Wandering Lizard

Biographical Notes

John Jacob Astor

In 1792 William Duer, Assistant to Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, was arrested and jailed on corruption charges. A financial panic swept the nation, but the fur trade was largely unaffected and the Astors were able to move into a fashionable new home on Broadway. That same year a second son was born and named William Backhouse in honor of the man who had helped him establish his business. Hostilities between France and Britain resulted in a British law forcing all trade from Canada to pass through London. Astor's business interest in Canadian furs was adversely impacted by the new law and for the first time he began taking an interest in the political scene. In 1794 Swiss born Pennsylvania Senator Albert Gallatin was removed from political office by opponents claiming that he had not lived in the United States long enough to qualify for the senate. Following his removal from office, Astor befriended Gallatin and the two men commenced what was to be a lifelong association.

In the fall of 1794, Astor traveled to London and Paris selling furs and purchasing goods to import into the United States. Relations with England were improving but at the cost of deteriorating relations with France. While in Paris he established a business relationship with Jean L'Herbette and helped Herbette's son avoid being drafted into the French army. On returning to New York he went immediately to Montreal to purchase furs with money lent to him by Peter Smith of Utica, New York. Even with a difficult international situation, Astor's business was flourishing and he felt secure enough to commission a portrait by Gilbert Stuart. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in France and reestablished peaceful relations with the United States. During this period Astor added arms and ammunition to the items that he was importing from England and it was thought that at least some of this material wound up in the hands of insurrectionists in both North and South America.

The sale of weapons was not a major interest for Astor. His principal focus remained fur and he continually sought ways to expand his acquisition activities in the western regions of North America as well as to seek new markets for the furs that he acquired. In 1800 he began trading directly with China. Furs were shipped to China. Silk, tea and spices were purchased with the proceeds from the fur sales and resold in the Untied States and Europe. Profits were excellent and Astor purchased his first ship - the Severn. Shortly later he had two new ships built for the China trade to his own specifications. In 1803 Astor began investing heavily in New York real estate. Between 1803 and 1806 he purchased almost $300,000 worth of land in Manhattan. He also purchased a new and larger home on Broadway for his family which now included four children. Sarah retired from an active involvement in business and Astor sold his musical instrument business.

In 1800 Astor loaned Aaron Burr a large sum of money. 1804, following the Burr - Hamilton duel in which Hamilton was killed, Astor took over the Trinity Church leasehold in payment of Burr's debt. The terms of the leasehold gave Astor control of a large section of New York City for 62 years. Astor made minor improvements to the land, divided it into small parcels, and subleased it out. In 1805 New York Governor George Clinton sold Astor a half interest in Greenwich Village. In September 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned to St. Louis from their trek to the Mouth of the Columbia River. On June 22, 1807, HMS Leopard fired on and boarded the USS Chesapeake to seize four men accused of being British deserters. Six months later Congress passed the Embargo Act forbidding American citizens to trade with any foreign country. In July 1808 Astor obtained President Jefferson's permission to take a high ranking Mandarin home to China aboard the Beaver.

The Beaver returned to New York in the fall of 1809 with the first cargo of Chinese goods since the imposition of the embargo more than a year before. Astor made a huge profit. On September 17, 1807, Astor's daughter, Magdalene married Adrian Bentzon, a Danish citizen and former governor of St. Croix. Bentzon arranged a meeting between Astor and Andrei Dashkov, the Russian Ambassador to the United States during which the two men discussed a joint business arrangement wherein Astor would agree to resupply the Russian settlements in North America in return for the right to trade in Russian controlled territory. On April 6, 1808, Astor incorporated the American Fur Company with plans to operate in the western reaches of the continent. In 1808 Madison was elected president and the trade embargo was repealed. Astor expanded his merchant fleet and immediately returned to the China trade. Simultaneously he devised a plan whereby he would establish an American Fur Company trading post on the West Coast of North America at the Mouth of the Columbia River.

In November 1808, Astor sent the Enterprise to New Archangel where Captain John Ebbets met with Russian Governor Alexander Baranov. A beginning was made in implementing the plan first discussed in New York by Astor and Dashkov. In 1809 Astor, Alexander McKay, Duncan McDougal, David Stuart, and Robert Sturart formed the Pacific Fur Company. Early in 1810 William Price Hunt departed New York to lead an overland expedition to the Columbia and Lieutenant Jonathan Thorn aboard the MS Tonquin sailed for the same destination. They were to meet at the Mouth of the Columbia and establish a Pacific Fur Company trading post and the town of Astoria. On January 28, 1811, William McGillivray, President of the Mackinack Company and Astor formed the Southwest Fur Company to operate on the Great Lakes. Later in 1811, Bentzon visited St. Petersburg and signed a four year agreement with Count Rumiantzov that gave Astor's American Fur Company sole rights to trade with the Russian settlements in North America. Astor's trade with the Russians had the advantage of his ships not having to return to the East Coast with anything except profits.

Thorn and the Tonquin arrived at the Mouth of the Columbia on March 22, 1811, after a very difficult voyage. The shore party began construction of a trading post and the Tonquin departed to the north to trade with the Russians. On February 15, 1812, Hunt's ragged party arrived in Astoria. Their fifteen month long travail had been even more difficult than that of the Tonquin party. On May 6, 1812, a second Astor ship arrived in Astoria with supplies and additional men. In June 1812, President James Madison declared war on Great Britain. Astor's merchant fleet managed to avoid capture and make it to port with their cargoes. Once again Astor's profits were enormous, but in Astoria things were not going as well. The colony had not been resupplied and felt cut off because of the war. On October 16, 1813, John McTavish of the Northwest Fur Company purchased Astoria from Duncan McDougal. On December 12, 1813, Captain Black officially took possession of Astoria and ran the British Union Jack up the flagpole. The name of the settlement was changed to Fort George.

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