The Birthday of Eternity

John Jacob Astor IV, died April 15, 1912

John Jacob Astor IV was divorced from his wife in 1909. Since divorce was considered a scandal, society was shocked when Astor married for a second time.  On September 9, 1911, at the age of 47, he married 18-year-old Madeleine Talmage Force. Their wedding was held in his mother's ballroom at Beechwood, the family's Newport, Rhode Island mansion. Madeleine was a year younger than Astor's son, Vincent. 

Madeleine Astor

 The couple took an extended honeymoon in Europe and Egypt.  Among the few Americans who did not spurn him at this time was Margaret Brown, later fictionalized as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". She accompanied the Astors to Egypt and France and, by coincidence, was called home to the U.S. at the same time the Astors also found it necessary to abbreviate their touring.

Margaret Brown: "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"

While traveling, Madeleine became pregnant, and wanting the child born in the U.S., the Astors boarded the RMS Titatnic on her maiden voyage to New York. They embarked in Cherbourg, France, in first class and were the wealthiest passengers aboard. Their staterooms had working fireplaces and adjoining quarters for servants.  The suites cost $4,000.00, an amount that equals $50,000.00 in today's dollars.

Accompanying the Astors were Astor's valet, Victor Robbins; Madeleine's maid, Rosalie Bidois, and her nurse, Caroline Louise Endres. 

Rosalie Bidois

Caroline Louise Endres

They also took their pet dog, an Airedale  Kitty. The Astors were deeply fond of their dog and had come close to losing her on a previous trip when she went missing in Egypt. 

Madeleine, Kitty, and Astor

The Titantic, sank four days into its maiden voyage after colliding with an iceberg.

When Second Officer Charles Lightoller arrived on A Deck to finish loading Lifeboat 4, Astor helped his wife, with her maid and nurse, into it. Astor then asked if he might join his wife because she was in "a delicate condition"; however, Lightoller told him that men were not to be allowed to board until all the women and children had been loaded. 

Charles Lightoller

After Lifeboat 4 was lowered at 1:55 am, Astor is said to have stood alone while others tried to free the remaining collapsible boats.  He was last seen alive on the starboard bridge wing, smoking a cigarette with Jacques Futrelle.

Jacques Futrelle

Thirty minutes later, the ship disappeared beneath the ocean.  Astor and his valet, Victor Robbins, did not survive. Kitty, their dog, also did not survive.

John Jacob Astor IV died on April 15, 1912, at the age of 48. 

Astor was among the 1,514 people on board who did not survive. He was the richest passenger aboard the Titanic, and was considered to be the richest person in the world at that time.

Madeleine, her nurse and her maid survived. The Astor baby was considered by some to be  a Titanic survivor, albeit in utero.

In the aftermath, ships were sent out to retrieve the bodies from the site of the sinking; of the 1,517 passengers and crew that perished in the sinking, only 333 bodies were ever recovered. Astor's body was recovered on April 22. He was identified by the initials sewn on the label of his jacket. Among the items found on him was a gold pocket watch which his son, Vincent, claimed and wore the rest of his life.

Astor was thought for years to have been killed by one of the ship's falling  funnels, because reports persisted that his body was recovered in a mangled state, but all who examined his body maintained that it was in perfect condition with no bruising.

Astor was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City. 

Astor's funeral in New York City

Astor left $69 million of his $85 million estate ($2.08 billion in 2012 dollars) to his eldest son, Vincent.  This included his estate in Rhinebeck and his yacht, the Noma.  With the loss of his father,  Vincent Astor, age 20, became the richest young man in America.

Astor Estate in Rhinebeck, New York

To his wife Madeleine, he left a $5 million trust fund, an annual paycheck of $500,000, use of his New York mansion 65th & Fifth Avenue, all its furnishings, and his Newport mansion, Beechwood, and all of its furnishings, pick of whichever luxury limo she wanted from his collection and five of his prized horses—as long as she did not remarry. 

Interior of Astor's New York City Mansion

His daughter, Alice (who lived with her mother Ava, Astor's ex-wife), received a $10 million trust fund.

Alice Astor

No specific provision for the unborn child had yet been made, but a clause of his father's will provided that any surviving child, other than Vincent and Alice, would receive a bequest of $3 million, to be held in trust until the child reached age 21.  This amount eventually went to the youngest Astor on his 21st birthday. His share of the estate amounted to 2% of that of his elder half-brother.

On August 14, 1912, Madeleine Astor gave birth to his second son, John Jacob Astor VI at her Fifth Avenue mansion in New York City.

John Jacob Astor VI