John Jacob Astor IV
|
John Astor IV and Madeleine Astor |
Colonel John Jacob Astor IV (
July 13,
1864 â€"
April 15,
1912) was a businessman, inventor, writer and a member of the prominent
Astor family. Serving as a
lieutenant colonel in the
Spanish-American War, Astor mainly dealt in real estate which included the original
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. A divorce and marriage to the much younger
Madeleine Talmadge Force caused a scandal and he and his new wife took an extended honeymoon abroad to wait out the controversy. Madeleine Astor's pregnancy cut short the trip and they booked passage on board the
RMS Titanic which struck an
iceberg and sank on
April 15,
1912. John Jacob Astor IV was among the more than 1,500 victims of the sinking.
John Jacob Astor IV was born at "Ferncliff", the family's estate in
Rhinebeck, New York, to
William Backhouse Astor, Jr. and
Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor. John Jacob IV was the greatâ€"grandson of
John Jacob Astor whose fortune, made in the fur trade and real estate, made the Astor family one of the wealthiest in the
United States. The astor family also owned a victorian/colonial style mansion in New Jersey, that was later owned by Lance Clarke, excecutive chairman of Clark Shoes.
Astor attended
St Paul's School in
Concord, New Hampshire and later attended
Harvard University. In
1891, Astor married Ava Lowle Willing, a
Philadelphia socialite. Together they had two children,
William Vincent Astor and
Ava Alice Muriel Astor; the latter, however, was believed by many to be Ava Astor's child by a New York socialite named Hatch.
Among Astor's accomplishments was
A Journey in Other Worlds, an
1894 science fiction novel titled about a fictional account of life in the year 2000 on the planets
Saturn and
Jupiter. He also patented several inventions, including a bicycle brake in
1898, a "vibratory disintegrator" used to produce gas from
peat moss, a
pneumatic roadâ€"improver, and helped develop a
turbine engine. Astor made millions in real estate and in
1897, Astor built the Astoria Hotel which adjoined Astor's cousin,
William Waldorf Astor's, Waldorf Hotel in
New York City, the complex became known as the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
In 1898 Astor was appointed a
lieutenant colonel of a U.S. volunteers
battalion he financed in
Cuba during the
Spanish-American War. During this time he allowed his
yacht, the
Nourmahal, to be used by the U.S. government. During the war Colonel Astor appeared in the films
President McKinley's Inspection of Camp Wikoff in 1898 and
Col. John Jacob Astor, Staff and Veterans of the Spanishâ€"American War in
1899.
In
1909 Astor divorced his wife Ava and on
September 9,
1911 married eighteen yearâ€"old
Madeleine Talmadge Force in his mother's ballroom at Beechwood, the family's
Newport, Rhode Island home. The divorce and marriage to Madeleine, who was a year younger than Vincent Astor, caused a scandal and John Jacob IV and Madeleine took an extended honeymoon in Europe and Egypt to wait for the gossip to calm down. Among the few Americans of the socialite class who did not spurn JJ IV at this time was
Margaret Brown, better known to posterity as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". She accompanied the Astors to Egypt and France and, by coincidence, was called home to the U.S. at the same time the Astors also found it necessary to abbreviate their touring.
While traveling Madeleine became pregnant, and wanting the child born in the United States, the Astors booked firstâ€"class passage on the maiden voyage of the
RMS Titanic which they boarded at
Cherbourg,
France. Astor was the richest person on the ship and, along with his wife, his party included his manservant, his wife's maid and nurse and his pet
Airedale, Kitty. At 11:40
PM on
April 14,
1912 the
Titanic hit an
iceberg and began sinking. At first Astor didn't believe the ship was in any serious danger, but later helped his wife into a
lifeboat. He asked if he could join his wife, mentioning her "delicate condition", but the officer in charge said no men until all the women and children were away. Astor reportedly stood back, asked for the lifeboat number, lit a cigarette, and tossed his gloves to Madeleine. Both she and Mrs. Brown survived. He perished.
John Jacob Astor IV's body was recovered by the
MacKay-Bennett on
April 22. Because his body was badly crushed and covered in soot, Astor is believed to have been smashed by the first smokestack as it fell from Titanic. His body was identified by the initials sewn on the lapel of his jacket. Among the items found on him were ÂŁ225, $2440, and a gold watch which his son, Vincent, claimed and wore the rest of his life. Astor was buried in
Trinity Church Cemetery in
New York City. On
August 14,
1912, his second son,
John Jacob Astor VI was born.
John Jacob Astor's prominence made his actions while the
Titanic was sinking legendary. Many exaggerated and unsubstantiated accounts about what Astor did the night
Titanic sank appeared in newspapers and books after the disaster. There was a story that he was the one who opened
Titanic's kennel and released the dogs; another story has Astor putting a woman's hat on a boy to make sure he was able to get into a lifeboat.
Astor's fame has made him an often used character in
films about
Titanic. William Johnstone played Astor in the
1953 film
Titanic and in the
1997 Titanic he was played by
Eric Braeden, who was picked for his strong resemblance to Astor.
*
Free ebook of John Jacob Astor IV at
Project Gutenberg*
Colonel John Jacob Astor IV
