ASTOR FAMILY 



437 



ASTORIA 



Indians. In spite of the War of 1812 he 

 prospered, and at his death had commer- 

 cial connections in every part of the globe. 

 Most of his fortune of $30,000,000 he invested 

 in real estate in New York, much to the scorn 

 of his friends, who thought him crazy because 

 he bought farms outside the limits of the city. 

 But the land which he bought by the acre 

 in the vicinity of Broadway and 42nd Street 

 is now sold and leased by the square foot, and 

 a square foot is worth several times the price 

 he paid for an acre. He bequeathed $350,000 

 to the city for a public library, known as the 

 A -tor Library. 



William Backhouse Astor (1792-1875), son of 

 the first John Jacob, inherited most of the 

 estate, and by judicious management doubled 

 its value. He contributed large sums to the 

 Astor Library, founded by his father, and also 

 bequeathed to it $250,000 in money and $200,- 

 000 worth of books. His two sons were John 

 Jacob (1822-1890) and William (1830-1892), 

 who divided his estate in equal shares. 



John Jacob Astor (1822-1890), third of this 

 name, was the eldest son of William Backhouse 

 Astor. He was educated at Columbia, Got- 

 tingen, and Harvard universities, taking the 

 course in law at the last institution to qualify 

 himself for the management of the Astor 

 estate. Like his father and his grandfather, 

 he gave liberally to the Astor Library and to 

 many charities. He was a colonel on McClel- 

 lan's staff in the War of Secession, and was 

 far prouder of his military record than of any 

 other achievement in his life. 



William Waldorf Astor, Baron (1848- ), 

 son of the preceding, was the first of the 

 Astors to abandon the United States as his 

 home; he removed to London in 1890 and in 

 1899 became a British subject. He served in 

 the New Yorlc assembly for two terms, and 

 from 1882 to 1885 was United States mm 

 to Italy. On the death of his father he became 

 head of the family and the possessor of :m 

 estate estimated at $200,000,000. In England 

 he became the owner of the I'nll Mail Gazette, 

 one of the leading Conservative newspapers. 

 In 1916 he was created a baron by King 

 George V. 



John Jacob Astor '(1864-1912), fifth dul<l of 

 William Astor and grandson of William B. 

 Astor, was one of the ablest members of 

 narkable family. After graduation 

 from Harvard in 1888, he traveled extensively, 

 and then devoted most of his time to the 

 management of the estate. He owned many 



notable buildings in New York, including the 

 Saint Regis, the Knickerbocker and the 

 Waldorf-Astoria hotels, all built on lands pur- 

 chased by his far-seeing great-grandfather. 

 He was known as the inventor of numerous 

 mechanical devices, including a bicycle brake, 

 a machine for developing peat deposits and 

 an improved form of turbine engine for ships. 

 In 1898 at his own expense he equipped a bat- 

 tery for service in the Philippines, and he 

 himself served on General Shafter's staff in 

 Cuba. He took part in the battle of Santi- 

 ago and was chosen by Shafter to deliver the 

 official notice of Spanish surrender to the Sec- 

 retary of War. He lost his life by the sinking 

 of the steamship Titanic, April 15, 1912; his 

 wife of a few months was among the few res- 

 cued, and a short time later a son was born, 

 who perpetuates the name of the founder of 

 the line. His vast estate was left in trust, his 

 son, WILLIAM VINCENT ASTOR (born 1891), be- 

 ing the principal heir. W.F.Z. 



ASTORIA, astoh'ria, OREGON, county seat 

 of Clatsop County, the location of the largest 

 salmon fishing and canning industries of the 

 world. It is a port of entry and shipping cen- 

 ter in the extreme northwestern corner of the 

 state, on the south bank of the Columbia River, 

 nine miles from the Pacific Ocean and 101 

 miles northwest of Portland. It is on the 

 Spokane, Portland & Seattle railroad and has 

 several steamship lines operating to domestic 

 and foreign ports. In 1910 the population was 

 9,599; in 1914 it had increased to 10,117. The 

 area of the city is nearly five square miles. 



Astoria is situated in a region of murinr 

 scenery of striking beauty. In 1916 the city 

 was in the midst of a reconstruction period; 

 the five miles of water front within the city 

 limits were being enlarged to constitute one 

 of the largest and most complete municipal 

 docks on the Pacific coast. A sea wall was 

 in course of construction and the grade of 

 streets was being raised. The annual product 

 of the salmon canneries, mentioned above, is 

 approximately $5,000,000; over 3,500 men are 

 employed in this industry. Lumbering in thr 

 dense pine forests of the adjacent country and 

 the sawmills KI\ employment to nearly 5,000 

 mm, not all of whom, however, live in the 

 city. The city haa an extensive export trade in 

 lumber, wheat, oats, live stock, wool, potatoes 

 and apples. 



Astoria, named for John Jacob Astor (see 

 ASTOR), was founded in 1811 by his employes, 

 and was the first settlement of white men in 



