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The Astor family is an Anglo-American business family of German descent notable for their prominence in business, society, and politics. The family name appears from coast to coast in the United States.

Founding family members[link]

John Jacob Astor and his brother George (b. Walldorf/Heidelberg 28 April 1752; d. London December 1813), known as 'George & John Astor,' were flute makers who came to England c. 1778 from Walldorf, Germany. In 1783, John Jacob left for Baltimore, Maryland, and was active first as a dealer in woodwind instruments, then in New York as a merchant in furs, pianos and real estate. After moving to New York, Astor met and married Sarah Todd.^[1]

Another brother, Henry Astor also emigrated to America. He was a horse racing enthusiast, and purchased a thoroughbred named Messenger who had been brought from England to America in 1788. The horse became the founding sire of all Standardbred horses in the United States today.

During the 19th century, the Astors became one of the wealthiest families in the United States. Toward the end of that century, some of the family moved to Britain and achieved great prominence there. During the 20th century, the number of American Astors began to decline, but their legacy lives on in their many public works including the New York Public Library. In fact, the family remains the seventeenth wealthiest family in history.^{[citation needed]} By marrying into two British noble families^{[citation needed]}, British descendants of the Astors hold two hereditary peerages: a viscountcy and a barony.

Family namesake places[link]

For many years, the members of the Astor family were known as “the landlords of New York.”^[2] Their New York City namesakes are the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, an Astor Row, Astor Court, Astor Place, and Astor Avenue in the Bronx where the Astors used to stable horses. The neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, is named after the family as well.

Beyond New York City, the Astor family name is imprinted in a great deal of United States history and geography. There are towns of Astor in the states of Florida, Georgia, Iowa, and Kansas and there are Astorias in Illinois, Missouri and Oregon. There is an Astor Park in Wisconsin. A large number of town and city thoroughfares also bear the family name.^{[citation needed]}

The Astors were also prominent on Mackinac Island, Michigan and Newport, Rhode Island with their summer house, Beechwood. At Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, there are the Lord and Lady Astor Suites; the hotel salon is called Astor's. Cliveden House Hotel in Buckinghamshire, England, once home to Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor and Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (née Langhorne), also contains Lord and Lady Astor Suites.^{[citation needed]}

A number of Astor family members are buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan, New York.^{[citation needed]}

Bloodline[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Listed By Ancestry/Generation:

