20-02-2025
In One Ear: Millionaire prince
Financier John Jacob Astor III, 67, grandson of Astoria's founder, died unexpectedly on Feb. 22, 1890, in New York, of heart failure. According to The Evening World, America lost its 'chief of millionaire princes.' It's estimated he was worth around $200 million at the time of his death (about $6.9 billion now).
A glimpse of the man's character shows in a story in the Feb. 23, 1890, edition of The Daily Morning Astorian: ' ... Several years ago a distinguished Astoria clergyman, on a visit to New York, called upon the millionaire, told him of the city by the sea founded by his grandfather of precisely the same name as himself. He suggested (Astor) fund or endow an institution of learning in the city that will perpetuate the name and fame of the Astors, when their scattered millions will have been forgotten.
'The millionaire looked coldly contemptuous at the reverend gentleman when he had concluded his kindly plea, and told him he would give him an order on his cashier for $100 (about $3,500 today). The Astorian disclaimed any desire to pecuniarily embarrass the munificent patron by the acceptance of so princely a sum and bowed himself out.
'The millionaire lies dead in his marble palace this morning, and his millions lie idly in the massive vaults, as cold as the clay that so lately clung to them.'
