In Search of a Better Husband: The Sad Fate of Madeleine Astor. John Jacob Astor IV: the man who stayed on deck

Plan:

Introduction

• 1 Biography
• 2 On board the Titanic
• 3 Future life
• 4 Death
Notes

Introduction

Madeleine Talmaj Force(English) Madeleine Talmage Force; June 19, 1893 – March 27, 1940) was the second wife of millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and one of the surviving passengers of the Titanic.

1. Biography

Madeleine was born in Brooklyn, New York to William Harlbut Force and Katherine Arvilla Talmage. had older sister, Katherine Emmons Force. Madeleine first met John Jacob Astor IV at Bear Harbor, Maine, in August 1911, shortly after Mrs. Spencer's graduation. On September 9, 1911, eighteen-year-old Madeleine Force married forty-seven-year-old John Jacob Astor in Newport, at the home of the Astor family.

2. On board the Titanic

The Astors boarded the Titanic as first class passengers in Cherbourg, France. Together with them, the valet Victor Robbins, the maid Rosalina Bidosh, the nurse Caroline Endres and the Airedale Terrier Kitty went on a voyage.

On the night of April 15, 1912, Colonel Astor informed Madeleine about the collision of the ship with the iceberg. He assured that the damage was minor and asked his wife to dress in a purple suit, put on a mink collar and take with her a fur hoop, an emerald and diamond necklace, pearl earrings, wedding ring, some gems and $200.

Madeleine boarded Lifeboat 4 through the window on Promenade A, along with a maid and a nurse. At parting, Astor gave his wife his gloves. John Jacob Astor and his valet died. The colonel's body was found on April 22. Madeleine and the other surviving passengers were rescued by the Carpathia, and later she did not talk about her husband again.

3. Later life

On August 14, 1912, Madeleine gave birth to a son, John Jacob Astor VI, named after his father. Astor's son, William Vincent, claimed that the child was not the biological son of the late Colonel.

On June 22, 1916, Madeleine married banker William Carl Dick (1888-1953). In marriage, they had two sons, William and John. On July 21, 1933, the couple divorced. Four months later, she married Italian boxer Enzo Firemont in a civil ceremony in New York. Five years later, on June 11, 1938, they divorced and Madeleine took back her surname Dick.

4. Death

Madeleine Astor died of heart disease in Palm Beach, Florida on March 27, 1940, at the age of 46. She was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York.

Notes

1. Titanic Passengers | Information regarding Titanic's passengers and Crew - www.titanic-passengers.com/madeleineastor.htm
2. Madeleine Astor - eNotes.com Reference - www.enotes.com/topic/Madeleine_Astor
3. Madeleine Force Astor Biography - Biography.com - www.biography.com/articles/Madeleine-Force-Astor-283808
4. Reference for Madeleine Astor - Search.com - www.search.com/reference/Madeleine_Astor
5. Madeleine Astor - Ask Jeeves Encyclopedia - uk.ask.com/wiki/Madeleine_Astor
6. Mrs. Fiermonte Dead In Florida - www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/item/3259/, Associated Press in the New York Times(March 28, 1940). "The Household of Mrs. Madeleine Force Astor Fiermonte stated early today that she was dead. Mrs. Madeleine Force Astor Dick Fiermonte was married three times, and divorced twice. Her first marriage to Colonel John Jacob Astor, head of the Astor family in this country, was of short duration, ending when he lost his life in the Titanic disaster. Her second union, that with William K. Dick, member of a family whose fortune was made in the sugar refining business, terminated when she divorced him in Reno. ...".
7. Madeline Force Astor (1893 - 1940) - Find A Grave Memorial - www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6596962

• William Buckhouse Astor Jr. (William Backhouse Astor, Jr.) - father (07/12/1829 - 04/25/1892)
• Carolina Webster Shermion (Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor) - mother (09/21/1830 - 10/30/1908)
• Ava Lowle Willing - first wife (09/15/1868 - 07/09/1958; marriage 1891 - 1909)
• Madeleine Talmage Force (Madeleine Talmage Force) - second wife (06/19/1893 - 03/27/1940; marriage 1911 - 1912)
• William Vincent Astor - son (11/15/1891 - 02/3/1959)
• Ava Alice Muriel Astor (Ava Alice Muriel Astor) - daughter (07/07/1902 - 07/19/1956)
• John Jacob Astor VI (John Jacob Astor VI) - son (08/14/1912 - 06/26/1992)

