Astor

Astor, John Jacob, the founder of the great commercial house in New York and of the Astor Library, was the son of a German peasant, and was born near Heidelberg in 1763. At the age of 20 he emigrated to America, and speedily made a fortune in the fur trade. In 1811 he established the colony of Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia river. Washington Irving made it the subject of one of his popular works. At his death in 1848 he left about four millions sterling. This vast fortune his son William more than doubled, besides being the greatest owner of land and house property in New York. The latter died in 1875.