1851 dated Utica and Schenectady Rail-Road Co. Issued to Wm. B. Astor as executor of John Jacob Astor and signed by Erastus Corning - Autographed Stocks and Bonds

Transfer sheet issued to Wm. B. Astor (as executor of John Jacob Astor). Signed by Erastus Corning as his attorney.

William Backhouse Astor, Jr. (July 12, 1830 – April 25, 1892) was a businessman and a member of the prominent Astor family. He was the father of John Jacob IV, who died aboard the Titanic. 

The younger son of William Backhouse Astor, Sr., he was joint heir to the Astor real estate empire, though he left its active management to his elder brother John Jacob Astor III (1822–1890).

In 1853 he married the socially ambitious Caroline Webster Schermerhorn, who reigned over New York and Newport society as simply "the Mrs. Astor." William, however, had little interest in society parties, and his wife would try to have him kept late at his club to prevent him coming home and throwing the orchestra out and sending his children to bed.

He supported the abolition of slavery before the Civil War, and during the war, he personally bore the cost to equip an entire Union Army regiment.

Unlike his business oriented father, William Backhouse Astor, Jr. did not aggressively pursue an expansion of his inherited fortune, preferring life aboard the "Ambassadress," at the time the largest private yacht in the world, or horseback riding at Ferncliff, the large estate he had built on the Hudson River. Astor's horse "Vagrant" won the 1876 running of the Kentucky Derby.

William Astor often spent winters in Jacksonville, Florida aboard his yacht and was responsible for the construction of a number of prominent buildings in the city. Liking the area, in 1874, he purchased a land tract of around 80,000 acres along the St. Johns River north of Orlando in an area now called Lake County, Florida. There, on what had once been a 16th century Huguenot settlement destroyed by the Spanish, he and two partners used 12,000 acres to build an entire town that he named Manhattan but was later changed to Astor in his honor.

His project, which would come to include several hotels, began with the construction of wharves on the river to accommodate steamboats. These steamboats attracted a steamship agency that could bring in the necessary materials and supplies. William Astor enjoyed his development and purchased a railroad that connected the town to the "Great Lakes Region" of Florida. He donated the town's first church and the land for the local non-denominational cemetery, and he also helped build a schoolhouse, both of which are still standing today. In 1875, one of the many nearby lakes was named Lake Schermerhorn after William Astor's wife, Caroline Schermerhorn Astor.

The town of Manhattan, Florida boomed, and William Astor, with an eye on the large New York market, expanded his interests to a grapefruit grove, a fruit that at the time was only available on a very limited basis in other parts of the United States. But William Astor did not live long enough to see the orchard grow to production. Following his death in 1892, the property fell to his son, John Jacob Astor IV. By then though, rapid changes were taking place throughout Florida. New railroads had been built in 1885 through the central and western part of the state, and in the late 1890s, Henry Flagler built a railroad line running down Florida's east coast from Daytona Beach. All this expansion left the town of Astor isolated and was all but abandoned after train service to Astor was discontinued.

William Backhouse Astor, Sr. (1792-1875) William Backhouse Astor, Sr. was a businessman and member of the prominent Astor family. William Backhouse Astor, Sr. inherited the bulk of his father's estate and also that of his uncle Henry Astor who had died a wealthy man but without children. The combined inheritance made William Astor the richest man in the United States. He was the last member of the Astor family to enjoy this distinction. During the American Civil War he successfully brought a case against the income tax imposed by the United States government, which was ruled unconstitutional. His management of the family real estate holdings succeeded in multiplying their value, and he left an estate worth close to $50 million. It was at this time that the Astor fortune underwent its first major division, between William Backhouse Astor, Jr. (1830-1892) and John Jacob Astor III (1822-1890), whose son William Waldorf Astor relocated to Great Britain in 1893. His sons, whose side-by-side mansions were on the site later occupied by the first Waldorf=Astoria Hotel (a family property) and then the Empire State Building, inaugurated an era of both more flamboyant living and more generous philanthropy than their austere father and grandfather.

