John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor (July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848), born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American 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 was the creator of the first trust in the United States. He emigrated to England as a teenager and worked as a musical instrument manufacturer.

Astor moved to the United States after the American Revolutionary War. He entered the fur trade and built a monopoly, managing a business empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and Canada, and later expanded into the American West and Pacific coast. Seeing the decline of demand, he got out of the fur trade in 1830, diversifying by investing in New York City real estate and later becoming a famed patron of the arts.

Biography

Early life

Johann Jakob Astor was born in Walldorf near Heidelberg in the old Palatinate. It became part of the Duchy of Baden in 1803. (It is now in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.) He was the youngest son of Johann Jacob Astor (July 7, 1724 – April 18, 1816) and Maria Magdalena Vorfelder (1730–1766). His three elder brothers were Georg (later "George"; April 28, 1752 – December 1813), Heinrich (later "Henry"; 1754–1833), and Melchior (1759–1829). Astor's father was a butcher; he first worked in his father's shop and as a dairy salesman. In 1779, at the age of 16, he moved to London to join his brother George in working for Astor & Broadwood, their uncle's piano and flute manufactory. While there, he learned English and anglicized his name.

John Jacob

John Jacob may refer to:

See also

Jacob

Jacob (later given the name Israel) is regarded as a Patriarch of the Israelites. According to the Book of Genesis, Jacob (/ˈdʒeɪkəb/; Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב Standard Yaʿakov) was the third Hebrew progenitor with whom God made a covenant. He is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham, Sarah and of Bethuel, and the younger twin brother of Esau. Jacob had twelve sons and at least one daughter, by his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and by their handmaidens Bilhah and Zilpah.

Jacob's twelve sons, named in Genesis, were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. His only daughter mentioned in Genesis is Dinah. The twelve sons became the progenitors of the "Tribes of Israel".

As a result of a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob and his sons moved to Egypt at the time when his son Joseph was viceroy. After 17 years in Egypt, Jacob died and Joseph carried Jacob's remains to the land of Canaan, and gave him a stately burial in the same Cave of Machpelah as were buried Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, and Jacob's first wife, Leah.

John Jacob Astor VI

John Jacob "Jakey" Astor VI (August 14, 1912 – June 26, 1992) was an American socialite, shipping businessman, and member of the Astor family. He was dubbed the "Titanic Baby" for his affiliation with the RMS Titanic, where his mother Madeleine Astor survived the ship's sinking. Astor was born four months after his father, Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, died in the sinking of the Titanic.

Early life

John Jacob Astor VI was born in New York City, New York on August 14, 1912. He was the son of Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (1864–1912) and socialite Madeleine Talmage Force (1893–1940). Their marriage in September 1911 had sparked much controversy not only due to their 29-year age difference but also since Colonel Astor had only previously been divorced from his first wife socialite Ava Lowle Willing (1868–1958) two years earlier in November 1909. The couple was returning home aboard the Titanic after about three months of honeymooning in Egypt and Europe. Madeleine was five months pregnant with Jakey when her husband put her in one of the ship's lifeboats. She was rescued eight hours after her husband went down with the ship. Jakey's godmother was Colonel Astor's sister philanthropist Caroline Schermerhorn "Carrie" Astor (1861–1948) while his godfathers were Carrie's son Marshall Orme Wilson, Jr. (1885–1966) and Madeleine's cousin Philip Lyndon Dodge.

John

John is a common English name and surname:

John may also refer to:

People with the given name

Religious figures