What was John Jacob Astor I’s primary business contribution?

John Jacob Astor I founded the American Fur Company in 1810, which became a cornerstone of the early American fur trade and westward expansion.

Where did John Jacob Astor I work?

He was associated with the American Fur Company and the Pacific Fur Company, key players in the fur trade during the early 19th century.

What role did John Jacob Astor I play in American commerce?

He established the Astor family’s dominance in American business through his leadership in the fur trade and strategic business partnerships.

John Jacob Astor I

German-American businessman (1763-1848)

Person human Q57423

Facts

28 properties

Instance of: human
Sex or gender: male^[22]
Date of birth: July 17, 1763
Date of death: March 29, 1848
Place of birth: Walldorf
Place of death: Manhattan
Country of citizenship: Electoral Palatinate, United States^[20]^[21]
Occupation: entrepreneur, wholesaler, merchant
Father: Johann Jakob Astor^[9]
Mother: Maria Magdalena^[10]
Spouse: Sarah Todd^[11]
Child: William Backhouse Astor, Sr., Henry Astor, Magdalen Astor, Sarah Astor, John Jacob Astor, Dorothea Astor, Eliza Astor, unnamed infant son Astor^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]
Sibling: Henry Astor
Languages spoken, written or signed: German^[43]
Birth name: Johann Jakob Astor^[44]
Depicted by: John Jacob Astor^[27]
Described by source: Encyclopædia Britannica Ninth Edition, Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, The Nuttall Encyclopædia, Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4th edition (1885–1890), The Biographical Dictionary of America, The Encyclopedia Americana, The American Cyclopædia, Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, Collier's New Encyclopedia, 1921, New International Encyclopedia, The New Student's Reference Work, Meyer’s Universum, Neunzehnter Band, Neue Deutsche Biographie^[29]^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33]^[34]^[35]^[36]^[37]^[38]^[39]^[40]^[41]^[42]
Family: Astor family^[23]
Family name: Astor^[24]
Given name: John, Jacob^[25]^[26]
Name in native language: John Jacob Astor^[45]
On focus list of Wikimedia project: WikiProject PCC Wikidata Pilot/Frick Art Reference Library, Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
Owner of: Vanderbilt Mansion, Astor House^[46]^[47]
P14536: 340610

Show all 28 facts +4

P14541: 1kBVeh
P14927: 118650777
Partner in business or sport: Francis W. Lasak^[28]
Place of burial: Trinity Church Cemetery^[8]

🏷️ Also known as

en John Jacob Astor en John Jacob Astor I en Johann Jakob Astor ar جون جاكوب أستور ar جون جاكوب أسترو de John Jacob Astor de Johann Jacob Astor es Johann Jakob Astor fa جان جیکب استر fr John Astor he ג'ון ג'ייקוב אסטור id Johann Jakob Astor ja ジョン・ジェイコブ・アスター ko 존 제이컵 애스터 pl Jan Jakub Astor pt Johann Jacob Astor ru Астор, Джон Джейкоб ru Астор Иоанн-Яков ru Джон Джейкоб Астор sv Astor, John Jacob

🔖 Identifiers · 69

ISNI: 0000000073755923
VIAF cluster ID: 74646588
Library of Congress authority ID: n82027832
GND ID: 118650777
American Academy in Rome ID: 12381722
American National Biography ID: 1000054
Arabic Ontology lexical concept ID: 151058856
Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America ID: 2865
Archives at Yale agent ID: people/97261
BVMC person ID: 475
BabelNet ID: 00006626n
Bibliothèque nationale de France ID: 123514230

