Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-07-18

far out in the country as Canal
street. When, within a few years,
the value of this purchase increased
ten-fold, Astor the First proved him
self to be wiser than all his genera
ton 4"
In fact, the allied Astor properties,
worth today more than $3vU, 200, 900,
were originally acquired for low
prices as farm lands or vacant lots.
Twenty-Five thousand dollars bought
the John Thompson farm, extending
from Thirty-fourth to Thirty-fifth
streets and from Madison avenue al
most to Broadway Although large
parcels of this land have been sold,
over one hundred lots still belong to
The Astors, with value, excluding
improvements, of from $4,000 to
$250,000 each. The old Leandert
farm on the lower East Side now
yields the estate a large yearly in
come as tenement property; about
100 lots, worth in the aggregate
10000, or more still remain of
the Greenwich Place farm land, which
once stretched from the old Fitz Roy
Road to the Hudson in the vicinity of
Fourteen street; and two smaller
farms to the north along Ninth and
Tenth avenues add over $50 lots more
10 the Astor holdings.
When "the butcher boy Of Waldorf"
bought the Eden farm, on the west
side of the Albany post road (now
Broadway from Forty-fourth to
Forty-seventh streets and to Ninth
avenue), he could not have foreseen
that it would become the center of
tn hotel and theatrical district Yet
had the city's growth extended only
up the east side, or up Fifth Avenue,
or along The Hudson, he left to his
heirs properties in those districts
that would have amply fulfilled his ex-
peCtations.
In addition to these farm lands
there were among the early pur
chases parcels of land on the Bowery
and chain of properties on Broad
way down town. Among the latter is
the old Aston b, use, perhaps the best
known hostelrv in America An
az using story is connected with the
erection of the old hotel 1t seems
that about seventy years ago, when
Astor had determined upon building,
he secured with little trouble all the
property necessary for his plans ex-
cept a small lot owned by retired
merchant named Coster, who though
he had been offered $40,00O-twice the
value of his holding-would hear of
no price, and refused to sell. There
followed a period of wrangling, during
which Astor, who was noted neither
for his easy temper nor his lack Of
resolution, vowed he would have the
land at any cost and offered Coster
100000. The latter weakened, but
not until Astor went in person to
Mrs. Coster and got her consent.
The genius and good fortune of the
original John Jacob Aston are for
chilly brought to mind when one con-
siders that today New York's total
realty is valued at the enormous sum
of S5,22L5S2,301, and Of this more
than five per cent is owned by his
descendants. 1t is notable, also, that
this family was not among the orig
fnaI or early settlers in ianhattan
When Astor came to America in
1888 names like Goelet, Rhinelander,
Barclay and Roosevelt, were, as now,
synonymous with wealth and realty
possessions. Today the Goelet es-
tate is valued at over one hundred
millions and embraces scattered
properties from the upper East Side
to the lower West Side Hannah
Goelet married an ancestor of FL
bridge T. Gerry and when the latter,
with all the wealth of property that
hal descended to him. married, his
wife, who was one of The heirs Of the
Hoffman estate brought a handsome
dowry in Manhattan realty.
The Hoffmans owe their millions