The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-09-20

lditlc Dock street, the unpretcnung
maine of John Jacob Asier, and here The
foundation Of his estate was laid. Astor
soon took fair rank among business men.
lilo was prompt and snug in his dealing
honest and straightforward, aud beside
this, carried great weight Of character
in his countenance No man could be
much with him without being struck
with his depth of character, and tile So
lidity of his views. At that time the
fur trade was brisk along the Mohawk,
and the peltrios, after passing through
the hands Of frontier dealers, generally
found their way into Astor's warehouse
in Liberty street. Here they were sorted
with great care by his own hands, and
prepared iur foreign markets An Octo-
genarian merchant informed me that
calling once at Mr. Astor's store, he found
him in an upper loft clad in a long, coarse
wrapper, and engaged among his furs,
Il shall get for that, said he, holding up
the skin Of a splendid silver fox, forty
dollars, in st. Petersburg IL probably
cost him less than five dollars Astor
had no sooner gained position as
thrifty trader, than he took higher step
by induction into Free Masonry We
say higher step, not with view OF
glOriiying this institution, but because
at that time it was exceedingly popular
and aristocratic, and gave tone 10 citi-
zenship. Among the leading Free Ma
sons of New York were Peter Irving and
his brother William, Martin Hoffman, the
founder of the great auction business,
and father of the late l.. NJ. Hoffman,
Moving among these magnates John Ja-
cob AstOr became Grand Treasurer. Alr.
AstOr had brother of the same thrifty
turn, though not SO successful in aCquir-
ing wealth. He was a butcher by trade,
and slaughtered himself into pittance
of one hundred thousand dollars, which,
as he died early, he bequeathed to Will
liam b., his nephew. TO him that hath
shall be given Mr., Astor's oldest son
is said to have been a very promising
lad but hls brain became injured by
fall, and he soon fell into a state of de-
rangement. A private asylum was ar
ranged for his use years ago, and this,
with its grounds, covers an entire block
in the western part of the city.
Mr. Astor's profits rolled in upon him
at rate which no one could haYe
dreamed Of and he kept their amount
| secret until he had so penetrated the
frontier by his agencies that he controlled
| the whole trade when he occasionally
| acknowledged a degree of wealth which
| astonished those who heard. For in
! stance we may state this fact i'm illus
| tration: He had occasion at certain
| time 60 use a large amount Of cash, and
what was very rare with him, applied TO
| his bank for a heavy discount. The un-
usual circumstance and the sum demand
! ed startled the cashier, who in plain,
business way, put the question Mr..
Astor, how much do you consider your
self WORTH Not less than n mjHiol,' was
the reply. 4 million the cashier was
overwhelmed. He supposed that he
knew all his customers, and had rated
Astor's at hardly more than onc-tenth
OF that sum.
Mr.. Astor commenced at an early day
to buy real estate, and the habit grew
upon him until il became passion. lie
was for years leading character at
sheriff and other land sales, and it was
the commoncst thing at such places TO
hear the closing words of the auctiOncer /:
Last call--going going--gone-t John
Jacob AstOr' AT that time many large
estates were broken mp, and among others,
that of Aron Burr was pat into the mar
ket, and speedily became the property of
Mr.. Astor. ltembraced n small suburban
principalily, whose mansion, Richmond
Hill was BurrS country seat. The
whole property is now in the heart of
the city, and is worth millions, where
once it brought thousands. Mr. AstOr
boldly bought those wild lands, includ-
ing swamps, rocky knols, and barren
commons, which lay at waste from Canal
street onward TO Bloomingdale, and while
others affected to laugh at his judgment,
the correctness of that judgment is now
quite apparent A case similar in char
acter is that of the late eccentric iona
than Hunt. This man, who had accu-
mulated a vast fortune South, was quite
noted, few years ago, for his dashinP
land purchases in New York, and his
relatives actually served on hhn war
rant Rs hGj0tc0 iHgtTyeR3o, with a view OF
preventing him from wasting his estate
Subsequently, however, il turned out thai
these incessant purchases which had
made him q leading man at the Mrr.
HnAUih l4AtuAllkNs AlAA All ONItAN bl hiH
trust to his family, were splendid opera.
, tions. Poor Hunts bid was subsequent
ly refused by the auctiOneers, ON Tia,
| score of insanity, while the lots h,
bought on Madison avenue and elsewhere
. were, in fact, as speculations, superior {,
, the operations OF the most sagaciou
p spectators,
Astor's boldnoss increased with years
! He bought government loans at tim
I when other capitalists shrunk, and th
price had run down 10 the lowest mari,
lie bought claims against old estates
D one of which paid an enormous profit
e and would have been accounted a spien
i did fortune of itself-while the gradua
0 increase Of the city brought his vast
- lands into demand; and the opening O
c the Erie Canal may be said TO have q
e one stroke added a million Of dollars {
!, the value of his estate. Whatever wa
e bought was held with determined grasl
e however small the prospect OF adyanc
d For instance, friend of ours (noW deaC
10 purchased, in company with Mr.. Asto
'r two lots on Broadway, of which they tOo
ir separate deeds, aud held for an Adyanc
Di Year after year passed by, but no aC
ll vance appeared, while assessments we
y continually made for city improvement
At the end of this period our friend call,
ia on Mr., Astor and stated that he WI
IA weary Of such long delay in getting n
III turn for his investment and asked hI
}" Il he would not take the lot aud gi
'r' him its simple cost Mr. Aslcr calm
~ acceded 10 the proposal Had our lriel
held the same views as the great la
ss operator, he would have realized a foriu
from this single lot since what then e,