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Not far from the lovely Heidelberg on the Rhine, is the picturesque village
of Walldorf, which is the birth place of John Jacob Astor, who was born in
1763. His father was a peasant, thus it is seen that he had not the advantages
of family influence or assistance. He saved what little money he could earn,
and at sixteen set out on foot for the sea coast, where he took passage in a
vessel for London. He had a brother in that city who was, in a small way, a
manufacturer of musical instruments. Here he remained until 1783, when he
embarked for America, taking some flutes with him. On the voyage he
made the acquaintance of a furrier. This individual he plied with numerous
questions, until he was quite familiar with the business, and when he
reached America he at once exchanged his flutes for furs, and hastening
back to England succeeded in selling them at a fair profit over all expenses.
Having disposed of his business in London, he engaged passage in a ship
which did not return for some weeks. In the meantime he purchased a lot of
goods which he thought would prove salable in America. He also improved
the time in visiting the Governor of the then great East India Company. The
Governor was from his native town in Germany, and Astor, making the
most of this fact, secured from him a permit to trade at any port subject to
the East India Company. When he arrived in New York once more he at
once closed a bargain with a West India trader, that gentleman furnishing a
ship and cargo, Astor the permit, which was very valuable, as it gained
them access to Canton, China, which was closed to all foreigners save the
vessels of the East India Company. The terms of this bargain was that each
should participate equally in the profits of the voyage, and Astor's share was
several barrels of milled dollars, the total profit being about $110,000.
He after this bought ships of his own, and shipped his own merchandise to
the East, bringing back cargoes to be sold in the new world. The
Government at Washington approved of Astor's proposition to get
possession of the fur business of the Interior, controlled at that time by

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British companies. He succeeded in raising a corporation with $1,000,000
capital, and within a few years Mr. Astor controlled the fur interests of the
country. This was back in Jefferson's time when the city of New York was a
small village. Astor, with that keen foresight which marked his life's history,
had been buying land on Staten Island, and the marvelous growth of the city
brought the price of his possessions up to fabulous amounts, and the latter