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John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob or Johann Jacob Astor) (July 17, 1763 - March 29, 1848) was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first millionaire in the United States. He was the creator of the first trust in America, from which he made his fortune in fur trading, real estate, and opium. From humble origins in Germany, he emigrated to London and then to America following the American Revolutionary War. He built a fur-trading empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and Canada, and later expanded into the American West and Pacific coast. In the early 1800's he diversified into New York City real estate and later became a famed patron of the arts. At the time of his death in 1848, Astor was the wealthiest person in the United States, leaving an estate estimated to be worth at least 20 million dollars. In his will, he gave orders to build the Astor Library for the New York public (later consolidated with other libraries to form New York Public Library), as well as a poorhouse in his German hometown, Walldorf. As a symbol of the earliest fortunes in New York, John Jacob Astor is mentioned in Herman Melville's great novella "Bartleby the Scrivener". From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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