Astor, Augusta (fl. 1820s–1890s)
Astor, Augusta (fl. 1820s–1890s)
American philanthropist. Name variations: Mrs. John Jacob III. Born Charlotte Augusta Gibbes; married John Jacob Astor III (1822–1890); children: William Waldorf Astor (1848–1919, who married Mary Dahlgren Paul ).
Known as Mrs. John Jacob Astor III, Augusta Astor was small, blonde, and frail. In her early years of what was said to be a happy marriage, she and her husband lived simple, economical lives. During the Civil War, though her family originally came from the South, Augusta encouraged the recruiting of a regiment of black troops for the North. Described by contemporaries as a woman of good character, she gave balls, held a literary circle, and gave $225,000 for the Astor Pavilion, the first building of the Memorial Hospital for the treatment of cancer. She also supported the Children's Aid Society and helped pay transportation costs for 1,500 New York slum youths who were resettled in foster homes in the midwest.