William Backhouse Astor Jr. (July 12, 1829 – April 25, 1892) was an American businessman, racehorse owner/breeder, and yachtsman who was a member of the prominent

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 region of Italy by way of Germany, the Astors settled ...

. His elder brother, financier and philanthropist

John Jacob Astor III John Jacob Astor III (June 10, 1822 – February 22, 1890) was an American financier, philanthropist and a soldier during the American Civil War. He was a prominent member of the Astor family, becoming the wealthiest member in his generation and ...

, became head of the British line of Astors in England. William Jr. was head of the American line of Astors, while his wife, Caroline Schermerhorn, served as the leader of New York society's "

Four Hundred 400 (four hundred) is the natural number following 399 and preceding 401. Mathematical properties 400 is the square of 20. 400 is the sum of the powers of 7 from 0 to 3, thus making it a repdigit in base 7 (1111). A circle is divided into ...

" during the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...

Early years

William Backhouse Astor Jr. was born on July 12, 1829, in New York City, New York. He was the middle son of real estate businessman William Backhouse Astor Sr. (1792–1875) and Margaret Rebecca ( née Armstrong) Astor (1800–1872). His siblings included elder brother

, who married Charlotte Augusta Gibbes; Emily Astor, who married Samuel Cutler Ward; Laura Eugenia Astor, who married

Franklin Hughes Delano Franklin Hughes Delano (July 27, 1813 – December 23, 1893) was an American merchant, diplomat and society man. Early life Delano was born in Dartmouth, Massachusetts on July 27, 1813 and grew up in Fairhaven. He was a son of Captain Warren Del ...

; Mary Alida Astor, who married John Carey; Henry Astor, who married Malvina Dinehart; and Sarah Astor, who died in infancy. Astor's paternal grandparents were fur-trader

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by History of opium in China, smuggl ...

and Sarah Cox (née Todd) Astor. His maternal grandparents were U.S. Senator

John Armstrong Jr. John Armstrong Jr. (November 25, 1758April 1, 1843) was an American soldier, diplomat and statesman who was a delegate to the Continental Congress, U.S. Senator from New York, and United States Secretary of War under President James Madison. A me ...

and Alida (née Livingston) Armstrong of the

Livingston family The Livingston family of New York is a prominent family that migrated from Scotland to the Dutch Republic, and then to the Province of New York in the 17th century. Descended from the 4th Lord Livingston, its members included signers of the Unit ...

.Gavan, Terrence. 'The Barons of Newport: A Guide to the Gilded Age'. Newport: Pineapple Publications, 1998. pp. 25-8. A well-liked man, Astor graduated from Columbia College in 1849. He was a member of Columbia's

Philolexian Society The Philolexian Society of Columbia University is one of the oldest college literary and debate societies in the United States, and the oldest student group at Columbia. Founded in 1802, the Society aims to "improve its members in Oratory, Compo ...

Subsequent activity

He supported the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, and during the war, he personally bore the cost to equip an entire

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

regiment. Unlike his business-oriented father, William Jr. did not aggressively pursue an expansion of his inherited fortune. Instead, he preferred life aboard the ''Ambassadress'', at that time the biggest private yacht in the world, or horseback riding at Ferncliff, the large estate he had built on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. Astor's horse "

Vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

" won the 1876 running of the Kentucky Derby.

Florida involvement

William Jr. often spent winters aboard his yacht in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, and he was responsible for the construction of a number of prominent buildings in the city. He and sixteen other businessmen founded the Florida Yacht Club in Jacksonville in 1876, although he was the only person in Florida to actually own a yacht. The club is now the oldest social club in Jacksonville and one of the oldest yacht clubs in the United States. Liking the area, in 1874, he purchased a land tract of around 80,000 acres (320 km²) along the St. Johns River north of Orlando, Florida, in an area now called

Lake County, Florida Lake County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 383,956. Its county seat is Tavares, and its largest city is Clermont. Lake County is included in the Orlando-Kissimmee-San ...