John Jacob Astor (1763-1848) John Jacob (originally Johann Jakob) Astor made a fortune in fur trading and real estate. He is the founder of what became known as the Astor family. Born in Walldorf, Baden, Germany, Astor arrived in the United States in March 1784 just after the end of the Revolutionary War. He started a fur goods shop in New York City in the late 1780s. Astor took advantage of the Jay Treaty between Great Britain and the United States in 1794 which opened new markets in Canada and the Great Lakes region at the expense of the Canadians. By 1800 he had amassed nearly a quarter of a million dollars, and had become one of the leading figures in the fur trade. In 1800, Astor followed the example of the Empress of China, the first American trading vessel to China, and started to trade furs, teas and sandalwood with Canton in China. He used the opportunity, that American merchants did not need a permission to trade in ports monopolized by the British East India Company after the Revolutionary War. He greatly benefited from the fur trade with China. But the Embargo Act from Thomas Jefferson in 1807 disrupted his import/export business. Therefore he established with the permission of President Jefferson the American Fur Company on April 6, 1808, and later formed subsidiaries, the Pacific Fur Company and the Southwest Fur Company (in which Canadians had a part) to control fur trading in the Columbia River and Great Lakes area respectively. His fur trading ventures were disrupted when the British captured his trading posts during the War of 1812. However, his operations rebounded in 1817 after the US Congress passed a protectionist law that barred foreign traders from U.S. Territories. The American Fur Company once again came to dominate trading in the area around the Great Lakes. In 1822, Astor established the Astor House on Mackinac Island as headquarters for the reformed American Fur Company, making the island a metropolis of the fur trade. Astor withdrew from the company in 1834. A lengthy description based on documents, diaries etc. was given by Washington Irving in his travelogue Astoria. As the cost of fur went up due to over trapping, and the demand went down due to changing fashions, Astor turned his sights on New York City real estate. He retired from business in 1834 and spent the rest of his life as a patron of culture. He supported the famous ornithologist John James Audubon, Edgar Allan Poe, and the presidential campaign of Henry Clay. Furthermore he was the founder of the first hotel which belonged to the Astor family, the Astor House. In his last will he gave orders to build the Astor Library for the New York public and to build a poorhouse in his German hometown Walldorf. At the time of his death, Astor was the wealthiest person in the United States, leaving an estate estimated to be worth 20 million dollars or more. He is interred in the Trinity Churchyard Cemetery on the 155th Street in Manhattan, New York. The great bulk of his fortune was bequeathed to his second son, William Backhouse Astor Sr., instead of his eldest son John Jacob Astor II (1791-1869). A part of his money also went to found the Astor Library which was later consolidated with other libraries to form the New York Public Library.

John Jacob Astor, Jr. (Dec. 14, 1791-Mar. 10, 1869) "was of weak mind and was kept for many years, as some old New Yorkers will remember, to charge of an attendant in a house surrounded by high walls on Fourteenth street." He was sickly and mentally unstable; never married or had kids.

Erastus Corning (December 14, 1794 – April 9, 1872) was an American businessman and politician from Albany, New York. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service as mayor of Albany from 1834 to 1837, in the New York State Senate (1842–1845), and in the United States House of Representatives (1857–1859, 1861–1863).

A native of Norwich, Connecticut, Corning moved to Troy, New York when he was 13 so he could be trained for a career as a merchant. He worked as a clerk in his uncle's hardware store for six years, then moved to Albany, New York to work for the retail business owned by James Spencer. Corning eventually became the senior partner in the enterprise, which he combined with businesses he inherited from his uncle to create Erastus Corning & Co. The Corning company sold ironware, including tools and farm implements, nails, stoves, parts for railroad cars, and rails for railroads. John V. L. Pruyn married Corning's niece Harriet, and Pruyn and Corning became partners in a variety of business ventures and investments. Under Corning's leadership, several local and regional railways were combined in the early 1850s to form the New York Central Railroad, and Corning served as its first president.

