John Jacob Astor IV IV was born on July 13, 1864 at his parents' country estate Ferncliff in Rhinebeck, New York. He was the youngest of five children and only son of businessman, collector, and race horse breeder/owner William Backhouse Astor, Jr. and socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn. His four elder sisters were Emily, Helen, Charlotte, and Caroline ("Carrie"). He was a great-grandson of fur-trader John Jacob Astor and Sarah Cox Todd, whose fortune made the Astor family one of the wealthiest in the United States. Astor's paternal grandfather William Backhouse Astor, Sr. was a prominent real estate businessman. Through his paternal grandmother, Margaret
Astor family Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With ancestral roots in the Italian Alps, the Astors settled in Germany, first appearing in North America in the 18th century with John Jacob Astor, one of the richest people in history. John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor) was the youngest of four sons born to butcher Johann Jacob Astor (1724–1816) and Maria Magdalena vom Berg (1730–1764). John and his eldest brother George (born Georg) (1752–1813), known as 'George & John Astor', were