American millionaire, businessman, writer, participant in the Spanish-American War and a member of the famous Astor family in the United States. One of the four writers - John Jacob Astor IV, Jacques Heath Futrelle, Francis Davis Millet and William Thomas Stead - who published fiction at least once who died on the infamous Titanic. Born in Rhinebeck, New York, into a family of fur and real estate traders, the Astor family is one of the wealthiest families in the United States. Young John studied at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and then at Harvard University, Massachusetts. From 1894 to 1896, he was on the staff of Governor Levi P. Morton, and after the start of the Spanish-American War in 1898, he financed a bloc of volunteers artillery battery. He was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army and served as a staff officer in Cuba. After studying, John Astor continued family business in real estate. In 1897, he built the Astoria Hotel in New York, the most luxurious hotel in the world, to which the hotel adjoined cousin Astor, William Waldorf Astor. The hotel was called the Waldorf Hotel. The complex of two hotels became known as the "Waldorf-Astoria Hotel" (it was these hotels that received the surviving passengers of the 1st class after the crash of the Titanic). In addition, he patented several inventions, including bicycle brakes, pneumatic road reclamators, and helped develop the turbine engine. During honeymoon trip in Egypt and Europe, Astor's second wife, Madeleine Talmaj Force, became pregnant and insisted that the child be born in the United States. The family bought tickets for the Titanic in Cherbourg as 1st class passengers. Astor's valet, Victor Robbins, maid Madeleine Rosalie Bydos, and nurse Caroline Louise Andrews boarded the ship with them. In addition, their pet, an Airedale Terrier named Kitty, went on a trip with them. Astor was the richest passenger on board the Titanic. After the ship collided with an iceberg, John put his wife on the boat along with the maid and nurse, while he himself remained on board the Titanic. The body of the 47-year-old millionaire was discovered on April 22, 1912 by the SS Mackay-Bennett. John Jacob Astor was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York. Madeleine and other surviving passengers were rescued by the Carpathia liner, and on August 14, 1912, Madeleine Astor gave birth to her second son, John Jacob Astor VI, but later she never spoke of her husband again. In the history of world science fiction, the name of John Jacob Astor is marked by the authorship of the utopian novel A Journey in Other Worlds (1894), which describes space travel to Saturn and Jupiter, made by three earthlings in 2088. The planet Earth of the 21st century appears to the reader as a fantastic and beautiful world. Its seas are plowed by mechanical "water striders" on an air cushion, flywheels on "apergic" traction soar in the sky, and the hero drives around the country on an electric phaeton (The idea of ​​the so-called "apergic" traction was borrowed by the author from Percy Greg's novel) "Across the Zodiac" (Across the Zodiac, 1880)). A grandiose project of the Earth's Axis Alignment is being carried out - more precisely, reducing its inclination to the plane of the ecliptic from 23 to 11 degrees, which will make seasonal climate changes not so pronounced ... The political world order, however, is far from perfect in everything: although the American continent, from Canada in the north to Cape Horn in the south, and gradually united into the United States of America, Eurasia continues to be torn apart by contradictions. " cold war» between Russia, Germany and France has become protracted; the cunning British did not fail to take advantage of the weakening of their continental opponents and extended colonial influence throughout Africa and Asia. Spaceship the heroes of the novel, named "Callisto", sets off on an "apergic" draft on a long journey beyond solar system, but stops first at Jupiter and then at Saturn. On Jupiter, the heroes of the novel discover almost the Garden of Eden, waiting for the appearance of their Adam and Eve, and on Saturn, on the contrary, it turns out that it is possible to talk with the souls of the dead righteous on earth.

Author's works

Novels
• 1894 - A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future / Fig. Dan Beard. - ed. "D. Appleton & Company" (New York), 1894. - 476 p. (P)
  Same: ed. "Longmans, Green and Co.", 1894. - 476 p. (p) The same: ed. C. Ulrich", 1894. - 476 p. (p) The same: ed. "D. Appleton & Company" (New York), 1898. - 476 p. (p) Same: Fig. Dan Beard. - ed. "University of Nebraska Press", 2003. - 234 p. - (Bison Frontiers of Imagination). $16.95 (o) ISBN 0-8032-5949-2 Same: ed. "Collector's Guide Publishing", 2011. - 300 pp. $ 9.95 (o) ISBN 978-1-897350-57-7

Individual editions

• Journey to Other Worlds: A Novel of the Future. - St. Petersburg: Ed. A. Suvorina, 1895. - 338 p. (p) - [John Jacob Astaire]

Creativity of the author

• Everett Bleiler. Rec. based on John Jacob Astor's novel A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future by John Jacob Astor: Review by Everett F. Bleiler // Everett F. Bleiler, Richard Bleiler (Richard J. Bleiler). Science fiction: early years(Science Fiction: The Early Years). - ed. Kent State University Press, 1991 - p.24
• David Seed. Rec. based on John Jacob Astor's novel A Journey in Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor: Review by David Seed // Foundation magazine, 2004, No. 92 (summer) - p.121-122

Although Astor's contribution to science fiction is limited to this book, his biography is quite worthy of dwelling on it in more detail.

