Woodward Daily Democrat (Woodward, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 161, Ed. 1 Saturday, March 12, 1910 Page: 3 of 4
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John Jacob asm,
TJkezMns*
hr Elb&ct Hubbard
h V1'
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lu^on^
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JHN JACOB AS-
lor ru bora of a
Dutch family that
had migrated
down to Haldol-
bar* from Ant-
werp. Through
hm airnnga freak
of atarlam the fa-
ther of the boy bred hack and wan
more or let* of a atone age cave
dweller He waa a butcher by
trade, in the little town of Waldorf,
a few mllee from Heidelberg. A
butcher'a bualneaa then waa to
travel around and kill the pet pig
or ebeep or cow that the tender-
hearted owaera dare not harm. The
butcher waa a pariah, a aort of un-
official Indualrial hangman.
John Jacob Aator waa the young-
eat of four aona and aa many daugh-
tara. The brother* ran away early
In life and went to aea or Joined
the army. One of theae boya came
to America and followed blafatber'a
trade of butcher.
Jacob Aator, the happy father of
John Jacob, uaed to take the boy
with him on hia pig killing expedi-
tion*. This for two reaaona—one.
eo the lad would learn a trade, and
the other to make aure that the boy
did not run away.
The paator of the local Lutheran
church took pity on tbia boy, who
had aurh dlaguat for hla father'*
trade, and hired him to work In hla
garden and run erranda.
Under the kindly care of the vil-
lage parson John Jacob grew In
mind and body—hia eatate waa to
com* later. When he waa 17 hia fa-
ther came to the paraonage and
mad* a formal demand for hia ser-
vlcea. The young man muat take
up bla fatber’a work of butchering.
Jacob walked out of Waldorf by the
moon, headed for Antwerp.
if'
a
m
tS?*’
m
H9ts eswvy orrm/ro tw /We1 ZfooM.r
WC- oeevwvw—
That night John
wan light of the
*-*■«*. w. “•*
He reached Antwerp in a week. There he got a
Job on the dock* aa a laborer. Tha next day be waa
promoted to checker-off. The captain of a ahlp naked
him to go to London and flgur* up th* manlfeat* on the
way. He went
The captain of th* ehlp recommended him to th*
company in London and the boy waa piling up wealth at
the rate of a guinea a month.
In September, 1783, came the new* to London that
George Washington bad aurrendered. In any event
peace had been declared—Cornwallla had forced the
toaue, ao the American* had atopped fighting.
A little later It waa given out that England had
given up her American colon lea and they were free.
Intuitively John Jacob Aator felt that the “new world”
waa the place for him. He bought paaaage by a Bailing
ahlp bound for Baltimore, at a coat of five pound*. He
then faatened live pound* In a belt around hla waiat and
with the reat of hla money—after aendlng two pound*
bom* to hla father, with a letter of love—bought a doxen
German flute*.
He had learned to play on tbla instrument with pro-
ficiency and In America he thought there would be an
opening for musician* and musical Instrument*.
John Jacob waa then nearly 20 yeara of age.
On board ahlp be met a German. 20 yeara older than
himself, who waa a fur trader and had been home on a
visit. John Jacob played the flute and the German friend
told stories of fur trading among the Indiana.
Young Aator'* curiosity waa excited. The Waldorf-
Aatorla plan of flute playing was forgotten. He fed on
fur trading.
Arriving In Baltimore, be was disappointed to learn
that there were no fur traders there. He started tor
New York.
There he found work with a certain Robert Bowne,
a Quaker, who bought and sold furs.
Young Astor set himself to learn the business—every
part of It. He waa always sitting on the doorstep before
the owner, carrying a big key to open the warehouse,
got around In the morning. He was the last to leave
at night.
The qualities that make a youth a good servant are
the basic ones for mastership. Astor's alertness, will-
ingness. loyalty and ability to obey delivered hla em-
ployer over Into hla bands.
Robert Bowne, the good old Quaker, Insisted that
Jacob should call him Robert, and from boarding the
young man with a nearby war widow who took cheap
boarder*. Bowne took young Aator to bla own house
and raised hla pay from 82 a week to 88.
Bowne had made an annual trip to Montreal for many
years. Montreal was the metropolis for furs. Bowne
went to Montreal himself because he did not know of
anyone he could trust to carry the message to Garcia.
Young Aator had been with Bowne only a year. He
spoke Imperfect English, but he did not drink or gamble
and he knew furs and waa honest.
Bowne started him off for Canada with a belt full
of gold; bla only weapon waa a German flute that he
carried In hla band.
