William Backhouse Astor Sr.
William Backhouse Astor Sr. was an American business magnate who inherited most of his father John Jacob Astor's fortune. He worked as a partner in his father's successful export business. His massive investment in Manhattan real estate enabled major donations to the Astor Library in the East Village, which became the New York Public Library.
Astor, c. 1850
Portrait of Mrs. William Backhouse Astor (née Margaret Rebecca Armstrong), 1865
John Jacob Astor was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by exporting opium into China, and by investing in real estate in or around New York City. He was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States.
John Jacob Astor portrait by John Wesley Jarvis, c. 1825
John Jacob Astor, by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1794
Sarah Cox Todd