. There he and two partners used 12,000 acres (49 km²) to build an entire town that he named Manhattan but was later changed to Astor in his honor. His project, which would come to include several hotels, began with the construction of wharves on the river to accommodate steamboats. These steamboats attracted a steamship agency that could bring in the necessary materials and supplies. Astor enjoyed his development and purchased a railroad that connected the town to the "Great Lakes Region" of Florida. He donated the town's first church and the land for the local non-denominational cemetery, and he also helped build a schoolhouse, both of which are still standing today. In 1875, one of the many nearby lakes was named Lake Schermerhorn after his wife, Lina Schermerhorn. The town of Manhattan, Florida, boomed, and Astor, with an eye on the large New York market, expanded his interests to a grapefruit grove, a fruit that at the time was only available on a very limited basis in other parts of the United States. He did not live long enough to see the orchard grow to production. Following his death on April 25, 1892, the property fell to his son Jack. By then though, rapid changes were taking place throughout Florida. New railroads had been built in 1885 through the central and western part of the state, and in the late 1890s, Henry Flagler built a railroad line running down Florida's east coast from Daytona Beach. All this expansion left the town of Astor isolated and it was all but abandoned after train service to Astor was discontinued.

Personal life

On September 23, 1853, he married the socially ambitious Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn (1830–1908) at Trinity Church in Manhattan. Her parents were

Abraham Schermerhorn Abraham Schermerhorn (April 9, 1783 – February 3, 1850) was a wealthy New York City merchant who was also prominent in social affairs. He was the father of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, known as the Mrs. Astor. Early life Schermerhorn was b ...

, a wealthy New York City merchant, and Helen Van Courtlandt (née White) Schermerhorn. Lina would go on to reign over New York and Newport society known simply as "the Mrs. Astor." William Jr. had little interest in society parties, and reportedly, Lina would try to keep him at his club late to prevent him coming home and sending the orchestra out and his children to bed. Together, William Jr. and Lina had five children: * Emily Astor (1854–1881), who married sportsman/politician James John Van Alen (1848–1923) and had three children. * Helen Schermerhorn Astor (1855–1893), who married diplomat James Roosevelt "Rosey" Roosevelt (1854–1927), half-brother of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and had two children. * Charlotte Augusta Astor (1858–1920), who married James Coleman Drayton (1852–1934) and had four children. They divorced and she later married George Ogilvy Haig (1859–1905). * Caroline Schermerhorn "Carrie" Astor (1861–1948), who married

Marshall Orme Wilson Marshall Orme Wilson (June 20, 1860 – April 1, 1926) was an American banker and prominent member of New York Society during the Gilded Age. Early life Wilson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 20, 1860. He was the eldest surviving son ...

(1860–1926), brother of banker Richard Thornton Wilson Jr. and socialite

Grace Graham Wilson Grace Graham Vanderbilt ( Wilson; September 3, 1870 – January 7, 1953) was an American socialite. She was the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt III. She was one of the last Vanderbilts to live the luxurious life of the "head of society" that her pred ...

, and had two sons. * John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (1864–1912), who married socialite Ava Lowle Willing (1868–1958) and had two children, later married socialite

Madeleine Talmage Force Madeleine Talmage Astor (''née'' Force; later Dick and Fiermonte; June 19, 1893 – March 27, 1940) was an American socialite and a survivor of the . She was the second wife and widow of businessman John Jacob Astor IV. Early life Madeleine ...

(1893–1940), the sister of real estate businesswoman/socialite Katherine Emmons Force, and had one son. He died at the sinking of RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912. William Backhouse Astor Jr. died of an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus ( ...

at the Hotel Liverpool in Paris. Astor, an Episcopalian, was buried in

Trinity Church Cemetery The parish of Trinity Church has three separate burial grounds associated with it in New York City. The first, Trinity Churchyard, is located in Lower Manhattan at 74 Trinity Place, near Wall Street and Broadway. Alexander Hamilton, Albert Gal ...

in New York City. He is one of several responsible for opening up the tourist trade in Florida. His widow died years later in 1908.

Early years

Subsequent activity

Florida involvement

Personal life

Notes

References

Further reading