John Jacob Astor IV Alida Rebecca Armstrong, Astor was also a great-grandson of Senator John Armstrong, Jr. and Alida Livingston of the Livingston family. His maternal grandparents were Abraham Schermerhorn, a wealthy merchant, and socialite Helen Van Courtlandt White. He was also a nephew of financier and philanthropist John Jacob Astor III, and grandnephew of occasional poet John Jacob Astor, Jr. His sister Helen's husband was diplomat James Roosevelt "Rosey" Roosevelt, half-brother of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the Roosevelt family. Another sister, Carrie, a noted philanthropist, was the wife of Marshall Orme Wilson (brother of banker Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr. and socialite Grace
John Jacob Astor VI billion in dollars). He was also known for his many engagements and four marriages to prominent society women. John Jacob Astor VI was born at 840 Fifth Avenue in New York City on August 14, 1912. He was the son of Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (1864–1912) and socialite Madeleine Talmage Force (1893–1940). Jakey's parents' marriage, on September 9, 1911, had sparked much controversy both because of their 29-year age difference and since Colonel Astor had only previously been divorced from his first wife, socialite Ava Lowle Willing (1868–1958), one year earlier, on March 5, 1910. The newlyweds were