, 1875-11-27

E,ver waa Mr.. Aator. who vas no. Masou him.
seIf though hla fsshoz had been Al aostre man.
| bar Of the oIdnt.
nxoor1kcT1oss op Asron
william j: Astoria aidcet brother WAS \ person
Of eccentricites, and could not 30 trusted slouo
uis tutor was appointed hia guardian At hand
Homo haiAry and attended him nherovar he went,
lie whs ofton sery .ylolons in hia dealings with
| those With whom ho came IL contact ind bia
Huafrels with his guardian we're frequent. Tic
Wa secluded M from soc'ety - far ~ possible, and
Fourteenth btrnot and Ninth ayunne. md thare
| ho died few years ago.
william Il. Artor liyod for long time in It,
fsyatto place. In msnalon adjoining tho ABtor
| Library: Ho owned z, 600 houses and building
lots N this cty and l,ia total Haa recently ssti-
| mato1 1t el50 900 009.
Mr. Ansor had moro Imuroved roal estats than
1nT 7ir'. iour men IN the city, excluding William
nhihGIhnder' the Goels.a, A. T. BsswArt. And
tho Beekmans, Most OF tho large tenouont
ho'lacs around Tompkina square and aioug
tiFst avenue anil Avenues A aud u bololE
20 mo Aator estate, ~ also do wholo
nloeRs n Sixth asenne from Hi1tsonth street
aud the old Park Theatre worc on hls land. lIo
wsa al"ays ready to buy reaf cntate where he
could got Il cheap. 1t was his rule nevos to
to!l any Of liH houses or lots. 1lo leased tho
most Of hs lots for twauty-ono yeafs. with thu
stipulation that the lossee should build uh theu.
On tho expiration Of tho leAaea Tho buildings 70.
vertcd to lin with tito lots. The Astor House
was tho only INSTANCE iu which tie evor parted
With hta resl salato. Fer soma unexplained roa-
son be sold this placo to bis aon, john Jacob,
for 81.
8LF.INsCncD.
Mono OF William 3. Aator's property was tu-
sdred. Lie believed like afr, Bteuait that The
cost Of insurance would be creator then his
lossos. Tho tern,a Of hin fathor's will prohibited
tho building Of brown-stone houses, as ,hey
wore too eItravagant. He strictly abided by this
ru!o. and tho brown-atono houses that l,a owned
lie bought from others, s ticy reverted to him
on tho expiration OF 1aaacs. Tho most of tue
residences that ho bulk on Madison and Fifth
a'enues and Ihtrty-third aud Thirty-fousth
stone or brick With ssone trimmings. Mt. Astor
attended personally 70 the rental Of his real es.
tato, and was assisted By hin sous and agents.
Mr. y Mal!ocx and MI. Bruce. Hts otaco was ut
every day until very recently. lie retired NJ.
Bruce on pension.
In 1870 Ifr. Astor paid two million dollars
taxes on bis houses aud lots. Among tho places
t,,at M BE- b., owned outstde OF New York ia Green
THE AETon FAMILY.
sir. Astor nesez held public Office. His
whole lie vas Bpont In tho management of Lia
fortune. no leaves tbroe sous, John Jacob
business pursuit.
Henry. tho youngest sou, Inherited tho catato
OF his unclo. john Jacob. six yearB Ego. He
marrled the daughter Of poor farmer Ia barry
sNHhs NNE<AE0o tVn4kyy 4HAlQ8t Lu4 NlB0E9 Oh nI6
relatives. Bince bis marriage hu has retired to
aplace near Hudson. nad he raroly comes to tho
city, although the mort Of hls property Is hero,
The Aator cetass desconde 10 John Jacob. tho
eldest eon OF William B. To is about co years
old. and has ono Ron William.
:. 1t has boen the custom In tho Astor family for
shroe generations to deposit 9l00, ,000 In Iank At
the birth OF son or daughter, the n1onoy and
nc interest to 30 gtven to the child when he or
hlr. William D. Astor had throo daughters, tho
eldest of whom waa tho first vito Of Sam Ward.
