Excerpt - page 23: "... 1 MRS. ASTOR HOLDS COURT FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES, New York was dominated by a stately, proud woman who used her family's name and ..."
Excerpt - page 3: "... hotels-all, all belonged to the Astors. Possession of land and houses led to the possession of power and the family became a potent force in both national and city politics. ..."
Excerpt - page 96: "... 55 When she, Caroline Schermerhorn, had married William Backhouse Astor, Jr., twenty years before, she was convinced she had bestowed on the Astorfamily an extraordinary gift. ..."
Excerpt - page 71: "... an English merchant, recorded in his diary how Alexander Henry, Astor's old friend and shareholder of the Northwest Company, ..."
