The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-30

eNents. thcrc Is n good portion Of these regis
tors Ut the French refugees extRnt to-day.
abstracts ot which are now being printed
by the German Hugurnut Society. From my
own examination aud that o! friends there
appears TO he no entry OF the name
OF AstorG IN any u til" French churches near
Heidelberg AZ the close Of the seventeenth
century. /. Is moSt siEancaut, this lack Of
mention Of any such important parsonage as
Jean Jacques G'Astorg. grandson of u Marshal
OF France, and son Of a Count and great terri
tora scigneur. rs alleged by Mr. William
Waldorf Aston. Going upon this lack of mon
ton Of an ASiorB among the real French refu-
goes around Heidelberg. | proceeded to ex.
anime the German records since 1888 to form
some estimate as to the anteccdcnts OF tho
Astors from the trace of those still existing
Tn" alleged line from Jean Jacques d'Astorg
OF Nussioch to John Jacob Aston of New York
is through son Felix tho first to become
plain Astor). who. born at Nussloch in 1913.
went to the adjoining Waldorf to live and do
and become progenitor OF limo Of Astors there.
including his son Johann Jacobs son, the
cmiGrant 10 America.
Nussoch. some ten or fifteen miles south OF
Heidelberg. is ono OF the many fascinating
little villages cIinging to the dark. wooded side
Of the Obcrwald Seen at a distance. all the
weird poetry and legend Of the Black Forest
with Fri kings and wild Jagers seem hanging
over them. When seen near by. they are. how
ever. very prOsaic and monOtonous. Little
Nussloch like all the valley around It, was
RACED to the ground only two centuries ago.
OF course. it Is all comparatively modern.
Still the village has its little flavor Of antiquity
At distance 1t is crowned by the steeple of the
Catholic church. which. though modern. has
few ancient tombs preserved. those Of the local
barons. The present representative Of the lords
OF Nussloch for centuries past sits in his bower
adJourning. while his farm hands harvest the
product OF his estate stretching down the
Slopes OF the Obcrwald. / found the baron
profoundly ignorant Of any such family in his
own ancestral village as the d Astorgs.
My guido and myself then applied to the
local authorities. II requires inquiry from
house to tavern. from tavern to shop. from
shop to field. before the bury young representa-
tive OF local law appears with shiny face only
to tell us that the civil records OF Nussl och do
not even go back of the nineteenth century,
and that the Lutheran pastor is the man to
apply to for more ancient lore.
by happy chance as wo cross the meadow
We meet the Nussloch pastor and his family
returning from the station. He oblginGly
promises to look up all the Aston entries in his
record. which. however, only begins in 1858.
and SO cannot have the birth OF Felix Astor.
much less the marriage Of the alleged Jean
Jacques d'Astorg." The next dav received u
brief note from the pastor saying he had dis
covered the entry of the deccase OF Jean J.
d'Astor " on the 2nd of April. I'LL as printed
in the Pau Mali Magazine. | again visited
Nussloch and personally examined the real
entry found to my surprise that it was de-
void Of any French flavor whatever 1t reads
literally thus:
"EH, denA mot 2d) april. Johann Jacob As
tor d"s Gemeinen GTichtes "nd KWchea AteS'p'
der ref Gemeinde ISL der rerschiede u,,d at
'rorden IL Jdhre mOnats und d tage."
This may be translated:
"1:Ii, AprHA. John Jacob AStOr member Of
the rildOe councH and e,der Of the Retor1ned
Chrch died dgedL7 gears emOutts and GddVS."
1t was. in fact the entry Of a peaceful Ger
man villager in what was probably his native
place. and suggested nothing in the least
French or titled. This record is all about the
Astors which Nussloch has TO offer but Prof.
Boegtlngk OF Carlsruhc. advised me to cx-
anime the entry OF the marriage Of the son
Felix Aston at Waldorf, where an accurate de-
scription OF the social status OF the father
ought to be found Waldorf claims TO be more
ancient than Heidelberg itself. but It is to- day
largely dominated by various reminders OF the
great modern episode in its annals. to wit:
that on the 18th OF July 1853. in the neat little
One-story stone house on corner OF the main
street. there was born to the village butcher.
one John Jacob Aston. a son Of the same name.
who went over seas and became immensely
wealthy and famous. The emigrant son
never forgot his native village He en-
dowcd 1t with handsome asylum. which IS
to-day its most prominent feaMre. In return
the village green beneath the old square
church tower is shared BY two loca! m"m"n-
81,
Waldorf soldiers who fell in the war of 1901.
and bust of the famous butchers son. l
found the pastor Of Waldorf in the end as
obliging as his brother of Nussloch but
at fl rst very retirent and suspicious. lie
has tho Aston family gencalogy. 60 far
as Waldorf is concerned all copied out
from tho records. lie also seemed very
jealous Of anything antIpathetc to the local
hero and his kith and kin Walldorf-which il
in Germany spelled with two Is. not onc-is
full Of AstorS to-day. Eventually the pastor
gave mo ccrtiGcatcd copy Of the special entry
| wanted. that OF the marriage Of Felix Aston.
grandfather Of the cmigrant John Jacob. and
son ~ the Aston of Nussloch. This entry proved
very impCrtant evidence 1t reads rs follows
in the book OF marriages:
"Jahrgong i5L!, he" s5J"ni Feljr Aston. DIES
Johann Jdko6 AStorS ge'rrSeneu Baucrsmnnnes
und ZiegL7,S IN NWSSioch hHtcridSSrner chr
licher soLu mud Era Doro'hcd DIES Jphdu, Mar
tin F1'pu,dts QercSrnpn G~IchtSUdnueS md
ZoLn~s hntcriaSSe,P HiHib."
This may be translated thus:
Year l;rS IpiiJ Aston legHunnt" son OfJobn
Jacob Aston. prdSnUt and tier Of NrSS'ord de-
ceased and Era DorofhPd. ,rido'" ~ J0iH Mar
tin Fre,tndt. n,rDLrr orhc village Council and
toll gaiIerrr, dr"edS"d.'
Here We have set forth the exact social
status Of the alleged Jean jacques d'Astorg Of
Nu-Soch.
Tho pedigree as printed in the PHH NdR Nag
nziur puts this marriage in tn" year lIi,'. M
teen years after III" birth of their son. the
butcher A-trr tho father % John Jacob, Tho
young widow. Iva p1r"thcA, was the natural
granddaughter Oft tn" New York. cmiGrant.
Here Nc have all the essential points which
the German records can supply. DR.. Won
Wc"ch, III" ErNprr ot the Sta'" archives at
Car,sruno. kindly caused a search 10 lac maxi"
among tine papers v"lntinG to Nussoch and
Waldorf. bu; nothing resulted EXCEPT that
Fr!iy A-tor was living Al Waldorf in lI2i and