New-York tribune., 1920-01-10
AstOrs to Sell
Tracts Valued
At $6,000,OO0
Times Square Holdings of
Forgotten Heir, Cut Off
for Marrying Daughter of
Farmer, to Go at Auction

The extensive holdings of the late
henry Astor. forgotten grandson of the
FOUNDER OF the Astor fortune, virtually
os,raclzed because he married farm
er's daughter, are to be sold at public
auction early in March. Compris-
ing ISL parcels, among which are
three theaters-the Astor, Bijou and
the Morosco on Broadway and Forty
NTH Street-sixty private three and
four story dwellings, thirty-six tene-
ment houses, thirty-three parcels of
land under lease on which there are
tenements and dwellings,; seven fac
tories and number of lots, all in the
Times Square section and adjacent
nelghborhoods to the west. the auction
sale viii be the largest and most in
terestlng from many standpoints that
has ever been held in this city. These
properties are valued at $4,000 900.
The decision Of the trustees of the
estate of Henry Astor, reached last
precipitated the action of Vincent
Astor and his cousin, Captain John
Jacob Astor, in disposng of valuable
properties in the Wall Street district
and on Broadway.
The decision represented the first
break in family custom nearly as old
suit asking for the partition of the
property of Uncle Henry, as he was
known to the present Astor family,
was regarded by real estate men at
first as a formality prescribed by a
condition of the trustee agreement
that the realty would pass to the
heirs. This opinion has since changed
because Of the action of Vincent Astor
in selling his holdings. The opinion
and Joseph P. Day undertake the liqui-
dation of the property in the Vesey
Street auction room next March all Of
the properties will go to buyers other
than Astors.
The realty of Henry Astor covers
what was once the Eden farm, a fertile
and valuable property which extended
from Broadway and Forty second Street
m northwesterly direction to the
| Hudson River.
John Jacob Astor, grandfather of
Henry Astor, got it for 1000 in 1897
from Medref Eden, an Englishman, who
had inherited the property. Nh. Astor
had bought an interest in it from Eden,
which he later foreclosed
Heirs of Eden living in England came
to New York and appea led to the courts
and for twenty years the case went un-
settled. Mr.. Astor finally bought off
the heirs for $4,000. The farm prop
erty is conservatively valued at $40,-
100000.
Henry Astor, who was the favorite
of his grandfather, was given the
greater part of this farm while still a
child His father, William B. Astor,
cut him off in 1871 when he married
Malverina Dinehart, daughter Of q
gardener on his fathers estate at
Annandale, near Rhinebeck, N. Y. The
marriage is understood to have cost
him about $25,0o0,000, because he was
the favorite Of his father until he
married the farmer girl. He estab-
at Copake, in the hills of Columbia
County, back of Hudson and overlook
ing the Hudson River.
Mr. Astor lived there unknown to So
ciety until he died, in 1918, when it was
announced that he was member Of
the widely known New York family.
His friends in Columbia County were
not aware of the connection. He died
leaving will which provided for his
wife during her life, and turned back
to the Astors the property which had
been set aside for him by his grand
father, John Jacob Astor 1st.
The trustceship established in 1869,
two years before his marriage, placed
his holdings in the hands of two of his
three brothers, and another provided a
quarterly return to him. For forty
nine years check arrived every three
months. Mr.. Astor placed them in his
/ desk and left them there. His failure
TO deposit the checks caused the trust
company considerable trouble, since it
was not sure when he would bring
them out and demand his money.
The proceeds from the sale Of the
157 parcels in the estate will be di-
vided among his relatives. Vincent
Astor and his sister Murel will share
in the money obtained from the sale.