made it so hard for the Vanderbllts to get In when -they went a-knocklng at the door. This Mrs. Astor died in 1SSS. Her hus band, who hl been far less fond of so ciety than his wife and his home, took little Interest in society thereafter. He died In 1S30, being by odds the richest man in the country at the time, as his grand father had been before him. His father's wealth had been overtopped by Commo dore Vanderbllfs, but the Vanderbllt wealth had been so split up by 1S90 that no Individual of that family was as rich as John Jacob .Astor- III at his death. William Astor was never so rich, by millions, as his older brother, nor did he try as hard to increase his wealth. He went to his office daily when In America, but he spent a great deal of time out of the country. He followed his brother's practice of walking to his office, and the scoffers attributed It to parsimony; but the truth Is that he suffered from the twin diseases of the rich, dyspepsia and gout, and walked a good deal. In the futile hope that he might stave them off. The hope was vain, and he died in 1S32. William Astor was In Paris when death overtook him. He spent much of his later life there, largely, Jt was said, b'ecause he did not care to enter Into tho social war that broke out in the Astor family soon after the death of his brother's wife. JW FTER Mrs. John Jacob Astor III had m passed way three aspirants to New York's social leadership developed. They were the late Mrs. August .Belmont, mother of thy present subway man; Mrs. William Waldorf Astor and Mrs. William Astor. Really, Mrs. Belmont divided the leadership for a time, but soon there were only two contestants for the honors, Mrs. William and Mrs. William Waldorf As tor. The situation came to the knowledge of the vulgar public when a letter marked "Mrs. Astor. New York." with no street address, was put in the pcstofflce. Mrs. William, because she was the oldest liv ing Mrs. Astor, claimed the right to all lotters so addressed. Mrs. William 'Wal dorf claimed, or hor husband claimed for her, the same right, because she was the vclTa of the mala renrftsantatlvo of tha &C0fTCkV . oldep Astor branch. She was a Miss j V w J smmm Paul, of Philadelphia, beforo marriage, a I J BOY HIE older Astor branch. She was a Miss Paul, of Philadelphia, beforo marriage, a beauty, and as a matron was a lovely woman. The dispute stirred society to its depths. The contest resulted In victory for Mrs. William Astor. mother of the present John Jacob, though how It would have come out had Mrs. William Waldorf ever cared a fig. personally, who should be known as "Mrs. Astor," no one can tell. But she didn't; it was all the doings of William Waldorf himself. Ever a stick ler foe precedence, he wished his wife to fill his mother's place In the social world. When the battle seemed clearly lost for the William Waldorf Astors, he departed from America for good and all. and has never set foot on this side of the water since, save as a transient visitor. Securely settled upon her throne as So ciety Queen, Mrs. William Astor. who, born Schermerhorn, of a Brooklyn fam ily colonially descended, removed to the northern half of the new and now cele brated John Jacob Astor residence, at the northeast corner of Sixty-sixth street and Fifth avenue. There she has reigned serenelv ever since. Her son, John Jacob, and his family, live in the southern half. This house was one of the first of the modern multl-mllllonairc palaces in New York. It cost millions. Its decorations were devised and executed by real artists, not artisans, and for years after the housewarmlng In 1SDS it was considered really good. Mrs. Astor's annual ball, which she has given every year, save when in mourning, for nearly a quarter of a century. Is held In the big picture gallery connecting the two houses, and the famous Mrs. Astor "dinners of state" are given In Its dining room. It Is only fair to say of Mrs. Astor that she Invites some who are not superlative ly rich both to her dinners and har great annual dances. She has recognized the growth of New York and the country at large by Increasing her list so that It In cludes many more than the old McAllis ter "Four Hundred." William Waldorf, Richest Astor" Now Living. WILLIAM WALDORF ASTOR, son of John Jacob,' now only two yeare less than 0. started out in life determlned not to let the possession of great wealth smpfher his talents, which really are of high order. As a young man he was somewhat noted as an athlete. He was admitted to the New York bar, but never practiced, and early in life set out to conquer fame in politics. He had eense enough to begin near the bottom, and won two or three elections as a Republican In New York a Democratic city, first to the state Assembly and then to the state Sonate. He was not a conspicuous success, but neither was he a failure Then he ran for Congress twice, but was defeated both times, first by Harry Dugro, second by Roswell P. Flower. This discouraged his political ambitions for a time, but President Arthur revived them by sending him to Italy as Minis ter. President Cleveland let him out. and he returned to this country a year before his father's death. He wrote two or three novels, not bad, but poor sellers. This annoyed him. Then came the row over the society leadership, and the publicity thereof, which made him sore at heart. Mrs. William Waldorf was left out of the Washington Centennial quadrille, and Mrs. William was chosen because she had been born a Schermerhorn. The people read all the Astor gossip so eagerly that the papers repeated the dose as often as they could. He received hints that one of his sons was In danger of being kid naped. So. In desperation, he fled to England, in 1S92, soon after succeeding to his father's estate. The next year he bought out Stead's Pall Mall Gazcztte. He also bought Cliveden for a country house from the Duke of Westminster, with the avowed purpose of getting into the "Al bert Edward set." winning a command ing place In English society, and even tually a peerage. In 1S99 he became a naturalized English citizen, and estab lished the Pall Mall Magazine, as some say, to have a periodical In which his own writings could be printed. But, so far. he has failed In his ambi tions in England essentially, though, of course, he has a certain social position. The Prince of Wales, now King, seemed Inclined to take him up at first, but M him down later because he "bored" hi? royal highness. The people got down or him because he closed Cliveden to the general public; thinking men laughed at him because he published abusive arti cles about Americans In his magazine, and one showing that he was descended from the Spanish D'Astorgas of Crusader times. Not long after he went to London Mrs. Aetor died. His daughter, Pauline, mar ried Captain Spender-Clay, whose fathet made his wealth In ale. Their woddins Was so gorgeous and costly that the en tire British public was aghast, and the British papers made many adverse com ments. THE present John Jacob Astor. fourth of the name, now 40. is the only eon. He has done the best he could, and his ambitions have been high. He was educated at Columbia College, in New (Concluded on Page 47.)