Madeleine Astor - Widowhood

Widowhood

After Madeleine returned home from her ordeal she was kept in strict retirement. Her first social function was not until the end of May when she held a luncheon at her mansion on Fifth Avenue for Arthur Rostron, the Captain of the Carpathia, and Dr. Frank McGee, the ship’s surgeon. She held this event with Marian Thayer, who was also a survivor of the Titanic. Both women wished to thank these men for their assistance when they were on board the Carpathia.

In his will, John Astor left Madeleine an outright sum of $100,000. In addition, he bequeathed to her the income from a trust fund of $5 million and the use during her life of the house on Fifth Avenue. Both of these latter provisions she would lose if she remarried. A fund of $3 million was set aside for his unborn child John Jacob Astor VI which he would control when he became of age.

In August 1912 Madeleine gave birth to John Jacob Astor VI at her Fifth Avenue mansion. For the next four years she raised him as part of the Astor family. She did not seem to appear very often in society until the end of 1913, when according to the press they were able to publish her first photograph since the Titanic disaster.

After this, she appeared more often in public and her activities were frequently reported in the press. In 1915 she remodelled her house on Fifth Avenue and this was made a feature article in the New York Sun. There were also many articles about her baby John Jacob Astor VI.