Astor family


The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With ancestral roots in the Italian Alps,
the Astors settled in Germany, first appearing in North America in the 18th century with John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest people in history.

Founding family members

was the youngest of four sons born to Johann Jacob Astor and Maria Magdalena vom Berg.
In 1783, John Jacob left for Baltimore, Maryland, and was active first as a dealer in woodwind instruments, then in New York as a merchant in furs, pianos, and real estate. After moving to New York, John met and married Sarah Cox Todd. She worked alongside her husband as a consultant, and was accused of witchcraft after her success with the company in 1817. The accusations never led to legal action. They had eight children, including John Jacob Astor Jr. and real estate businessman William Backhouse Astor Sr..
John Jacob's fur trading company established a Columbia River trading post at Fort Astoria in 1811, the first United States community on the Pacific coast. He financed the overland Astor Expedition in 1810–1812 to reach the outpost, which was in the then-disputed Oregon Country. Control of Fort Astoria played a key role in English and American territorial claims on the region.
John and George's brother Henry also emigrated to America. He was a horse racing enthusiast, and purchased a thoroughbred named Messenger, who had been brought from England to America in 1788. The horse became the founding sire of all Standardbred horses in the United States today.
The third brother Melchior remained in Germany.
During the 19th century, the Astors became one of the wealthiest families in the United States. Toward the end of that century, some of the family moved to England and achieved high prominence there. During the 20th century, the number of American Astors began to decline, but their legacy lives on in their many public works including the New York Public Library. English descendants of the Astors hold two hereditary peerages: Viscount Astor and Baron Astor of Hever.
While many of Astor members had joined to the Episcopal Church, John Jacob Astor remained a member of the Reformed congregation to his death.

Family namesake places

For many years, the members of the Astor family were known as "the landlords of New York". Their New York City namesakes are the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, an Astor Row, Astor Court, Astor Place, and Astor Avenue in the Bronx, where the Astors used to stable horses. The neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, is named after the family as well.
Beyond New York City, the Astor family name is imprinted in a great deal of United States history and geography. Astor Street, in Chicago's landmark Gold Coast district, is named after John Jacob Astor. There are towns of Astor in the states of Florida, Georgia, Iowa, and Kansas and there are Astorias in Illinois, Missouri and Oregon. In the Astoria, Oregon, school district, the primary elementary school is called John Jacob Astor Elementary.
There is a neighborhood called Astor Park just south of downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin. At the heart of this neighborhood is a park ; the Astor family donated this land for the building of a trade school.
The Astors were also prominent on Mackinac Island, Michigan, and Newport, Rhode Island, with their summer house, Beechwood. At Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, there are the Lord and Lady Astor Suites; the hotel salon is called Astor's. There is even a Hostel in York, England called The Astor. In addition, a dorm at St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island, bears Astor's name.

Members by birth order

  1. John Jacob Astor Sr.
  2. William Backhouse Astor Sr.
  3. Charles Astor Bristed Sr.
  4. John Jacob Astor III
  5. William Backhouse Astor Jr.
  6. William Waldorf Astor I
  7. Carrie Astor Wilson
  8. John Armstrong Chaloner
  9. Winthrop Astor Chanler
  10. John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV
  11. William Astor "Willie" Chanler Sr.
  12. Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler Sr.
  13. Margaret Chanler Aldrich
  14. Robert Winthrop Chanler
  15. Waldorf Astor
  16. James Roosevelt "Tadd" Roosevelt Jr.
  17. Marshall Orme Wilson Jr.
  18. John Jacob Astor V
  19. William Vincent Astor
  20. Louis Zborowski
  21. Theodore Chanler
  22. Ava Alice Muriel Astor
  23. Jimmy Van Alen
  24. William Waldorf "Bill" Astor II
  25. Francis David Langhorne Astor
  26. John Jacob "Jakey" Astor VI
  27. Michael Langhorne Astor
  28. John Jacob "Jakie" Astor VII
  29. Gavin Astor
  30. John Astor
  31. Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky
  32. Simon Bowes-Lyon
  33. Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
  34. John Jacob "Johnny" Astor VIII
  35. William Waldorf Astor III
  36. John Dalrymple, 14th Earl of Stair
  37. Alexandra Aldrich

    Spouses by birth order

  38. Caroline Webster Schermerhorn : widow of William Backhouse Astor Jr.
  39. Ava Lowle Willing : 1st wife of John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV
  40. Nancy Witcher Langhorne : widow of Waldorf Astor, first female British MP.
  41. Julia Lynch Olin 2nd wife and widow of Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler
  42. Violet Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound : wife of John Jacob Astor V
  43. Madeleine Talmage Force : 2nd wife and widow of John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV
  44. Roberta Brooke Russell : 3rd wife and widow of William Vincent Astor
  45. Mary Benedict "Minnie" Cushing : 2nd wife of William Vincent Astor
  46. Irene Violet Freesia Janet Augusta Haig : widow of Gavin Astor
  47. Janet Bronwen Alun Pugh : 3rd wife and widow of William Waldorf "Bill" Astor II
  48. Annabel Lucy Veronica Jones : wife of William Waldorf Astor III, mother-in-law of British PM David Cameron
  49. Elizabeth Constance "Liz" Mackintosh : 2nd wife of John Jacob "Johnny" Astor VIII

    Lines of Succession to the Family Titles

Both in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, the titles
Viscount Astor, of Hever Castle in the County of Kent, with subsidiary title Baron Astor, of Hever Castle in the County of Kent, and Baron Astor of Hever, of Hever Castle in the County of Kent, were granted with the standard remainder to the legitimate heirs male of the bodies of the original grantees.
Both of the current titleholders continue to sit in the House of Lords following the expulsion of the majority of the hereditary peers by the House of Lords Act 1999.