s skins in that city at a fine profit, and
succeeded in forming business connections which enabled him afterward to
ship his goods direct to London, and draw regularly upon the houses to
which they were consigned. He also made an arrangement with the house of
Astor & Broadwood, in which his brother was a partner, by which he
became the agent in New York for the sale of their musical instruments,
a branch of his business which became quite profitable to him. He is
said to have been the first man in New York who kept a regular stock of
musical instruments on hand.

Slowly, and by unremitting industry, Mr. Astor succeeded in building up
a certain business. His personal journeys made him acquainted with the
trappers, and enabled him to win their good will. The savages sold their
skins to him readily, and he found a steady market and a growing demand
for his commodities in the Old World.

It was about this time that he married Miss Sarah Todd, of New York. She
was a connection of the Brevoort family, and was of better social
position than her husband. She entered heartily into his business, doing
much of the buying and beating of the furs herself. She was a true
helpmate to him, and long after he was a millionaire, he used to boast
of her skill in judging furs and conducting business operations.

In 1794, Jay's treaty placed the frontier forts in the hands of the
Americans, and thus increased the opportunities of our own traders to
extend their business. It was of the greatest service to Mr. Astor. It
enabled him to enlarge the field of his operations, and, at the same
time, to send his agents on the long journeys which he formerly made,
while he himself remained in New York to direct his business; which by
this time had grown to considerable proportions.

He was now on the road to wealth. He had scores of trappers and hunters
working for him in the great wilderness, and his agents were kept busy
buying and shipping the skins to New York. As soon as he was able to do
so he purchased a ship, in which he sent his furs to London,
occasionally making a voyage thither himself. He manifested the greatest
interest in the markets of the Old World, especially in those of Asia,
and informed himself so accurately concerning them that he was always
enabled to furnish his captains with instructions covering the most
minute detail of their transactions in those markets; and it is said
that he was never unsuccessful in his ventures ther