MR. WILLIAM B. ASTOR would be unknown to fame were it not for two things.
First, he is "the son of his father," the famous John Jacob Astor.
Second, he is the richest citizen of the United States. In other
respects, he is a plain, unpretending man, who attends closely to his own
business, and cares nothing for notoriety.
Mr. Astor is the second son of John Jacob Astor, and is about
seventy-three years old. He was born in New York, in an old-fashioned
brick house which stood on the southern corner of Broadway and Vesey
street, a site at present covered by the Astor House. He received a
careful education, and upon leaving college was sent by his father to
travel through Europe. Upon his return he went into business with his
father, and it is said was even more thrifty and energetic in the
management of their affairs than the old gentleman himself. The severe
affliction of his elder brother made him the principal heir of his
father's vast estate, but he lost no opportunity of bettering his own
condition, and at the death of the elder Astor, he was worth about
$6,000,000 of his own. About $500,000 of this he had inherited from his
uncle Henry Astor, a wealthy butcher of New York. His father left him
the bulk of his fortune, which made him the richest man in America, and
since then he has devoted himself with great success to increasing the
amount of his possessions. His wealth is variously estimated at from
$60,000,000, to $100,000,000. No one but the fortunate possessor can
tell the exact amount. The greater part of this is invested in real
estate, much of which is very profitable. A large part, however, is
unimproved, and brings in no immediate return. Mr. Astor, however, can
afford to wait, and as there is no better judge of the prospective value
of real estate in New York, he rarely makes a mistake in his purchases.
He invests cautiously, allows others to improve the neighborhoods in
which his property lies, and reaps the benefit of their labors.
In person Mr. Astor is tall and heavily built, with a decided German
look, a dull, unintellectual face, and a cold, reserved manner. He is
unlike his father in many of his personal traits. He lives very simply.
His residence is a plain, but substantial-looking brick mansion in
Lafayette Place, adjoining the Astor Library. He is not very sociable,
but the entertainments given at his house are said to be among the
pleasantest and most elaborate to be met with in the city. Those who
know the family, however, give the credit of this to Mrs. Astor, an
amiable and accomplished lady, and one eminent for her good deeds.
Mr. Astor attends to his own business. His office is in Prince street,
just out of Broadway. It is a plain one-story building, very different
from the offices of most of the rich men of the metropolis. At ten
o'clock Mr. Astor makes his appearance here. It is no slight task to
manage so vast an estate, and to direct all its affairs so that they
shall be continually increasing the capital of the owner. There is
scarcely a laborer in the city who works harder than the master of this
office. He transacts all business connected with his estate, and is as
cold and curt in his manner as can well be imagined. He wastes neither
words nor time, and few persons find him an agreeable man to deal with.
He is perfectly informed respecting every detail of his vast business,
and it is impossible to deceive him. No tenant can make the slightest
improvement, change, or repair in his property without Mr. Astor's
consent, except at his own expense. He is accessible to all who have
business with him, but he sees no one else during his working hours. At
four o'clock he leaves his office, and sets out for home on foot. He
rarely rides, this walk being his principal exercise. He is hale and
hearty in constitution, looks much younger than he really is, and will
doubtless live to be fully as old as his father was at the time of his
death.
Mr. Astor is not regarded as a liberal man by his fellow-citizens, but
this reputation is not altogether deserved. His friends say that he
gives liberally when he gives at all. They add that he has a horror of
subscription lists and solicitors of donations, and that he turns a deaf
ear to common beggars. He makes it a rule never to give anything during
business hours. If a case interests him, he investigates it thoroughly,
and if it is found worthy of aid, he gives generously, but quietly. The
truth is, that like all rich men, he is beset by a host of beggars of
every class and description. Were he to grant every appeal addressed to
him, his vast fortune would melt away in a few years. He must
discriminate, and he has his own way of doing it.
Mr. Astor married a daughter of General Armstrong, the Secretary of War
in Mr. Madison's cabinet. He has two sons, who are themselves fathers of
families. They are John Jacob and William B. Astor, Jr. He has also
several daughters, all married. The sons reside on Fifth avenue. They
are in active business for themselves. John Jacob, the elder, is a
large-framed, heavy-boned man, and resembles his father. William B.
Astor, Jr., is a small, slim man, and resembles his mother. They are
much more sociable than their father, inheriting much of the genial
vivacity of their grandfather, who was very fond of the pleasures of
society. They are shrewd, energetic business men, and it is said are
very wealthy, independent of their father. Mr. John Jacob Astor entered
the United States Army during the civil war, and saw considerable active
service on the staff of General McClellan.