John Jacob Aator ascended the Hudson liver to Al-
banyJand then with pack on hla back struck north, alone,
through the forest for Lake Champlain. Aa he ap-
proached an Indian settlement he played hla flute. Th*
aborigines showed no disposition to give him the book.
He hired Indiana lo paddle him up to the Canadian bor-
der. He reached Montreal.
The fur traders there knew Bowne aa a very sharp
buyer and ao bad their quills out on hla approach. But
young Aator waa seemingly Indifferent Hla manner waa
courteous and easy. He got close to hla man and took
bla pick of th* pelts at fair prices. He expended all of
bla money and even bought on credit for there are men
who always have credit
Young Astor found Indian nature to be almply human
nature. The savage was a man and courtesy, gentleneaa
and fairly good flute playing soothed hla savage breast
Aator bad beads and blankets, a flute and a smile. Th*
Indiana carried hla goods by relays and then passed him
on with guttural certificate* as to character to other
rad men and at last be reached New York without the
loaa of a pelt or th* dampening of hla ardor.
Bowne was delighted. To young Astor It was noth-
ing. He had In hla blood the succeea corpuscle.
Hs might have remained with Bowne and become a
partner la tha buslassa, but Bowne had business list
m
i
jncirrM-
mw iwrsdir.
£
tatlona and Aator hadn't.
Hence, after a three yeara* apprenticeship, Aator
knew all that Bowne did and all be himself could Imaff-
Ine besides. Bo he resigned.
In 1788 John Jacob Aator began business on bla own
account on Water street. New York
Aator bad mad* friends with th* Indiana up the Hud-
son clear to Albany and they were acting aa recruiting
agents for him.
Having collected several thousand dollars' worth of
fura, he shipped them to London and embarked as a pas-
senger In the steerage.
In London fura were becoming a fad. Aator sorted
and sifted his buyers, as he had bla sklna. He himself
dressed In a suit of fur and thus proved hla ability as
an advertiser. He picked bla men and charged all the
traffic would bear. All of the money he received for his
skins he Invested In “Indian goods"—colored cloth,
beads, blankets, knives, axes and musical Instruments.
Hla was the first store In New York that carried a
stock of musical Instruments. Theae he sold to savage*
and also he supplied the stolid Dutch the best of every-
thing In this particular line, from a baxoo to a Stradi-
vari us.
When he got back to New York he at once struck out
through the wilderness to buy furs of the Indians, or,
better still, to Interest them in bringing furs to him.
He knew the value of friendship In trade aa no man
of the time did.
In 1790 John Jacob Astor married Sarah Todd. Her
mother was a Brevoort and It was brought about by
her coming to Astor to buy furs with which to make
herself a coat. Her ability to Judge furs and make them
up brought young Astor Into “the best Dutch New York
society,” a combination that was quite as exclusive then
as now.
This marriage was a business partnership as well as
marital, and proved a success In every way. Sarah was
a worker, with all the good old Dutch qualities of pa-
tience. persistence, industry and economy. When her
husband went on trips she kept store.
Capt. Cook had skirted the Pacific coast from Cap*
Horn to Alaska and had brought to the attention of the
fur dealing and fur wearing world the sea otter of the
northern Pacific. He also gave a psychological pro-
phetic glimpse of the Insidious 'sealskin sack.
In 1790 a ship from the Pacific brought a hundred
otter skins to New York. The skins were quickly sold
to I,ondon buyers at exorbitant prices.
The nobility wanted sea otter, or "royal American
ermine,” as they called It. The scarcity boomed the
price. 8hips were quickly fitted out and dispatched.
Astor encouraged these expeditions, but at first In-
vested no money In them, as he considered them “extra
hazardous.’’ He was not a speculator.
Until the year 1800 Astor lived over hla store In
Water street, but he then moved to the plain and modest
house at 223 Broadway, on the site of the old Astor house.
Here he lived for 28 yeara.
The fur business was simple and very profitable.
In 1800 Aator owned three ships, which he had bought
so as absolutely to control his trade. Ascertaining that
London dealers were reshlpplng fura to China, early In
the century he dispatched one of bis ships loaded with
furs directly to the orient, with explicit written Instruc-
tions to th* captain as ts what the cargo ahould be sold
for. The money was to be Invested In teas and silks.
The ship sailed away and had been gone a year.
No tidings had come from her.
Suddenly a messenger cam* with the news that the
ship was In the bay. We can Imagine the interest of
Mr. and Mrs. Aator as they locked their store and ran
to the Battery. Bure enough. It waa their ship.
The profit on this voyage was 870,000.