John Jacob Astor (1763–1848), married Sarah Todd

1. Magdalena Astor (1788–1832), married 1st 1807, Adrian Bentzon; married 2nd 1820, John Bristed (1778–1855)
   1. Charles Astor Bristed (1820–1874)
2. John Jacob Astor II (1791–1869)
3. William Backhouse Astor, Sr. (1792–1875), married Margaret Rebecca Armstrong (1800–1872), the daughter of United States Secretary of War and Senator John Armstrong, Jr..
   1. Emily Astor (1819–1841), married Samuel Ward, Jr. (1814–1884), financier, lobbyist, author.
      1. Margaret Astor Ward (1838–1875), married 1856 John Winthrop Chanler (1826–1877), New York Congressman. Their children are collectively referred to as the Astor Orphans.^[3]
         1. John Armstrong Chanler (1862–1935)
         2. Winthrop Astor Chanler (1863–1926)
         3. Emily Astor Chanler (1864–1872),
         4. Elizabeth Astor Winthrop Chanler (1866–1937)
         5. William Astor Chanler (1867–1934), United States Congressman
            1. William Astor Chanler, Jr. (1904–2002)
            2. Sydney Ashley Chanler (1907–1994) married 1934 Princess Maria Antonia of Braganza (1903–1973)
         6. Marion Ward Chanler (1868–1883), died of a surfeit of Turkish Delight
         7. Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler (1869–1942), New York Congressman
         8. Margaret Livingston Chanler (1870–1963)
         9. Robert Winthrop Chanler (1872–1930), artist
         10. Alida Beekman Chanler (1873–1969)
   2. John Jacob Astor III (1822–1890) 1st son of William, married Charlotte Augusta Gibbs (1822–1887) in 1846
      1. William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (1848–1919)
         1. William Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor (1879–1952), the Conservative Party MP for Plymouth Sutton married Nancy Witcher Langhorne who became Conservative Party MP for Plymouth Sutton and the first female MP in the UK
            1. William Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor (1907–1966) - Conservative Party MP for Wycombe
               1. William Astor, 4th Viscount Astor (born 1951) (from 2nd marriage), step-father to Samantha Cameron, the wife of Prime Minister David Cameron MP and - Conservative Party MP for Witney
                  1. The Hon. William Waldorf Astor (1979)
               2. The Hon. Emily Astor (from 2nd marriage)
               3. The Rt Hon. Janet Gordon-Lennox, Countess of March and Kinrara (born 1961) (from 3rd marriage)
               4. The Hon. Pauline Marian Astor (from 3rd marriage)
            2. The Hon. Nancy Phyllis Louise Astor (1909–1975)
            3. The Hon. Francis David Langhorne Astor (1912–2001)
               1. Frances Astor
                  1. Gavin Frankel
                     1. Suji Frankel
                     2. Jacob Frankel
                  2. Conrad Frankel (1979)
                  3. Patrick Frankel
               2. Richard Astor
                  1. Bonny Astor
                  2. Alfred Astor
               3. Lucy Astor
                  1. Leonard Pulsford
                  2. Ramona Pulsford
               4. Thomas Astor
                  1. Mary Astor
                  2. Cecelia Astor
            4. The Hon. Michael Langhorne Astor (1916–1980) - Conservative Party MP for East Surrey
               1. William Nicholas Astor (1956).
                  1. Oliver William Astor (1988).
                  2. Matthew Charles Astor (1993).
                  3. Elodie Annabelle Astor (1993).
            5. The Hon. Sir John Jacob Astor (1918–2000) - Conservative Party MP for Plymouth Sutton
         2. The Hon. Pauline Astor (1880–1972)
         3. The Hon. John Rudolph Astor (1881–1881)
         4. John Jacob Astor V, 1st Baron Astor of Hever (1886–1971) - Conservative Party MP for Dover
            1. Gavin Astor, 2nd Baron Astor of Hever (1918–1984) - Lord Lieutenant of Kent
               1. John Jacob Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever (born 1946) - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence
            2. The Hon. Hugh Waldorf Astor (1920–1999)
            3. The Hon. John Astor (1923–1987) - - Conservative Party MP for Newbury
   3. Laura Eugenia Astor (1824–1902), married Franklin Hughes Delano (1813–1893) on September 17, 1844
   4. Mary Alida Astor (1826–1881), married John Carey (1821–1881)
   5. William Backhouse Astor, Jr. (1829–1892), 2nd son of William married Caroline Webster Schermerhorn
      1. Emily Astor (1854–1881), married 1876, James John Van Alen (1848–1923)
         1. James Laurens Van Alen (1878–1927), married 1910, Margaret Louise Post (1876–1969)
            1. James Henry Van Alen (1902–1991), founder of Int'l Tennis Hall of Fame, inventor of tie-breaker in tennis
            2. William Laurens Van Alen (1907–2003), founding president of the United States Court Tennis Association, married 1931, Elizabeth Brinton Kent, daughter of A. Atwater Kent
            3. Louise Astor Van Alen (1910–1997), married 1st 1931 (div 1932), Alexei Mdivani (1905–1936); married 2nd 1936, Sergei Mdivani (1903–1936); married 3rd 1947, Alexander Saunderson (1917–2004)
      2. Helen Schermerhorn Astor (1855–1893)
      3. Charlotte Augusta Astor (1858–1920)
      4. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (1861–1948)
      5. John Jacob Astor IV (1864–1912), died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic
         1. William Vincent Astor (1891–1959), son by 1st wife
         2. Ava Alice Muriel Astor (1902–1956), daughter by 1st wife
         3. John Jacob Astor VI (1912–1992), son by 2nd wife
   6. Henry Astor (1830–1918), married Malvina Dinehart (born 1845) in 1871
   7. Sarah Astor (1832-1832), died in infancy

