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 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