The Astors 4 (Pages 114 - 169)

 

William Backwater didn't like it when his daughter Emily announced her engagement to James von Allen, the son of General von Allen. William made some disparaging comments, and the general challenged him to a duel. Then his second persuaded him to retract his statement in a written apology, and Emily married von Allen.

Mrs Astor was the queen of society, but she had a competitor, Alva Vanderbilt. Alva Erskine Belmont (January 17, 1853 – January 26, 1933), known as Alva Vanderbilt from 1875 to 1896, was an American multi-millionaire socialite and women's suffrage activist. Vanderbilt felt she had been snubbed by Caroline Astor, so she purposely neglected to send an invitation to her housewarming ball, a dress ball of about 750 guests, to Astor's popular daughter, Carrie. Supposedly, this forced Astor to come calling, in order to secure an invitation to the ball for her daughter.

Alva Vanderbilt had hired architect Richard Hunt to build her a mansion. Richard Morris Hunt designed several Vanderbilt mansions during the Gilded Age, including "Petit Chateau" in New York City.

Vanderbilt also promoted the constrution of the Metropolitan Opera. Unable to get an opera box at the Academy of Music, whose directors were loath to admit members of newly wealthy families into their circle, she was among those people instrumental in 1883 in founding the Metropolitan Opera.

Bradford Gilbert was the architect of the Tower Building, the first skyscraper in New York. Bradford Lee Gilbert (March 24, 1853 – September 1, 1911) was a nationally active American architect based in New York City.He is known for designing the Tower Building in 1889, the first steel-framed building anywhere and the first skyscraper in New York City.

John Jacob's other daughters got married. Helen Astor married James Roosevelt. James Roosevelt "Rosy" Roosevelt (April 27, 1854 – May 7, 1927) was an American diplomat, heir, and the older half-brother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. On November 18, 1878, Roosevelt married Helen Schermerhorn Astor.

Charlotte Augusta Astor married John Drayton. James Coleman Drayton (June 4, 1852 – November 11, 1934) was an American lawyer and socialite.

Charlotte left her husband and ran off to Europe with another man, Hallett Burrowe. Charlotte and Alsop Barrowe, a member of another wealthy New York family, began spending considerable time together in London. This alarmed Drayton, who subsequently challenged Barrowe to a duel in Paris. However, the duel never took place and Drayton and Charlotte were soon after divorced. Charlotte eventually married George Ogilvy Haig, a Scotsman. 

Carrie Astor married Orme Wilson. In the early 1880s, Carrie met and fell in love with Marshall Orme Wilson (1860–1926), although her family disapproved of him and his family. Reportedly, Carrie "starved herself into bulimia until her mother gave in and agreed to the marriage." On November 18, 1884, Carrie was married to Wilson at the Astor mansion.

John Jacob IV married Ava Willing. On February 17, 1891, Astor married socialite Ava Lowle Willing, a daughter of Edward Shippen Willing and Alice Barton. 

In 189' John Jacob III and Charlotte Augusta died. Their heir was their son William Waldorf. Before the death of his father, he had tried to have a political career, but he had failed. After some time practising law, Astor thought he had found his true calling and an opportunity to make a name for himself outside of his family's fortune by entering the political realm. In 1877, with his eyes set on the United States Congress, Astor entered New York City politics as a Republican.In 1881, Astor was defeated by Roswell P. Flower as a candidate for the United States Congress. A second attempt at the seat also resulted in defeat. His shy nature could not handle the political attacks on his character. This was the end of his political career. The press used his political failures as fodder for harsh criticisms.

There was an evident feud between William Waldorf and Mrs Astor.  the two branches of the family had a feud about who could be known as The Mrs Astor and who could be Mrs Astor. The feud led to William Waldorf Astor knocking down his house on Fifth Avenue in New York which was next door to the other branch of the family and building The Waldorf Hotel. In retaliation the other branch of the Astors knocked down their home and built the rival Astoria Hotel. A truce was eventually agreed and the hotels merged to become the Waldorf Astoria but the relationship was never warm.

The Waldorf Astoria was run by George Boldt. George Charles Boldt Sr. (April 25, 1851 – December 5, 1916) was a Prussian-born American hotelier. A self-made millionaire, he influenced the development of the urban hotel as a civic social center and luxury destination.

The most outstanding event at the Waldorf Astoria was the Bradley Martin ball. The Bradley-Martin Ball was a lavish costume ball at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City on the night of February 10, 1897. Cornelia Bradley-Martin, wife of Bradley Martin, organized the ball. Eight hundred socialites spent about $400,000 imitating kings and queens. Bradley-Martin's stated intention was to create an economic stimulus for New York City, which was at the end of the Long Depression which began in 1873 and included the Panic of 1893. The Bradley-Martins spent approximately $9.7 million in today's money to throw the ball. Across the country, preachers and editorial writers argued over the propriety of a party that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the end, the ball was a social triumph but created negative publicity.

The magazine Town Topics splashed Mrs Astor's matters. The magazine was owned by Colonel William D'Alton Mann, who used the information he had to blackmail millionaires, and those like Mrs Astors who refused to be game suffered the consequences. 

William d'Alton Mann (September 27, 1839 – May 17, 1920) was a Union officer in the American Civil War, a businessman, and a newspaper and magazine publisher. n his later years, he became the publisher of the Mobile Register as well as several popular magazines in the New York City area, including The Smart Set, and Town Topics.The credibility of the latter was undermined by Mann's tacit admission in civil court to allowing robber barons to purchase immunity from unwanted coverage in the paper.

William Backhouse Astor Jr died in Paris. William Backhouse Astor Jr. died of an aneurysm at the Hotel Liverpool in Paris. Astor was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City.

John Jacob IV volunteered for the war with Spain.  He actively supported the war effort by offering his yacht, the Nourmahal, to the U.S. Navy and equipping a mountain battery of artillery. He also held the rank of Colonel in a volunteer artillery unit in the Philippines. 

Mrs Astor found a replacement to the late Ward MacAllister in Harry Lehr. Henry Symes Lehr (March 28, 1869 – January 3, 1929) was an American socialite during the Gilded Age who was dubbed "America's Court Jester".

Ava and John Jacob had a son, Vincent, but he was a disappointment to his mother as Ava expected a fitter son. 

In 1902 Ava gave birth to a daughter, Alice. 

Caroline Astor had a stroke, and died in 1908.  Spending her last several years suffering from periodic dementia, she died at age 78 on October 30, 1908, and was interred in the Trinity Church Cemetery in upper Manhattan.

John Jacob IV and Ava divorced, and he married Madeleine Force. On September 9, 1911, the 47-year-old Astor married 18-year-old socialite Madeleine Talmage Force, the sister of real estate businesswoman and socialite Katherine Emmons Force.

 The couple took an extended honeymoon in Europe and Egypt to wait for the gossip to calm down. Among the few Americans who did not spurn him at this time was Margaret Brown. She accompanied the Astors to Egypt and France. While traveling, Madeleine Force Astor became pregnant. Wanting the child born in the U.S., the Astors boarded Titanic on her maiden voyage to New York. Astor helped his wife, with her maid and nurse, into a boat. He then asked if he might join his wife because she was in "a delicate condition;" however, Lightoller told him men were not to be allowed to board until all the women and children had been loaded. Astor did not protest, simply kissed his wife, telling her that he would follow in another boat.