Spouses[link]

• Elizabeth Astor, Baroness Astor of Hever (born 1950): 2nd wife of John Jacob Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever
• Brooke Russell Marshall Astor (1902–2007): 3rd wife and widow of Vincent Astor
• Irene Astor, Baroness Astor of Hever (1919–2001): daughter of Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig and widow of Gavin Astor, 2nd Baron Astor of Hever
• Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor (1830–1908): widow of William Backhouse Astor Jr
• Ava Lowle Willing: 1st wife of John Jacob Astor IV
• Madeleine Talmadge Force (1894–1940): 2nd wife of John Jacob Astor IV
• Nancy Langhorne (1879–1964): widow of William Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor
• Sarah Norton: 1st wife of William Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor
• Philippa Hunloke: 2nd wife of William Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor
• Janet Bronwen Alun Pugh: 3rd wife and widow of William Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor
• Annabel Sheffield: wife of William Waldorf Astor, 4th Viscount Astor
• Barbara McNeil: 1st wife of Michael Langhorne Astor
• Pandora Jones: 2nd wife of Michael Langhorne Astor
• Judy Innes: 3rd wife and widow of Michael Langhorne Astor
• Julia Lynch Olin: wife of Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler
• Alexandra Charlotte Simone Astor: wife of William Nathaniel Astor

References[link]

1. ^  "Astor, John Jacob". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900. 
2. ^  "Astor Family". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. 
3. ^ Thomas Lately, A pride of lions: the Astor orphans; the Chanler chronicle, W. Morrow, 1971.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2011)

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Fritz Artz Springmeier is an American conspiracy theorist and religious right wing author, formerly a resident of Corbett, Oregon, who has written a number of books claiming that satanic forces are behind a move toward world domination by various families and organizations. He has described his goal as "exposing the New World Order agenda."^[1]

Conspiracy theories[link]

Springmeier has written and self-published a number of books based on the ideology of what's been described as an "ultra-right-wing group" called the Christian Patriot Association;^[2] this group was shut down in 2002 after convictions for tax fraud and tax evasion.^[3] He has endorsed the plausibility of Project Monarch, a purported Central Intelligence Agency mind control project whose conjectured existence is based only on the testimony of Cathy O'Brien under hypnosis.^[4][5]

Springmeier's early work, The Watchtower & the Masons, focuses on the relationship between Jehovah's Witnesses and Freemasonry. In this book he describes a relationship between Charles Taze Russell and the so-called "Eastern Establishment". Springmeier followed these links into Masonry and did a further examination of the Eastern establishment.^{[citation needed]}

Selected bibliography[link]

• The Illuminati Formula Used to Create an Undetectable Total Mind Controlled Slave, Cisco Wheeler, Fritz Springmeier, On Demand Publishing, ASIN B0006QXVU4, ISBN 1-4404-9022-8
• Deeper Insights into the Illuminati Formula, Wheeler, Fritz Springmeier, CreateSpace, 2010, ISBN 1-4515-0269-9
• Bloodlines of the Illuminati, Fritz Springmeier, Ambassador House (November 1998), ISBN 0-9663533-2-3

Criminal conviction[link]

On January 31, 2002, Springmeier was indicted in the United States District Court in Portland, Oregon^[6] in connection with an armed robbery. On February 12, 2003, he was found guilty of one count of armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2113(a) and (d) and one count of aiding and abetting in the use of a semi-automatic rifle during the commission of a felony in violation of of 18 U.S.C § 924(c)(1).^[7][8] In November 2003, he was sentenced to 51 months in prison on the armed robbery charge and 60 months on the aiding and abetting charge, fined $7,500, ordered to pay $6,488 in restitution, and assessed an additional $200.^[9] Springmeier's conviction was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.^[10] He was imprisoned, and was released from federal prison on March 25, 2011.^[11][12]

Springmeier's specific crime was placing a bomb in a porn shop on behalf of the group he was a member of, the Christian Patriot Association.^{[13][clarification needed][better source needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• www.parapolitics.info/KATUrebutt/rebuttal