John Jacob Astor IV was a hereditary millionaire.

His great-grandfather, John Jacob Astor I, is among the most famous industrialists in American history, having made a huge fortune in the fur trade in the late eighteenth century.

His great-grandson was born July 13, 1864 in the family home in the town of Renebeck, New York. After graduating from Harvard, he traveled in 1888 and returned to the States three years later to take over the reins of family wealth. In addition to literary creativity, Astor was also fond of invention. Of course, he was not equal to Edison in this field, but on his inventive account there is such a useful thing as a bicycle brake (a patent was issued in his name in 1898). In addition, he took part in the creation of a turboprop engine and a pneumatic road rammer.

In 1897, inspired by the example of his cousin, William Waldorf Astor, who built a hotel in New York, John Jacob Astor invested in the construction of another luxury hotel. The nearby buildings received common name, which was destined to become famous all over the world - "Waldorf-Astoria". At that time, it was the largest hotel complex in the world. Subsequently, Astor also built the St. Regis and the Knickerbocker hotels.
During the Spanish-American War, Astor donated his personal yacht "Nurmahal" for the needs of the American government, and also equipped a battery of mountain artillery at his own expense.

He himself also did not intend to sit in the rear, and in 1898 he received the rank of colonel in a volunteer battalion.
Since 1891, Astor was married to Ava Willing, they had a son and a daughter.

However, in 1909, Astor suddenly filed for divorce, and in 1911 he married eighteen-year-old Madeleine Force (Astor's son, William Vincent, was a year older than her).

Public opinion greeted this marriage with a muffled grumble, and the newlyweds preferred to go overseas to let the noise die down. They traveled in Egypt, lived in Paris, and decided to return to New York only when Madeleine was already five months pregnant.
In April 1912, the Astors and their servants occupied two first-class cabins on the Titanic. Under John there was a footman (Mr Victor Robbins), under Madeleine - a maid (Miss Rosalie Bidois) and a nurse (Miss Caroline Louise Endres). In addition, the Astors were accompanied by their beloved Airedale Terrier Kitty.

Immediately after the fatal blow, Astor left the cabin to find out what had happened, and almost immediately returned with a message that the liner had collided with an ice floe. The incident, he said, was not dangerous. However, after some time, first-class passengers were asked to climb out of their cabins onto the promenade deck. Astor asked his wife to dress in a purple suit, throw on a mink collar, and take with her a fur band, an emerald and diamond necklace, pearl earrings, an engagement ring, several gems, and $200. The Astors sat among the sports equipment on the gymnastic ground. John was calm, he did not show concern even when passengers began to take their places in the boats - he believed that the deck of a huge liner was much more reliable than overloaded lifeboats. At a quarter to two in the morning, mate Charles Lightoller appeared on deck, who ordered the boats to be lowered, and only after that Astor helped his wife, her maid and nurse to climb through the porthole of the closed promenade deck into boat No. 4. He told Lightoller that Madeleine was "in a delicate position and asked if he could join her. Lightoller replied that the men should remain on deck until all the women were in the boats. Astor nodded, gave his wife his gloves, stepped aside, and for the rest of the time he calmly watched from afar the attempts of passengers to launch other boats. Robbins brought Kitty, and the faithful dog sat at his feet the whole time.
His body was raised from the water on April 22 - exactly one week after the disaster. The faithful Robbins and Kitty also perished.
Madeleine and the rest of the passengers in lifeboat No. 4 survived.

Astor was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York.

Madeleine had a son in August, who at baptism received a name in honor of his father -

Madeleine Talmaj Force(English Madeleine Talmage Force; June 19, 1893 - March 27, 1940) - the second wife of millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and one of the surviving passengers of the Titanic.

