Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/137

Rh of poor children, combined with an asylum for the aged and needy. His fortune at the time of his death was estimated at $20,000,000. Fitz-Greene Halleck, the poet, who was his secretary for seventeen years, expressed the opinion that Mr. Astor would have been eminently successful in any profession. &mdash;

His eldest son, William Backhouse, capitalist, b. in New York, 19 Sept., 1792; d. in that city, 24 Nov., 1875. Until he was sixteen he went to the public schools, employing his spare hours and vacations in assisting his father in the store. He was then sent to Heidelberg, and after two years went to Göttingen in 1810, and chose as his tutor a student, afterward known as the Chevalier Bunsen, with whom he also travelled. On his return to New York at the age of twenty-three, his father engaged in the China trade, and took him into partnership. The house was known as John Jacob Astor &amp; Son from 1815 till 1827. In the latter year the firm, which was one of the largest in the China trade, was dissolved, the Astors retired from the Canton trade, and the American fur company was formed, with William B. Astor as its president, though the father took the more active part in the business, which for several years yielded large profits. Finally the elder Astor withdrew, and was soon followed by his son, and from that time forth neither of them engaged again in commerce. When John Jacob Astor died in 1848, he made his eldest son his sole heir, although he provided well for his other relatives. William was already rich, having been successful in business, and having received from his uncle, Henry, a fortune of $500,000, and from his father the title to the Astor House property as a gift. William B. Astor, then fifty-six years of age, gave himself to the preservation and growth of the vast property. He added to the bequest of his father for the Astor library the sum of $250,000, of which he paid during his lifetime $201,000 in land, books, and money. The edifice was completed under his directions in May, 1853. In 1855 he presented to the trustees the adjoining lot, and erected thereon a similar structure, which was completed in 1859. He next gave $50,000 for the purchase of books. He gave much patient attention for many years to the administration of the library. Following the example of his father, he invested in real estate, principally situated below Central park, between 4th and 7th avenues, which rapidly increased in value. For about thirteen years prior to 1873 he was largely engaged in building, until much of his hitherto unoccupied land was covered by houses, mostly of the first class. He was said to own in 1867 as many as 720 houses, and he was also heavily interested in railroad, coal, and insurance companies. Besides other charitable gifts, he gave $50,000 to St. Luke's hospital, and in his will he left $200,000 to the Astor library, in addition to $49,000, the unexpended balance of his

earlier donation. His estate, estimated at $100,000,000, was divided by his will between his two sons, John Jacob and William Astor, who were given only a life interest in the residuary estate, which descends to their children. The gifts and bequests of William B. Astor to the Astor library amounted altogether to about $550,000. In 1879 his eldest son, John Jacob, presented three lots adjoining the library building, and erected on them a third structure similar to the others, and added a story to the central building. The edifice is represented on page 112. His outlay, exclusive of land, was about $250,000, making the entire gift of the Astor family more than $1,000,000. &mdash; William Waldorf, son of John Jacob, was graduated at Columbia law school in 1875. He served one term in the New York state senate, and was an unsuccessful candidate for congress. He was U. S. minister to Italy from 1882 till 1885, and has published &ldquo;Valentino,&rdquo; an Italian romance (New York, 1886), and &ldquo;Sforza, a Story of Milan&rdquo; (1889).

ATAHUALPA, or ATABALIPA (ah'-ta-oo-al'-pa), inca of Peru at the time of the invasion of the Spaniards, d. 29 Aug., 1533. He was the son of Huayna Capac. The laws of Peru required that the principal wives of the incas should be blood relatives, and that no children of other parentage should be legitimate. Atahualpa's mother had been a princess of Quito; nevertheless, at the request of his father, the heir to the throne, Huascar, consented to divide the kingdom with Atahualpa, on condition only that he should render homage to him, and not make conquests beyond his own dominions. This liberal conduct was infamously requited by Atahualpa, who, having secretly got together a large army, attacked Huascar in Cuzco, took him prisoner, and exterminated all his adherents, putting his family and immediate dependents to death in the most atrocious tortures. Such is the story told by Spanish annalists, whose testimony is doubtful, seeing that the murder of Huascar, their pseudo-ally, and the tyranny of Atahualpa were among the causes of his own execution. Pizarro and his followers were now in Peru, and Atahualpa opened negotiations with them. His proposals were received in a friendly manner by Pizarro, and an interview was arranged (1532), which Atahualpa attended, followed by a large number of unarmed subjects. Father Vicente de Valverde explained to him, through an interpreter, the mysteries of religion, and that, on account of their heathenism, the pope had granted his kingdom to the Spaniards. Atahualpa professed not to understand the tenor of this discourse, and would not resign his kingdom, whereupon a massacre of the assembled crowd was at once begun by the Spanish soldiers, who seized Atahualpa and threw him into prison. On the arrival of Almagro the cupidity of the adventurers was excited by the magnificent proposals that Atahualpa made for his ransom, and with a desire of seizing the whole it was