Corning was involved in politics as a Democrat, and served as Albany's mayor from 1834 to 1837. He was a member of the state senate from 1842 to 1845. In 1856 he was elected to Congress, and he served one term, 1857 to 1859. In 1860, he was again elected to the U.S. House, and he served a partial term, March 1861 to October 1863. Corning was a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention and to the Peace Conference of 1861, which attempted to prevent the American Civil War. Though he was a Democrat and President Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, once the war started, Corning supported the Union while also criticizing what he viewed as the Lincoln administration's excesses.

After leaving Congress, Corning began to wind down his business and political activities. He left the presidency of the New York Central in 1865, and focused much of his attention on speculating in and developing land he had purchased in the western states. He served as a delegate to the 1867 state constitutional convention. Corning died at his home in Albany on April 8, 1872 and was buried at Albany Rural Cemetery.

Corning was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the son of Bliss Corning and Lucinda (Smith) Corning. At age two, Corning fell from his crib and injured a hip, which required him to walk with crutches. He was unable to walk unaided for more than a few steps, but this physical limitation was generally not referred to in the press. As an adult, he taught himself to walk with a cane, which enabled him to rely less on his crutches.

Corning attended academies in Norwich and Chatham, New York, and moved to Troy, New Yorkat the age of thirteen to clerk in the hardware store of his uncle, Benjamin Smith. Six years later he moved to Albany, New York, where he joined the mercantile business of James Spencer. After some time at Spencer's firm, Corning became a partner, and the senior partner upon Spencer's death in 1824. Corning combined the Spencer firm with holdings he inherited from his uncle to form Erastus Corning & Co. John V. L. Pruyn was married to Harriet Corning Turner, who was Erastus Corning's niece. As a result of this family connection, Corning and Pruyn were often partners in business ventures and investments, which grew to include insurance, banking, land speculation, and land development.

Erastus Corning & Co. bought and sold all types iron products, including tools, nails, stoves, farming implements, and eventually railroad track rails and railroad car parts. The company had a wharf and warehouse on the Hudson River in Albany, and the store served not only Albany and the surrounding towns, but hundreds of large customers from the west who visited Albany only two or three times a year to buy and sell products, restock their own supplies, and see what new items were for sale.

Corning also invested in banks and insurance companies. He purchased the Albany Rolling and Slitting Mill, renamed it the Albany Nail Factory, and used it to corner the market on numerous iron products he sold at his store. The Albany Nail Factory eventually became the Rensselaer Iron Works, which under Corning's guidance installed the first Bessemer converterin the United States.

By the time he was 40, Corning had helped found the Albany City Bank, of which he served as president until his death. He had also been appointed to the board of regents for the University of the State of New York, begun speculating on land in western New York, including what are now the town of town of Corning and city of Corning. A Democrat, Corning also served a term as an Albany alderman beginning in 1828, then served as mayor from 1834 until 1837.

As an iron dealer, Corning saw the potential that railroads as both a consumer and distributor of his products. When the Utica and Schenectady Railroad was chartered in 1833, Corning was a major investor and served as president and a member of the board of directors. Corning was also a shareholder in and president of the smaller Mohawk and Hudson Railroad. In 1851, the two roads were reorganized as the Mohawk Valley Railroad, of which Corning was president.

Corning remained active in politics, and was a member of the New York State Senate from 1842 to 1845, sitting in the 65th, 66th, 67th and 68th New York State Legislatures. His time in state politics convinced him that the system of local and regional railroads covering upstate New York was inefficient and could be made far more profitable by consolidation. In an effort to create efficiencies that would improve profitability, Corning began planning the New York Central Railroad, what eventually became the largest corporation in America. Corning was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1848 and again in 1852.