Biography

Madeleine was born in Brooklyn, New York to William Harlbut Force and Katherine Arvilla Talmage. Had an older sister, Katherine Emmons Force. Madeleine first met John Jacob Astor IV at Bear Harbor, Maine, in August 1911, shortly after Mrs. Spencer's graduation. On September 9, 1911, eighteen-year-old Madeleine Force married forty-seven-year-old John Jacob Astor in Newport, at the home of the Astor family.

On board the Titanic

The Astors boarded the Titanic as first class passengers in Cherbourg, France. Together with them, the valet Victor Robbins, the maid Rosalina Bidosh, the nurse Caroline Endres and the Airedale Terrier Kitty went on a voyage.

On the night of April 15, 1912, Colonel Astor informed Madeleine about the collision of the ship with the iceberg. He assured that the damage was minor and asked his wife to dress in a purple suit, put on a mink collar and take with her a fur hoop, an emerald and diamond necklace, pearl earrings, an engagement ring, several precious stones and $ 200.

Madeleine boarded lifeboat number 4 through the window on Promenade A, along with a maid and a nurse. At parting, Astor gave his wife his gloves. John Jacob Astor and his valet died. The colonel's body was found on April 22. Madeleine and the other surviving passengers were rescued by the Carpathia, and later she did not talk about her husband again.

Future life

On August 14, 1912, Madeleine gave birth to a son, John Jacob Astor VI, named after his father. Astor's son, William Vincent, claimed that the child was not the biological son of the late Colonel.

On June 22, 1916, Madeleine married banker William Carl Dick (1888-1953). In marriage, they had two sons, William and John. On July 21, 1933, the couple divorced. Four months later, she married Italian boxer Enzo Firemont in a civil ceremony in New York. Five years later, on June 11, 1938, they divorced and Madeleine took back her surname Dick.

Death

Madeleine Astor died of heart disease in Palm Beach, Florida on March 27, 1940, at the age of 46. She was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York.

In cinema

• 1943: Titanic - Charlotte Thiele
• 1953: Titanic - Francis Bergen
• 1979: Save the Titanic - Beverly Ross
• 1996: Titanic - Jen Mortil
• 1997: Titanic - Charlotte Chatton
• 2003: Ghosts of the Abyss: Titanic - Piper Gunnarson
• 2012: Titanic - Angela Ecke

30.11.2010 - 10:00

Writer Morgan Robertson wrote a novel in 1898 called The Wreck of the Titan or Futility. On an April night, this liner collided with an iceberg. Fourteen years later, the White Star Line built the liner, which they called the Titanic ... On April 10, 1912, he set off on his maiden voyage. On board the Titanic was another predictor of the future, multimillionaire John Astor the fourth ...

Clan Astor

The founder of America's most famous clan, John Astor was born in 1763. At the age of seventeen, with a few pennies in his pocket, he left his hometown in the German county of Baden on foot and went to England. From the Old World, Astor arrived in the promised America for emigrants. He made his fortune on the fur trade, which he bought from the Indians in the trading posts of Alaska - one can only imagine what adventures he then had to endure, and what intelligence and resourcefulness he needs to have in order to survive among the Indians and the harsh conquerors of the North.

In 1808, Astor created the famous American Fur Company, which long years becomes a monopoly in the fur trade. This is followed by real estate speculation, which multiply the already significant fortune of a millionaire.

The size of Astor's money bag can also be judged by the fact that the US government during the Anglo-American war of 1812-1814 asks him for a loan. And Astor agrees. But provides a loan under extraordinary high percent, and this leads to the fact that his condition becomes simply fabulous. Interestingly, the biographies of all Astors inspired writers of different times to display the life conflicts of representatives of this amazing family. This has been started since time immemorial. The American writer Washington Irving (1783-1859) wrote an enthusiastic book, Astoria, in which he admired the enterprise and perseverance of the fur king.

To the credit of the Astors, it must be said that they spent a significant part of their enormous fortune on charity. So, one of the attractions of New York, the public library, was founded by John Astor the first, and subsequent generations of this family supplemented and expanded it. They also multiplied the fortune left by the enterprising founding father of America's richest family...

Heir of millions

The great-grandson of the founder of the clan of millionaires, John Astor IV was born on July 13, 1864. His childhood was quite happy and, of course, prosperous - the fortune of the Astors in those years had already reached astronomical sums. The offspring of the famous family graduated from Harvard and in 1888 went to travel. Three years of wandering around cities and towns, and then Astor returns to the States to take the reins of family capital management. Astor the fourth, in the best traditions of his family, increases the clan's capital by exporting Canadian furs and being practically a monopolist in the European fur market.

