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John Jacob (originally '''Johann Jakob''')''' Astor''' ( July 17 , 1763 - March 29 , 1848 ) was the first of the Astor Family dynasty and the first Millionaire in the United States, making his fortune in the Fur Trade and Real Estate industries. Born in Walldorf , near Heidelberg in the old Palatinate which became part of Baden during the 19th century, Germany (currently in the Rhein-Neckar District ), his father was a butcher, and he learned English in London while working for his brother, George Astor, manufacturing musical instruments. Astor arrived in the United States in March 1784 just after the end of the Revolutionary War . He started a fur goods shop in New York City in the late 1780s. Astor took advantage of the , and the Southwest Fur Company (in which Canadians had a part), in order to control fur trading in the Columbia River and Great Lakes area. His fur trading ventures were disrupted once again when the British captured his trading posts during the War Of 1812 , but rebounded in 1817 after the U.S. Congress passed a Protectionist law that barred foreign traders from U.S. Territories. The American Fur Company once again came to dominate trading in the area around the Great Lakes. In 1822, Astor established the Astor House on Mackinac Island as headquarters for the reformed American Fur Company, making the island a metropolis of the fur trade. A lengthy description based on documents, diaries etc. was given by Washington Irving in his travelogue '' Astoria ''. In 1802, Astor purchased what remained of a ninety-nine year lease from Aaron Burr for $62,500. At the time, Burr was serving as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson and was desperately short on cash. The lease was to run until May 1, 1866. Astor began subdividing the land into nearly 250 lots and subleased them. His conditions were that the tenant could do whatever they wish with the lots for twenty-one years, after which they must renew the lease or Astor would take back the lot. In 1834, as the cost of fur went up due to over trapping, and the demand went down due to changing fashions, Astor withdrew from the American Fur Company, as well as his other ventures, and focused solely on Manhattan Real Estate . Foreseeing the rapid growth northward on Manhattan Island , Astor purchased more and more land out beyond the current City Limits . Astor rarely built on his land, and instead let others pay rent to use it. After retiring from his business, Astor spent the rest of his life as a patron of Culture . He supported the famous Ornithologist John James Audubon , Edgar Allan Poe , and the Presidential Campaign of Henry Clay . At the time of his death, Astor was the wealthiest person in the United States, leaving an estate estimated to be worth at least 20 million dollars. In his Will, he gave orders to build the Astor Library for the New York public (later consolidated with other libraries to form New York Public Library ), as well as a poorhouse in his German hometown, Walldorf. The great bulk of his fortune was bequeathed to his second son, William Backhouse Astor Sr. , instead of his eldest son John Jacob Astor II (1791-1869). John Jacob Astor is interred in the Trinity Churchyard Cemetery on the 155th Street in Manhattan, New York . CHILDREN # Magdalen (1788-1832) # Sarah (1790-1791) # John Jacob II (1791-1879) # William Backhouse (1792-1875) # Dorothee (1795-1853) # Henry (1797-1799) # Eliza (1801-1838) # unnamed son (1802) SEE ALSO
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