Another was the vito Of Frank Delauo, of Grin-
nel' n aint1En q o.. and she third is married to
pr. John CateY- The Hon. John Winthrop Chan
ler married ono Of hta granddaughtors.
Mr. Aator Taa sharp aod oxactiuK in his busi-
ness dealinea. As bis friouds expressed il,
" When ho paid ont \ cent lp wanted a cent Ia
return" He WAS mol 80 prominent IN charitable
Works aa was hlH wife. who died few yaars
ago. Sho wss manager In snyeral charitable
institutions, and gaye away Il fortune among the
poor. She Was daughter Of Gon. Armstrong,
and vas related to t1s family OF Alexander uam-
ilton.
Aaron'H WEALTH.
Ftw porf Wortd, Eot. rs.
1t would be difficult to determlpo tbs exteot.
aud wholly impossible to determine the yauo,
Of his property. either taal OF personal. II
probably aggregates nearly e20o, ,00D, ,00y. Mr.
Astor paid moro ta1ea On Fenl ESTATE than any
other man In the eountrr. He paid annually a.
taxes % hs real property $500. 600, which ia
colleoted annually In this city. The assossed
value OF bis real estate understood 10 be Home
~. U0 COG, with probable actual value of some
$40, ,oooo ooo. He owned real estate in every
this city, and 1t was aaid Of him that in every
milo that Ae watknd or rode he passed BoIno
oatldiDgs oWnod by him. His possession Of real
property WAS confined almost excluaiyely to this
city. With tlle exception Of hiR county seat a
tract Of aome COO acres in tho Township Of Red
Hook, In this Btass, md {ew hundred acres OF 4
land in the West. which le took in payment OF
da9ts, About ono sixth Of his rsal estate Ia
locked up in long ioAaes, sone Of which aro exps-
Ing almost every day. while many will continue
!n full force aud effect for many Years to come.
HIS property Ia ali improved aud he does not
own anKo vacant lot, botoro tho War, Rroat |
deal OF 1t VAS unimproved. but about 1861 ho be-
gao the policy, which has since bcoa faithfully
carried out Of building - rapidly "a pogs,bls,
and Of toaring down old rookories aud putting !
~ E!alI but substantial busincss structures OF |
ln accordance with the character
u the locality. In Al! hla buildings be has OK
4lbsted tLAt p!ainne8a aud simplicity that hayo |
the man aud tho family. At /
9ne time ho Owned considerable property ON I
BroadwaF which he has. however, gradually
,old. The larger part at hia real estate la 10 !
he si1s.enth, Twenty first, mud Tuonty. second
Yards. lle Ii An extensive owner Of property |
1tonx tho Douory. through Thirty fourth 8treot,
10Th oast aud west. aud along Fifth Sixth, and I
Eighth avenues. Tbs only. two potable built
lstoT Library, tho latter Of which Is hold by the
rr,stecs Of tho library In trust for tho purposes
10 the trust doed executed BY Limssif
md hia tAthee. In apms etreets be has built Of
ecsns Tests d"alling-ho Of Portland stone,
Foila the ordinary rod brick has been uaed for
'uildinge geintendod for business purposes.
During the past few yeArB l,o has not bought
eal estate 80 largely. but has principally beon
uHagad tn building Or exchanging. In nlmoat
7aty volume Of recorded deeds at the Hecord-
re ohlce the name Ut A1tor o,ourb conBpiouous-
y, both In regard to the trAnates Of single lots
nd Of whole blocks Of property. It occura fre-
uantly. alao, in tho trAnster Of property as
usrdian III tha Langdon aud other large estates,
howinR that not Gully was ho engaged IN opera
ions Affecting bts own property, but acting tn
representative capacity IN regard to property
eloDgipp to others. He was also heaylly
aterested In I'll tha railroads running out from
Lis esty IN all directions. ue was T. los.l,uE
tockho!dor !n tue Nov York Genital. tho uar-
i'm i Now Haven. the Hudson Hiyor tho New
orsoy Central. tue Transportation Company OF
low JorsoY. aud IN largo numbar Of other rail-
aAd companies. lie has refused for 1pauy yea.s
, become = Director in any OF tho ruads. but lis