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'''John Jacob Astor''' ([[July 17]], [[1763]] - [[March 29]], [[1848]]) made a fortune in [[fur]] trading and [[real estate]].

Born in [[Walldorf]], [[Baden, Germany|Baden]], [[Germany]], he learned English in [[London, England]] while working for his brother [[George Astor|George]] whose business was manufacturing musical instruments. 

Astor arrived in the [[United States]] at the end of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] in [[1783]]. He started a fur goods shop in [[New York City]] in the late [[1780s]].

Astor took advantage of a treaty called [[Jay's Treaty]] between the [[United Kingdom]] and the United States in [[1794]] which opened new markets in [[Canada]] and the [[Great Lakes]] region at the expense of the Canadians.  By [[1800]] he had amassed nearly a quarter of a million dollars, and had become one of the leading figures in the fur trade.  Astor was given permission to trade in ports monopolized by the [[British East India Company]], and greatly benefited from the fur trade with [[China]]. He established the [[American Fur Company]] on [[April 6]], [[1808]] headquartered in [[Astoria, Oregon]] but this fur trading venture failed when the British captured his trading posts during the [[War of 1812]]. A lengthy description based on documents, diaries etc. was given by [[Washington Irving]] in his travelogue ''[[Astoria]]''.

Astor turned his sights on [[New York City]] real estate.  At the time of his death, Astor was the wealthiest person in the United States, leaving an estate estimated to be worth 20 million dollars or more.

His eldest son [[John Jacob Astor II]] (1791-1869) being insane,the great bulk of this fortune was bequeathed to his second son, [[William Backhouse Astor Sr.]]


==Related topics==
*[[John Jacob Astor IV]]

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====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "John_Jacob_Astor" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jacob_Astor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jacob_Astor], used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]]