By 1810 John Jacob Astor was worth 82.000.000. He
began to Invest all hls surplus money In New York real
estate. He bought acreage property In the vicinity of
Canal street. Next be bought Richmond Hill, the estate
of Aaron Burr. It consisted of 1(0 acres Just about
Twenty-third street. He paid for the land* a thousand
dollars an acre People said Astor waa crasy.
In ten years he began to sell lots from th* Richmond
Hill property at the rat* of 88.000 an acre. Fortunately
for hls estate, he did not sell much of th* land at this
price, for It Is this particular dirt that makes up that
vast property known aa “tbs Aator estats.”
During tbs revolutionary war Roger Morris of Put-
nam county, N. Y.. mads tbs mistake of siding with th*
Tori** and expressing hlmsslf too freely, a mob col-
lected and Morris and bla family escaped, taking ship to
Bnglaad.
:r
S' f: L
ft f i,L
• i
note.
AKTAMie/*
w
Roger Morris is
known In history as
the man who mar-
ried Mary Philips*.
And this lady lives
In history because
she had the felicity
of having been pro-
posed to by George
Washington. The
lady pleaded for
time, which the fa-
ther of hls country
declined to give. A
small quarrel fol-
lowed and Georg*
saddled hls hors*
and rode on his way
to fame and fortuno.
Just 22 years after this bout with Cupid Gen. Georg*
Washington, commander-in-chief the contlnen al
army, occupied the Roger Morris mansion as headquar-
ters. the occupants having fled. It waa Washington who
formally confiscated th* property and turned It over to
the state of New York as contraband of war.
The Morris estate of about 60.000 acres was parceled
out and sold by the state of New York to settlers.
It seems, however, that Roger Morris had only a Hf*
Interest in the estate and this was a legal point so fin*
that It was entirely overlooked In th* Joy of confiscation.
John Jacob Astor accidentally ascertained the facta.
He was convinced that the heirs could not be robbed of
their rights through the acts of a leaseholder, which,
legally, was the status of Roger Morris. Astor was a
good real estate lawyer himself, but he referred the point
to the best counsel he could find. They agreed with
him. He next hunted up the heirs and bought their quit-
claims for 8100,000.
He then notified the parties who had purchased tha
land and they In turn made claim upon the state for
protection.
After much legal parleying the case was tried accord-
ing to stipulation, with the state of New York directly
as defendant and Astor and the occupants as plaintiffs
Daniel Webster and Martin Van Buren appeared for the
state and an array of lesser legal lights for Astor. The
case was narrowed down to the plain and simple point
that Roger Morris was not the legal owner of the estate
and that the rightful heirs could not be made to suffer
for the “treason, contumacy and contravention" of an-
other. Astor won and as a compromise the state issued
him 20-year bonds bearing six per cent. Interest for th*
neat sum of 8600.000.
Astor took a deeb Interest In the Lewis and Clark
expedition. He went to Washington to see Lewis and
questioned him at great length about the northwest.
Washington Irving has told the story of Astoria at
length. It was the one financial plunge taken by John
Jacob Astor.
And In spite of the fact that It failed the whole affair
does credit to the prophetic brain of Astor.
“This country will see a chain of growing and pros-
perous cities straight from New York to Aatorla, Ore-
gon." aald this man In reply to a doubting questioner.
He laid hla plans before congress, urging a line of
army posts, 40 miles apart, from the western extremity
of Lake Superior to the Pacific. “These forts or army
posts will evolve Into cities," said Astor, when he called
on Thomas Jefferson, who was then president of the
United States Jefferson was Interested, but non-com-
mittal. Astor exhibited maps of the great lakea and th*
country beyond. He urged with a prescience then not
possessed by any living man that at the western extrem-
ity of Lake Superior would grow up a great city. Yet
la 1878 Duluth was ridiculed by the caustic tongue of
Proctor Knott, who asked. “What will become of Duluth
when the lumber crop Is cut?"
Then Astor proceeded to say that another great city
would grow up at the southern extremity of Lake Michi-
gan. Gen. Dearborn, secretary of war under Jefferson,
had Just established Fort Dearborn on the present site
of Chicago. Astor commended this and said. “From a
fort you get a trading poet and from a trading post you
will get a city.”
He pointed out to Jefferson on hla map of the site
the Falls of St Anthony. “There you will have a fort
some day, for, wherever there Is water power there will
grow up mills for grinding grain and sawmills as well.
This placs of power will have to be protected and ao
you will have there a poet, which will eventually be
replaced by a city.” Yet Fort Snelllng was nearly 60
years In th* future and 8L Paul and Minneapolis were
dreams undreamed.
tefferson took time to think about It and then wrote
Aator: “Your beginning of a city on th* western coast Is
a greet acquisition and I look forward to a tlms whoa
oar popul*"oa will spread Itself up aad down along tbs
whole Pacific frontage, unconnected with us excepting by
ties of blood and common Interest—and enjoying. Ilk*
us. the rights of self-govennent.”