Show all 69 identifiers +57

CANTIC ID: 981058614775606706
CERL Thesaurus ID: cnp01339377
DDB person (GND) ID: 118650777
Deutsche Biographie (GND) ID: 118650777
Dictionary of Wisconsin History ID: CS5012
Dimitri and Aliki Perrotis Central Library ID: 1699
Edition humboldt digital ID: H0012769
Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition) ID: 137248
Encyclopædia Britannica Online ID: biography/John-Jacob-Astor-American-businessman-1763-1848
FAST ID: 87944
FamilySearch person ID: L4H3-Z2C
Find a Grave memorial ID: 40
Freebase ID: /m/03_mt
Genealogics.org person ID: I00047045
Geni.com profile ID: 6000000000889288243
Great Norwegian Encyclopedia ID: John_Jacob_Astor
Great Russian Encyclopedia Online ID (2017): 1835667
Grove Music Online ID: A2218542
IdRef ID: 032495323
Interlingual Index ID: i94342
JRC Names ID: 470581
LBT person ID: JoAstor1848
LittleSis people ID: 225732
NL CR AUT ID: jn20040512002
NLP ID: a0000002853541
NUKAT ID: n2007138076
National Library of Israel ID (old): 000442859
National Library of Israel J9U ID: 987007275510105171
National Library of Poland MMS ID: 9810697897205606
National Library of Spain SpMaBN ID (BNE v1.0): XX1558536
National Virtual Library of India ID: 453808
Nationale Thesaurus voor Auteursnamen ID: 070904723
Notable Names Database ID: 090/000051934
Obálky knih ID: jn20040512002
Online PWN Encyclopedia ID: 3871820
Open Library ID: OL778412A
OpenMLOL author ID: 170019
Our Campaigns candidate ID: 170404
Oxford Reference overview ID: 20110803095430587
PM20 folder ID: pe/000710
PMB – Personen der Moderne Basis person ID: 114752
Québec cultural heritage directory people ID: 23798
Rheinland-Pfälzische Personendatenbank (GND) ID: 118650777
Rodovid ID: 32559
SNAC ARK ID: w6125rkf
Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts name ID: 22735
The Oregon Encyclopedia ID: astor_john_jacob
The Peerage person ID: p12665.htm#i126644
Topic's main category: Category:John Jacob Astor
U.S. National Archives Identifier: 10569105
Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija ID: john-jacob-astor
WeRelate person ID: John_Astor_(6)
Webb-site person ID: 35720
WikiTree person ID: Astor-15
WordNet 3.1 Synset ID: 10846161-n
WorldCat Entities ID: E39PBJf8tYP6Y6HwXXhyfgKjmd
Yale LUX ID: person/4162e37a-9b79-433a-a0a9-494172dd92e7

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections

Described by source 5

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, New International Encyclopedia, Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, The Nuttall Encyclopædia

Named after 5

Astoria, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Astoria, Astoria River, Astor Place

Country of citizenship 2

United States, Electoral Palatinate

Founded entities 2

American Fur Company, Pacific Fur Company

Given name 2

John, Jacob

Child 1

William Backhouse Astor, Sr.

Children (paternal) 1

William Backhouse Astor, Sr.

Family 1

Astor family

Family name 1

Astor

Instance of 1

human

Languages spoken, written or signed 1

German

Occupation 1

entrepreneur

On focus list of Wikimedia project 1

Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4

Place of birth 1

Walldorf

Place of burial 1

Trinity Church Cemetery

Place of death 1

Manhattan

Sex or gender 1

male

Press Enter · cited answer in seconds

Summary

John Jacob Astor I was born on July 17, 1763^[1], in Walldorf^[2]. He died on March 29, 1848^[3], in Manhattan^[4]. He worked as an entrepreneur^[5], wholesaler^[6], and merchant^[7].

Body

Works and Contributions

Things named for John Jacob Astor I include Waldorf-Astoria Hotel^[48], a hotel^[49], in United States^[50], founded in 1893^[51]; Astoria^[52], a city of Oregon^[53], in United States^[54], founded in 1811^[55]; Astor Place^[56], a street^[57], in United States^[58]; and Astoria River^[59], a river^[60], in Canada^[61].

