was a prominent Jeffersonian republican, and a member of the Massachusetts legislature, and also of the executive council.
ASPINWALL, William Henry, merchant, b. in New York city, 16 Dec, 1807; d. there, 18 Jan., 1875. He was trained in the house of G. G. & S.
Howland, his uncles, and taken into the firm in
1832. In 1837 the new firm of Howland & Aspinwall
was established. This house had the largest Pacific
trade of any firm in New York, besides doing an
extensive business with the East and West Indies,
England, and the Mediterranean. In 1850 he retired from the active management of the firm, and
secured the contract for a line of mail steamers
from the isthmus of Panama to California, and a
concession from the government of New Granada
for the construction of a railroad across the isthmus. The road was completed after many difficulties, and opened on 17 Feb., 1855, the eastern
terminus being named Aspinwall. Mr. Aspinwall
was president of the Pacific mail steamship company until 1856. He travelled much in the last
twenty years of his life, and made an important
collection of paintings, which were sold by his family.— His son, Lloyd, b. in New York citv, 12 Dec,
1834; d. in Bristol, R. I., 4 Sept., 1886, commanded
the 22d N. Y. militia in its three months' service
before Gettysburg, had charge of the purchase of
vessels for the Newbern expedition, was president
of a board to revise army regulations, was Gen.
Burnside's aide at Fredericksburg, and after the
war was a brigadier-general in the national guard.
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ASTOR, John Jacob, merchant, b. in Waldorf, near Heidelberg, Germany, 17 July, 1763; d. in New York, 29 March, 1848. He was the fourth son of a butcher in Waldorf, and until he was sixteen years of age he worked with his father. He then joined an elder brother in London, who was employed in the piano and flute factory of their uncle, of the firm of Astor & Broadwood, widely known afterward as Broadwood & Co. His brother Henry had settled in New York, and his intention was to emigrate to the United States as soon as he could save enough money. In 1783 he sailed for Baltimore with a small invoice of musical instruments to sell on commission. On shipboard he met with a furrier, who told him of the profits to be made in buying furs from the Indians and frontiersmen and selling them to the large dealers, and, in order to become familiar with the fur business, he entered into the employ of a Quaker furrier in New York and, when he had mastered the numerous details of the trade, began business on his own account, opening a shop in Water street, in which he worked early and late, except when absent on his purchasing trips. Soon after he established himself in New York he visited London, formed connections with houses in the fur trade, and made arrangements with Astor & Broadwood to become their agent in America. After his return to New York he opened a wareroom for the sale of musical instruments, becoming the first regular dealer in such articles in the United States. He married Sarah Todd, who brought him a dowry of only $300, but who possessed a frugal mind and a business judgment that he declared to be better than that of most merchants, and she assisted him in the practical details of his business. Before the close of the century Astor possessed, as the result of fifteen years of constant work, a fortune of $250,000. He then for the first time took a house separate from his store. With sagacious management the business prospered to such an extent that he was able to ship furs in his own vessels and bring back European goods. He made frequent voyages up the Mohawk, to buy directly from the Indians, and also dealt largely with the great English fur companies. About 1809 he conceived a national scheme to render American trade independent of the Hudson bay company, and to carry civilization into the wilderness, for which he asked the aid of congress. His project was to establish a chain of trading posts from the lakes to the Pacific, to plant a central depot at the mouth of Columbia river, and to acquire one of the Sandwich islands and establish a line of vessels between the western coast of America, and the ports of China and India. Two expeditions were sent, one by land and the other by sea, to open up intercourse with the Indians of the Pacific coast. In 1811 the settlement of Astoria was planted at the mouth of the Columbia river, but the war of 1812 interfered with Astor's gigantic enterprise and caused its abandonment. The story of this far-reaching scheme has been well told in Irving's “Astoria.” At this time Astor bought American government securities at 60 or 70 cents, which after the war doubled in value. After the conclusion of peace he carried on his operations without government support, and established a trade with many countries, particularly China, but never realized the project of founding settlements in the northwest. He invested his gains in real estate outside the compact portion of the city of New York, and as the city extended he erected many handsome buildings. His judgment in business was remarkably sagacious, his habits industrious and methodical, and his memory exceedingly tenacious, retaining the slightest details. For the last twenty-five years of his life he lived in quiet retirement. In this period, in consultation with literary and practical men, he matured a plan for establishing a public library in New York, the first suggestion of which had come from Washington Irving. He left $400,000 for founding the Astor library, which provision was carried out by his son, William B. Astor.
He made other bequests for benevolent objects, in addition to liberal gifts during his lifetime, one of which was $50,000 to found the Astor House in Waldorf, his birthplace, an institute for the edu-