But Astor, entrepreneur, millionaire, capitalist, has qualities that distinguish him from the rest of the family. He is completely different from his grandfather, whom one of his contemporaries called "a machine invented on his own project for the production of money." Being engaged in trade, John Astor the fourth manages to do absolutely amazing things. During the Spanish-American War of 1898, Astor donated his personal yacht "Nurmahal" for the needs of the American government, and also completely equipped a battery of mountain artillery at his own expense.

And in his spare time he was engaged in invention. With his participation, such useful mechanisms as a turboprop engine and a pneumatic road rammer used in road construction were created. In addition, he invented such an indispensable and well-known thing as a bicycle brake - a patent in the name of John Astor IV was issued in 1898.

But the most amazing thing is that this multimillionaire also wrote books! His fantasy novel"Journey to Other Worlds" was born in 1894. The book takes place in 2000. The bold imagination of the offspring of a famous clan managed to look many years ahead and see there a magnetic railway and electric cars, actually invented in the 20th century. In this novel, hovercraft sail the seas, and numerous flywheels fly in the sky ... The entrepreneur dreamed that he would be leveled earth's axis, and this will lead to a milder climate throughout the earth. And Astor in this novel dreamed of flying to Saturn and Jupiter ...

Astors on the run

But earthly life was far from fantastic dreams. In 1909, Astor suddenly shocked the public - he annulled his marriage to Ava Willing, to whom he had been married for 18 years and married Madeleine Force. The 18-year-old girl was 28 years younger than Astor, and was almost the same age as his son from his first marriage. The public condemned this step, and the newlyweds went on a trip abroad - to wait until the passions subside. They decided to return to New York only when Madeleine was already 5 months pregnant. Tickets were bought for a new liner that amazed everyone with its luxury and beauty...

In April 1912, the Astors and their servants occupied two first-class cabins on the Titanic. These were the most expensive cabins, costing $4,000 ($50,000 at current prices). These rooms even had a private promenade deck. Since quite a lot of rich people sailed on the ship, for them the journey turned into a competition - who has the most beautiful outfits or the most expensive jewelry.

Madeleine Astor shone in outfits from the most famous tailors, and her husband sought to satisfy her slightest desire, throwing money right and left. So, eyewitnesses recalled that, for example, it cost nothing for John to throw away, without hesitation, $ 800 for a lace jacket, which was demonstrated on the deck by some merchant during the Titanic's parking in Queenstown. In luxury and in anticipation of a long and happy life Astors returned home...

Too much ice

They say that after the fatal impact on the iceberg, Astor tried to joke and said "Yes, I ordered ice, but it's still too much ...". At first, all the passengers and the multimillionaire himself were sure that nothing terrible had happened. The Astors remained in their luxurious cabin for some time. But soon first-class passengers were asked to go up to the promenade deck. According to the survivors, John for a long time believed that it was much safer to be on the deck of such a huge "unsinkable" vessel than in a boat.

But as time went on, the situation became more and more critical, and Astor admitted that salvation was possible only on a boat. He continued to remain calm, even when the panic set in. Astor helped his wife, her maid and nurse into the boat and asked the mate if he could join them in view of the "delicate position" of Mrs. Astor. He replied that all the men should remain on deck until all the women and children were seated. Astor said goodbye to his wife and stayed with the rest of the men.

The surviving hairdresser August Wijkman then spoke about the last minutes spent on the Titanic in the company of the famous millionaire - the disaster brought together those who used to stand on different social levels. The prikmacher was proud to death that he communicated on an equal footing with strong of the world this. “I asked him if he would like to shake hands with me,” Weikman recalled. "With pleasure," replied Astor. "But, nevertheless, the disenfranchised and poor barber escaped after the greatest catastrophe, and his money did not help the omnipotent millionaire ...

A week after the sinking of the Titanic, the body of John Astor was discovered - with $ 2,500 in his pocket. Experts believed that the millionaire died from the collapsed chimney of the Titanic. But in an essay by Washington Dodge, a San Francisco lawyer, it was written about John Astor and Archie Butt, Assistant to the President of the United States: "They went down, standing side by side on the bridge of the liner. It was undoubtedly them, I could not misunderstand ". One way or another, but the dreamer with an iron grip died ...

Madeleine survived. When she arrived in New York, she was greeted in two cars carrying two doctors and a qualified nurse. Fortunately, the child was not injured, and in August 1912 she gave birth to a son, naming him John Astor Fifth. Madeleine never told anyone about the circumstances of the night of the death of the Titanic and about her farewell to her husband ...

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