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
John Jacob Astor IV the Volunteer Army in November 1898. During the war, he allowed his yacht "Nourmahal" to be used by the U.S. government. He appeared in the films "President McKinley's Inspection of Camp Wikoff" (1898) and "Col. John Jacob Astor, Staff and Veterans of the Spanish–American War" (1899). As a result of his military service, Astor was entitled to the Spanish Campaign Medal. After the war, Astor was often referred to as "Colonel Astor." Astor was a member of several military and hereditary societies. He was an early member of the New York Society of Colonial Wars and was assigned membership number