Author: Elizabeth L. Gebhard

Publisher:

Published: 2015-08-06

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 9781332345595

Excerpt from The Life and Ventures of the Original John Jacob Astor: With Illustrations John Jacob Astor was pre-eminently the opener of new paths, a breaker of trails. From his first tramp alone through the Black Forest of Baden, at sixteen, his life never lost this typical touch. In America, both shores of the Hudson, and the wilderness to the Northwest knew his trail. The trees of the forests west of the Mississippi were blazed by his hunters and trappers; and his partners and agents planted through this vast region the flag of the American Fur Company. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were invisibly lined by the path of his vessels. His were the first American ships to habitually circle the globe, trading around the earth. With his far-sighted vision withdrawn from distant scenes, and centered on Manhattan Island, he led the way toward the up building of the largest, and most important city in the new world. Emboldened by Walter Barrett, the racy writer of "Old Merchants of New York" who assures his readers, that "no man would enjoy the publication of the true facts concerning his life, more than Mr. Astor, himself, were he alive," I have not hesitated to give the initial steps in this great mans career, feeling that humble and arduous as they were, they held the keynote to his later successes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.