William B. Astor - Harlem River and Portchester Railroad - $5,000 Bond - Autogra For Sale

$5,000 7% Bond issued to Wm. B. Astor shortly before he died. Not signed. Printed by Continental Bank Note Co., New York. Rare and nice! William Backhouse Astor (1792-1875), Capitalist, born in New York City, the son of John Jacob Astor. He is best known as the "augmentor of the Astor millions". He became a man of great wealth. On the death of his father in 1848, he succeeded to the rank of the richest man in the United States. This extraordinarily beautiful bond is neatly made out to Wm. B. Astor, New York City. (Not signed) $5,000 denomination, 1870's, hole and stamp cancelled. Includes a nice portrait. Excellent Condition. Rare! William Backhouse Astor Sr. (September 19, 1792 " November 24, 1875) was an American business magnate who inherited most of his father John Jacob Astor's fortune. He worked as a partner in his father's successful export business. His massive investment in Manhattan real estate enabled major donations to the Astor Library in the East Village, which became the New York Public Library. William was born in New York City on September 19, 1792 and named after William Backhouse, a friend of his father who was a New York merchant. He was a son of fur-trader John Jacob Astor (1763"1848) and Sarah Cox Todd (1761"1834). His seven siblings were Magdalena (1788"1832), Sarah (1790"1790), John Jr. (1791"1869), Dorothea (1795"1874), Henry (1797"1799), Eliza (1801"1838), and an unnamed brother who died shortly after his November 13, 1802 birth. He attended local public schools. His spare hours and vacations were employed in assisting his father in the store. When he was sixteen, he was sent to the University of Gttingen in Germany, where he joined the German Student Corps Curonia of the Baltic German students; later he moved to the University of Heidelberg. He chose as his tutor a student, afterward known as the Chevalier Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.