EP 6.7

EP 6.7

The original location for the Library was to be the very corner of the Crossroad at Lafayette Place and Art Street, or the aforementioned Astor Place. John Jacob Astor, having so much wealth, in fact being the 5th wealthiest man in the world at the time of his death, only behind the likes of Baron Rothschild, Louis Phillippe, the Duke of Devonshire, and Sir Robert Peel, would have 8 codicil to his final will and testament. Leaving plenty of wealth to his family, the largest amount to his eldest son William Backhouse Astor Sr. William also being the sole inheritor of his lesser known uncle Henry Astor or Ashdor I, after his fathers passing would become the wealthiest man in America, and the first one to carry on the legacy of Johns fur trading fortune, the American Fur Company. Though unlike most rich kids and children of PhINOs, or Philanthropists In Name Only, William took heed to his fathers advice. Though leaving behind fur trading and instead focusing on real estate, another trade he learned from his father, whom at one time attempted to establish his own city in Oregon named Astoria. William, at one time owned as many as 720 houses mostly situated at the south end of Central Park, meaning at the time he owned them, they were probably the most valuable real estate on Manhattan Island.