John Jacob Astor IV

Colonel John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 - 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.

History

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 great?grandson of John Jacob Astor, whose fortune he made in fur trade and real estate made the Astor family one of the wealthiest in the United States.

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Rhinebeck, New York - William Backhouse Astor, Jr. - Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor - John Jacob Astor - United States

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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.

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St Paul?s School - Concord, New Hampshire - Harvard University - 1891 - Philadelphia - Socialite - William Vincent Astor - Ava Alice Muriel Astor

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Among Astor's accomplisments 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 road?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.

Related Topics:
A Journey in Other Worlds - 1894 - Science fiction - Saturn - Jupiter - 1898 - Peat moss - Pneumatic - Turbine engine - 1897 - William Waldorf Astor - New York City - Waldorf=Astoria Hotel

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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 Spanish?American War in 1899.

Related Topics:
Lieutenant colonel - Battalion - Cuba - Spanish-American War - Yacht - 1899

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