orig. Johann Jakob Astor
born July 17, 1763, Waldorf, Ger.
died March 29, 1848, New York, N.Y., U.S.
German-born U.S. fur magnate and financier.
After emigrating from Germany at age17, he opened a fur-goods shop in New York 0441; 1786. By 1800 he was a leader in the fur trade, and he established the American Fur Co. He controlled the fur trade with China (180017) and in the Mississippi and Missouri valleys (in the 1820s) before selling his interests in 1834. His investment in New York City real estate became the foundation of the family fortune. At his death, Astor was the wealthiest person in the U.S.; he willed $400,000 to found what became the New York Public Library . His son, William B. Astor (17921875), greatly expanded the family real-estate holdings, building more than 700 stores and dwellings in the city.
John Jacob Astor, detail of an oil painting by Gilbert Stuart, 1794; in the Brook Club, New York.
Courtesy of the Frick Art Reference Library