From this period Astor's commercial connections extended over the entire globe, and his ships were found in every sea. He was especially successful in the China trade. He left property amounting to $30,000,000, largely invested in real estate, which has since enormously increased in value. The Astor House, on Lower Broadway, New York, was built by him. He left a legacy of $350,000 for the establishment of a public library in New York. (See Washington Irving's Astoria and James Parton's Life of John Jacob Astor, 1865). His wealth was mainly inherited by his son, William Backhouse, who continued to augment it till his death in 1875, when it had increased to about $50,000,000. During his lifetime he made many gifts to the Astor Library, and at his death left it $250,000 and books worth $200,000. He was known as the “Landlord of New York” from the extent of his property in that city.
ASTOR, John Jacob (1864—). An American capitalist, inventor, and soldier; the fourth of the name. He was born at Rhinebeck-on-Hudson, N. Y., graduated in 1888 at Harvard, traveled extensively, and has since been occupied chiefly with the management of the Astor estates. In 1894-96 he was on the staff of Gov. L. P. Morton, and in 1898 was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of United States Volunteers. During the Spanish-American War he served as a staff officer in the Santiago campaign, and presented to the Government a fully equipped mountain battery, which was named for him, and which did effective work in the campaign before Manila. He is known as an inventor of several useful devices, such as a bicycle-brake and a pneumatic road improver, and has published A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future (1894).
ASTOR, William Waldorf (1848—). The great-grandson of John Jacob Astor. He was born in New York City, and studied law in order to qualify himself for assuming the management of the Astor estate. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1877, and to the Senate in 1879. In 1881 he was defeated by Roswell P. Flower as a candidate for Congress. He was appointed by President Arthur minister to Italy in 1882, a post which he held till March 1, 1885. As a result of studies made at Rome, he published two romances: Valentino (1885) and Sforza (1889). On the death of his father he became the head of the family and the inheritor of the estate, estimated at $200,000,000, largely invested in real estate. He soon built two magnificent hotels, the New Netherland and the Waldorf. In 1890 he went to London to live, and in 1899 became a British subject. He bought the Pall Mall Gazette in 1893, and founded the Pall Mall Magazine.
ASTORGA, ȧs-tōr′gȧ (anciently, Lat. Asturica). The capital of Asturia. A town of Spain in the Province of Leon, still surrounded by ancient Roman fortifications. In the neighborhood is a ruined castle of some interest to antiquarians. The town was once known as the ‘City of Priests,’ and in the Seventeenth Century, Emmanuele d'Astorga, the famous musician, spent some time in one of its convents in search of health. It is the see of a bishop.
ASTORGA, Emmanuele, Baron d' (1681-1736). An Italian composer. He was born at Palermo, December 11, 1681. His Stabat Mater is still regarded as a masterpiece. He wrote also an opera, Dafne, produced in Vienna in 1705. He derived his name from the Spanish Convent of Astorga, where, after having studied with Scarlatti, he became a pupil. He died in Bohemia, August 21, 1736.
ASTO′RIA. A city, port of entry, and county seat of Clatsop County, Ore., in the northwestern part of the State, on the south bank of the Columbia River (Map: Oregon, B 3). It is on the Astoria and Columbia River Railroad, and has several steamship lines to home and foreign ports. The former difficulty of the Columbia River bar has been overcome by the construction of a jetty, affording a deep and wide channel, which admits the largest vessels. There are now about five miles of water-front within the city limits. Astoria is the centre of an extensive salmon-fishing and canning industry, one of the most important in the world, and contains iron works, can factories, lumber mills, and other industrial establishments. It controls, also, a large export trade in lumber, wheat, flour, etc. The United States custom house and post-office, and Saint Mary's Hospital (Roman Catholic) are among the more important features of the city. Astoria, founded as a fur-trading station in 1811 by John Jacob Astor, was the first settlement in the valley of the Columbia. In 1813 the English took possession, renamed it Fort Saint George, and held it until 1818, though until 1845 the Northwest Company, an English company of fur-traders, continued to occupy it. In 1876 it was chartered as a city. Population, in 1890, 6184; in 1900, 8381.
Consult Washington Irving, Astoria; or, Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains Philadelphia, 1830).
ASTORIA. An account of Astoria, the settlement founded by John Jacob Astor on the Columbia River, by Washington Irving (1836).
AS′TOR LI′BRARY. See New York Public Library.
ASTOR PLACE RI′OT, The. In American history, a riot which occurred in Astor Place, New York City, on the evening of May 10, 1849, and which grew out of an attempt by partisans of the American actor Edwin Forrest (q.v.). assisted by the rabid anti-English element of the lower classes in the city, to prevent the English actor William C. Macready (q.v.) from giving a performance of Macbeth in the Astor Place Opera House. A disorderly crowd assembled in Astor Place early in the evening, and soon after the performance began, fiercely attacked the opera house and endeavored to force their way inside. The police proving unable to disperse the mob, the Seventh Regiment was called out; and before order could be restored, 34 of the rioters had been killed and many more wounded, while 141 of the militiamen had been more or less seriously injured by brickbats and stones. After the performance, Macready was taken to a private house, and two days later proceeded secretly to Boston, where he took ship for England. Consult: Wilson, Memorial History of New York, Vol III. (4 vols., New York, 1892-93), and Barrett, Edwin Forrest (Boston, 1882).
ASTRABAD, äs′trȧ-bäd′ (Aster, name of a river + Pers. abad, dwelling, town). A town of Persia; capital of the Province of Astrabad, situated in about latitude 37° N., and longitude 54°