Why It Matters

Entities named for John Jacob Astor I include Waldorf-Astoria Hotel^[48], a hotel^[49], in United States^[50], founded in 1893^[51]; Astoria^[52], a city of Oregon^[53], in United States^[54], founded in 1811^[55]; Astor Place^[56], a street^[57], in United States^[58]; and Astoria River^[59], a river^[60], in Canada^[61].

FAQs

Where was John Jacob Astor I born?

John Jacob Astor I's place of birth was Walldorf^[2].

Where did John Jacob Astor I die?

John Jacob Astor I died in Manhattan^[4].

Who were John Jacob Astor I's parents?

John Jacob Astor I's father was Johann Jakob Astor^[9]. John Jacob Astor I's mother was Maria Magdalena^[10].

Who was John Jacob Astor I married to?

John Jacob Astor I's spouses include Sarah Todd^[11].

What did John Jacob Astor I do for work?

John Jacob Astor I worked as an entrepreneur^[5], wholesaler^[6], and merchant^[7].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

[2] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — place of birth (P19): Walldorf. Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2026-10-17. wikidata.org.
[4] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — place of death (P20): Manhattan. wikidata.org.
[22] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — sex or gender (P21): male. Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America. Retrieved 2024-07-05. wikidata.org.
[9] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — father (P22): Johann Jakob Astor. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[10] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — mother (P25): Maria Magdalena. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[11] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — spouse (P26): Sarah Todd. Retrieved 2020-08-07. wikidata.org.
[20] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — country of citizenship (P27): Electoral Palatinate. wikidata.org.
[21] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — country of citizenship (P27): United States. wikidata.org.
[12] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — child (P40): William Backhouse Astor, Sr.. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-11-05. wikidata.org.
[13] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — child (P40): Henry Astor. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[14] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — child (P40): Magdalen Astor. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[15] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — child (P40): Sarah Astor. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[16] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — child (P40): John Jacob Astor. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[17] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — child (P40): Dorothea Astor. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[18] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — child (P40): Eliza Astor. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[19] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — child (P40): unnamed infant son Astor. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[23] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — family (P53): Astor family. wikidata.org.
[5] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — occupation (P106): entrepreneur. wikidata.org.
[6] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — occupation (P106): wholesaler. wikidata.org.
[7] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — occupation (P106): merchant. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[8] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — place of burial (P119): Trinity Church Cemetery. wikidata.org.
[1] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — date of birth (P569): July 17, 1763. SNAC. Retrieved 2017-10-09. wikidata.org.
[3] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — date of death (P570): March 29, 1848. BnF authorities. Retrieved 2015-10-10. wikidata.org.
[24] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — family name (P734): Astor. wikidata.org.
[25] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — given name (P735): John. wikidata.org.
[26] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — given name (P735): Jacob. wikidata.org.
[27] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — depicted by (P1299): John Jacob Astor. wikidata.org.
[28] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — partner in business or sport (P1327): Francis W. Lasak. wikidata.org.
[29] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): Encyclopædia Britannica Ninth Edition. wikidata.org.
[30] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. wikidata.org.
[31] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. wikidata.org.
[32] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): The Nuttall Encyclopædia. wikidata.org.
[33] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. wikidata.org.
[34] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4th edition (1885–1890). wikidata.org.
[35] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): The Biographical Dictionary of America. wikidata.org.
[36] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): The Encyclopedia Americana. wikidata.org.
[37] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): The American Cyclopædia. wikidata.org.
[38] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. wikidata.org.
[39] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): Collier's New Encyclopedia, 1921. wikidata.org.
[40] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): New International Encyclopedia. wikidata.org.
[41] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): The New Student's Reference Work. wikidata.org.
[42] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — described by source (P1343): Meyer’s Universum, Neunzehnter Band. wikidata.org.
[43] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — languages spoken, written or signed (P1412): German. wikidata.org.
[44] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — birth name (P1477): Johann Jakob Astor. wikidata.org.
[45] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — name in native language (P1559): John Jacob Astor. wikidata.org.
[46] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — owner of (P1830): Vanderbilt Mansion. wikidata.org.
[47] ↑ John Jacob Astor I — owner of (P1830): Astor House. wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