A company was formed and two expeditions set out
for the mouth of th* Columbia river, one by land aad
the other by sea.
The land expedition barely got through alive—It was
a perilous undertaking, with accidents by flood and field.
But the route by the water was feasible.
The town was founded and soon became a center of
commercial activity. Had Astor been on th* ground to
take personal charge a city like Seattle would have
bloomed and blossomed on th* Pnclflc 60 years ago. '
There cam* a grand grab at Astoria and It was each
for himself and th* devil take the hlndermost; It waa a
stamped*. System and order went by the board. Th*
strongest stole the most, as usual, but all got a little.
And England's gain In citizens was our loss.
Aator lost a million dollars by the venture. He smiled
calmly and said, “The plan waa right, but my men war*
weak; that Is all. Th* gateway to China will be from
the northwest. My plana were right Tim* will vindi-
cate my reasoning."
When the block on Broadway bounded by Vessy and
Barclay streets was cleared of its plain two-story
bouses, preparatory to building th* Astor house, wise
men shook their heads and said, “It's too far up town.”
But the free 'bus that met all boats solved the diffi-
culty and gave the cue to hotel men all over the world.
Astor was worth ten million, but he took a personal de-
light In sitting In the lobby of the Astor house and
watching the dollars roll Into this palace that hls brain
had planned.
i
Astor was tall, thin and commanding In appearance.
He had only one hallucination and that was that he
spoke the Egllsh language. The accent he poaseased at
30 was with him In all Its pristine effulgence at 85. “No-
pody vould know I vas a Cherman—alnd't it?” he used
to say. Yet where John Jacob wrote It was English with-
out a flaw. *
In all of bis dealings he was uniquely honorable and
upright He paid and he made others pay. His word
was his bond. He was not charitable In the sense of
indiscriminate giving. “To give something for nothing
Is to weaken the giver.” was one of his favorite sayings.
That this attitude protected a m^erly spirit It is easy
to say. but It is not wholly true. In his later years he
carried with him a book containing a record of hla
possessions. He would visit a certain piece of property
and then turn to hls book and see what It had cost him
ten or twenty years before. To realize that hls pro-
phetic vision had been correct was to him a great source
of satisfaction.
Hls habits were of the best. He went to bed at nine
o'clock and waa up before six. At seven he was at bis
office. He knew enough to eat sparingly and to walk, ao
he was never sick. Millionaires, as a rule, are woefully
Ignorant. Up to a certain sum, they grow with their
acquisitions. Then they begin to wither at the heart.
The care of a fortune is a penalty. I advise the gentle
reader to think twice before accumulating ten millions.
John Jacob Astor was exceptional In hls combined
love of money and love of books. Flts-Green Halleck
was hls private secretary, hired on a basis of literary
friendship. Washington Irving was a close friend, too.
Astor died, aged 86. It waa a natural death—a thine
that very seldom occurs. The machinery all ran down
at once.
William B. Aator, the son of John Jacob, was brought
up In the financial way he should go. He was studious,
methodical, coonservatlve, and had the good sens* to
carry out the wishes of hls father. Hls son. John Jacob
Astor. waa very much like him, only of more neutral
tint. The tlms Is now ripe for another genius In th*
Astor family. If William B. Astor lacked the courage
and Initiative of hls psrent, he had more culture and
spoke English without an accent. The son of John
Jacob Astor, second. Is William Waldorf Astor, who
speaks English with an English accent, you know.
John Jacob Astor, besides haring the first stor* tor
the sale of musical Instruments In America, organized
the first orchestra of over 12 players. He brought over
a leader from Germaany and did much to foster the love
of music in the New World.
Every worthy Maocaenas Imagines that hs Is a great
painter, writer, sculptor or musician, side tracked by
cares thrust upon him by unkind fat*. John Jacob As-
tor once told Washington Irving that It was only busi-
ness responsibility that prevented hla being a novelist;
and at other times he declared hls Intent to take up
music as a profession aa soon as he had gotten all of
his securities properly tied up. And. whether be worked
out hls dreams or not, there Is no doubt but that they
added to hls peace, happiness and length of days. Happy
Is th* man who escapes th* critics by leaving hla libr-
ary masterniscs la the Ink.
•____ihm
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Woodward Daily Democrat (Woodward, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 161, Ed. 1 Saturday, March 12, 1910, newspaper, March 12, 1910; Woodward, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc848501/m1/3/?q=wichita+falls: accessed June 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.