The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1940-03-28
WIDOW OF JOHN
]. ACTQR DIES
tcontlnued fron Page d


The disaster was d shock from
which the bride, then with child,
did not recover for years, her friends
said. Later she married and d.
vorced william X. Dick, and In 1888
she married Fiermonte, who had
been niddleweight boxing champion
Of italy.
Fiermonte, who interrupted his
honeymoon to go in training for a
fight he hoped to get with "Slapsie"
Make Rosenbloom, light heavyweight
champion, said that his wife was 40
and he was 26 at the time Of their
marriage, but that he didn't care if
she were million. According to
that figure, Mrs. F,iermonte was AZ
at the time Of her death.
FlermOnte Home Discord
Discord first enterd the Fiermonte
household year after the marriage
and there was long series Of sep
arations and reconciliationS. He
piled the country from Hollywood to
swanky Newport and Palm Beach
for a time, then went to Italy In
1885 without his wife. The italian
government forbade him to leave
the country, but he surmounted that
obstacle in time, returned to Amer
lea and then took his wife back to
Italy for visit. There she met the
first Mrs. Fiermonte, whom her
husband had divorced in 1888 and
1t was reported that there was a
financial settlement on Mrs. Fier-
monte No. / and her child.
The first Mrs. Fiermonte was not
appeased, however, and pursued her
former husband and his new wife
into France when they continued
from italy to the French Riviera for
second honeymoon"
The romance continued its rocky
course for three more years, until
Mrs. Fiermonte ended it in a Florida
divorce court.
AstOrs Notable Family
The AstorS were one of the notable
families of early American history.
The founder of the American
branch, the original John Jacob
Aston, landed in New York in
March, 1874, soon after the Revolu-
tionary war, steerage passenger
from England with $25 cash and
seven flutes. He started a music
business and married Sarah Todd,
of the prominent Brevoort family
who brought him a $500 dowry.
With that he branched into the fur
business.
The fur business prospered, but
historians of those times doubted
that it accounted for the 100000
estate Aston had accumulated by
1901 and there was popular legend
that Astor had found a treasure
chest hidden by the Pirate Captain
Kidd In a cave in his Deer Island,
Me-, estate. 1t was further reported
that some of Captain Kidd's loot
found its way to London jewelrs
about that time and that traces of
a treasure chest had been found in
the Deer Island cave.
Bulk of Aston Fortune
The bulk of the Aston fortune,
estate. The first John Jacob Astor,
however, developed later from real
foreseeing the growth of New York
City, bought up what then were
country fields above the city proper,
which today are the Greenwich
Village, Times Square, Columbus
Circle, Grand Central, Murray Hill
and Harlem districts. He bought the
great estate of Governor Clinton for
$4,000; the Cosine Farm, now a
large midtown section, for $4,000;
tho Dinhp,oi,d IP;II die+x.;o+ fro,,,
Aaron Burr for 100000. These dis
tricts now are worth millions.
When he died in 1848, Astor left
his family $30,0O0000, the greatest
fortune In America. His closest
rivals were the Goelet and Stewart
families with not more than $2,000,-
600 each.
wetaoin etaoin acknowledgements
Through five generations, the AS
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