In 1853, Corning succeeded in persuading shareholders and executives of six functioning railroads and two that had been planned but were not yet constructed to agree to a plan for consolidating their companies. Corning was the main lobbyist who pursued approval by the New York State Legislature. Though he was a Democrat, Corning appealed for help to Thurlow Weed, the leader of New York's Whigs, which controlled the state government. Thanks to the efforts of Corning and Weed, the legislature passed the Consolidation Act on April 2, 1853. As the largest shareholder in the new company, Corning became its first president. He remained in the post for twelve years, during which the New York Central's expansion and connections with other railways gave it access to cities from New York City to Chicago, which made it one of the country's most important railroads.

Corning amassed a significant fortune, and used it to invest in land as far west as Wisconsinand Iowa. He bought large shares in the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Michigan Central Railroad, and was the largest shareholder in and president of the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal Company. The canal company constructed the canal and locks on the St. Mary's River at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, which connected Lake Superior with Lake Huron. The canal company received 750,000 acres (3035 km²) of land in the west; which included 100,000 acres (400 km²) for Corning.

In 1856 Corning was elected to the 35th Congress, and he served one term, March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1859. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1858, but was elected to a second term in 1860. He served in the 37th Congress from March 4, 1861 until resigning on October 5, 1863, when he resigned.

Corning was a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention. In 1861, he was a delegate to the Peace Congress in Washington, D.C. Though he was a Democrat, once the American Civil War began, he supported the Union while also criticizing what he viewed as the excesses of Republican President Abraham Lincoln's administration. He resigned his seat in Congress before the end of his second term because of failing health and because of his disagreements with Lincoln's prosecution of the war. In February 1863, Corning was the Democratic caucus nominee for U.S. Senator from New York, but Republicans controlled the state legislature, and Corning was defeated by Republican Edwin D. Morgan, 86 votes to 70, with one cast for John Adams Dix and one for Daniel S. Dickinson.

In the spring of 1863, Corning organized a public meeting on Lincoln's conduct, which passed resolutions in support of the Union but was critical of several Lincoln policies, including military arrests rather than civilian court trials for individuals accused of desertion or avoiding military conscription. Lincoln replied in a lengthy letter that set out his views on what the Constitution allowed a president to do during wartime. In the reply, Lincoln argued for the necessity of arresting anti-government agitators including Clement Vallandigham, famously asking "Must I shoot a simple-minded deserter, while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert?"

Despite disagreeing with Lincoln on how to prosecute the war, Corning fully supported the effort to maintain the Union. When the United States Navy decided to pursue construction of ironclad ships in 1862, John Ericsson contracted with Corning's partners John F. Winslow and John Augustus Griswold to manufacture parts and materials for the USS Monitor.

From the mid-1860s on, Corning reduced the scope of his business dealings, though he remained as president of the Albany City Bank and its successor, and continued as vice chancellor of the University of the State of New York Board of Regents. He died at his home in Albany on April 8, 1872. Corning was buried at Albany Rural Cemetery.

In 1819, Corning married Harriet Weld (1794-1883). They were the parents of five children:

• Benjamin (1820-1821)
• John (1823-1833)
• Erastus Jr. (1827-1897)
• Joseph (1829-1830)
• Edwin (1836-1871)

After Corning's death, his son Erastus Corning Jr. (1827-1897) succeeded to management of Corning's business interests. He did not manage them successfully, but after his death his sons Edwin and Parker succeeded in restoring the family's wealth. Both were active in politics as Democrats, and helped found a party organization that ran Albany and the surrounding Albany County for decades. Edwin Corning served as lieutenant governor of New York from 1927 to 1928, and Parker Corning served in the United States House of Representatives from 1923 to 1937.

Corning's great-grandsons, Edwin Corning's sons Erastus 2nd and Edwin Jr., were also active in Albany-area business and politics. Edwin Jr. served in the New York State Assembly from 1955 to 1959, and Erastus 2nd was mayor of Albany for over 40 years, from 1941 to 1983.

The Erastus Corning I papers are included in the collections of the Albany Institute of History & Art.

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