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Biographies of Area Pioneers, Settlers and other Important Figures.

Letter "A"

Allen, Howard S.

Allouez, Claude Jean, a Jesuit, born in France in 1620, went to Quebec in 1658 as missionary to the Algonkins, settled on Lake Superior in 1665, at Kaskaskia, Illinois in 1676, and visited numerous tribes in the North-west. Died in 1690. He was bitterly disliked by La Salle.

Ames, Alfred W.

Astor, John Jacob, born at Waldorf, near Heidelberg, in Germany, July 17, 1763, emigrated to the U.S. in 1783, and invested his capital in furs, which he took to London and sold with much profit. He next settled at New York, and engaged extensively in the fur-trade. He exported furs to Europe in his own vessels, which returned with cargoes of foreign commodities, and thus rapidly amassed a fortune. In 1811 he founded Astoria on the western coast of North America, near the mouth of the Columbia, as a depot for the fur-trade, for the promotion of which he sent two expeditions to the Pacific Ocean. He was remarkable for his sagacity and diligence in business. He purchased in New York a large amount of real estate, the value of which increased enormously. At his death (March 29, 1848) his fortune was estimated at $20,000,000. He left $400,000 to found a public library in New York.

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