Chronicles of American Wealth / Nr 1 / May 2001
Content :
1. A new look for “A Classification of American Wealth”
2. Introducing “Encyclopaedia of American Wealth”
3. The Astors : A dynasty of New York City landlords
1. A new look for “A Classification of American Wealth”
To improve navigation within the web site and online book, “A Classification of American Wealth” has been
completely redesigned by RAKEN Services, the webmaster of www.raken.com and our sponsor. The work has been
structured along three relevant periods in the history of wealth accumulation in America : the Colonial and Mercantile
periods (1650-1860), the Gilded Age (1865-1930) and the Twentieth Century (1930-2000). Shorter pages allow easier
reference while still letting you read the work as a book. Bibliographical information and links are centralized for each
chapter and summarized for the whole work. These sections are still being worked on. Cross references with links to
the Encyclopaedia part further deepen the content. RAKEN is allowed more banner space but they will use part of this
to promote providers of related content, notably books, genealogy networks and vendors of collectibles.
2. Introducing “Encyclopaedia of American Wealth”
“Encyclopaedia of American Wealth” is a completely new part of the website. It is RAKEN’s answer to my concern of
sharing my research on history and genealogy of the wealthy families in America and allow users a structured research
of the subject. The encyclopaedia part is set to contain lists of wealthy Americans for every generation since 1675,
ordered by family, state or colony, activity or fortune. It also contains more detailed profiles of wealthy Americans,
including their families (parents, spouses, children), their activities and properties as well as a biographical sketch.
Emphasis is being put on the way they accumulated, administered or spent their wealth. As with the main text section
of “A Classification of American Wealth” the encyclopaedia section is in no ways finished, but rather thought as an
evolutive web site, where new and additional information is being gathered. Thus the presently available lists and
profiles will be completed and new content will be added regularly. Browse through the lists and profiles of
“Encyclopedia of American Wealth” and learn more about the history and genealogy of the wealthy families of
America …
3. The Astors : A dynasty of New York City landlords
When the first John Jacob Astor came to New York in 1784, he was just another German immigrant and all he owned
was his suit, seven flutes and 5 pounds sterling. Nothing could have hinted then, that this undersized man would once
own more of Manhattan’s valuable real estate than any other man, nor that the dynasty he founded would once rule
New York’s High Society. Yet when he died in 1848, no New Yorker was actually surprised that he was the richest man
in the city, though the extent of his fortune, 20’000’000 $, was more most men could imagine. The Astor fortune was
administered and extended by his able second son William Backhouse Astor, who handed it down to his two sons,
John Jacob Astor III and William Astor. The latter married Caroline Webster Schermerhorn, from an old
Dutch-American dynasty of ship chandlers, merchants and realtors, who as Mrs Astor ruled New York and Newport
Society for 30 years during the Gilded Age. In the fourth generation the family split, as William Waldorf Astor, the
only son of the third John Jacob, removed his branch of the family to England, where they ascended to nobility and
influenced public opinion through their newspapers. The American branch of the Astor family was struck with tragedy
in 1912, when John Jacob Astor IV died on the Titanic, the worst sea disaster ever and to some, the end of the Gilded
Age. Other Astors or their in-laws figured prominently in American or English Society, and the family is still
remembered for towering wealth nowadays, although the last of the rich Astors, Vincent Astor, died childless in 1959.
Read the story of the Astors and other wealthy American families at “A Classification of American Wealth” …
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