Inline context (facts about related entities)

[49] ↑ Waldorf-Astoria Hotel — P31: hotel. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[50] ↑ Waldorf-Astoria Hotel — P17: United States. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[51] ↑ Waldorf-Astoria Hotel — P571: +1893-01-01T00:00:00Z. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[53] ↑ Astoria — P31: city of Oregon. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[54] ↑ Astoria — P17: United States. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[55] ↑ Astoria — P571: +1811-01-01T00:00:00Z. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[57] ↑ Astor Place — P31: street. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[58] ↑ Astor Place — P17: United States. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[60] ↑ Astoria River — P31: river. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[61] ↑ Astoria River — P17: Canada. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA

4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). John Jacob Astor I. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/john-jacob-astor-i

MLA “John Jacob Astor I.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 6 Nov. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/john-jacob-astor-i.

BibTeX

@misc{4ortxyz_john-jacob-astor-i_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{John Jacob Astor I}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/john-jacob-astor-i}, note = {Accessed: 2026-11-06}}

LLM prompt

According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): John Jacob Astor I — https://4ort.xyz/entity/john-jacob-astor-i (retrieved 2026-11-06)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/john-jacob-astor-i · Last refreshed: November 6, 2026

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

3h ago · Printstream · 2026-11-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Claims rich → —

"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/64168|batch #64168]]: add GND as source to unsourced or imported family members"
4d ago · Printstream · 2026-11-02 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Described by source → Encyclopædia Britannica Ninth Edition, Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary +12

Claims rich → —

"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/63393|batch #63393]]: add described by source NDB and NDB-online (1/2)"
20d ago · OKA bot bot · 2026-10-17 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Claims rich → —

"/* wbeditentity-update-languages-and-other-short:0||nb */ other names, source for place of birth, source for date of birth, source for date of death from Store norske leksikon ([[Wikidata:Requests for"
4w ago · Printstream · 2026-10-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Wikipedia languages → ['ar', 'arz', 'ast', 'az', 'bg', 'ca', 'commons', 'cs', 'de', 'en', 'eo', 'es',

P14927 → 118650777

Claims rich → —

"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/57570|batch #57570]]: Import LEO-BW ID"
11w ago · Mahirtwofivesix · 2026-08-18 view diff on Wikidata ↗

BabelNet ID → 00006626n

Arabic Ontology lexical concept ID → 151058856

"/* wbeditentity-statements-multiple-properties-update:0||4 */ added/modified IDs mapped to WordNet 3.1"
17w ago · Nyuhn · 2026-07-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗

P14541 → 1kBVeh

"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/40849|batch #40849]]: ZGBK ID"
19w ago · Printstream · 2026-06-26 view diff on Wikidata ↗

P14536 → 340610

"/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14536: 340610, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1782462304762"
21w ago · BMacZero · 2026-06-12 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Signature → Appletons' Astor John Jacob signature (transparent).png

"/* wbsetclaim-update:2||1 */ Signature: Appletons' Astor John Jacob signature (transparent).png"
24w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-21 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Occupation → entrepreneur, wholesaler, merchant

"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/32118|batch #32118]]: import P21 and P106 from GND (31)"
25w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-15 view diff on Wikidata ↗

CERL Thesaurus ID → cnp01339377

"/* wbremoveclaims-remove:1| */ CERL Thesaurus ID: cnp00578774, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/257929|batch #257929]]"
25w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-12 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Local thumb → —

CERL Thesaurus ID → cnp01339377

"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/30851|batch #30851]]: match CERL IDs on the basis of GND (7)"
25w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-09 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Citizenship → —

Family → Astor family

Depicted by → John Jacob Astor

Occupation → —

+ 25 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)

"/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ CANTIC ID: 981058614775606706, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/257571|batch #257571]]"

Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.