Evansville Press, Indiana, February 20, 1912

Less than two months later John and Madeline would finish their extensive Egyptian and Parisian honeymoon and return home to prepare for the baby’s arrival. Unfortunately their return passages were first class tickets on the brand-new Titanic. John didn’t survive the sinking, although there are tales of his bravery. Madeline did, and gave birth to their son John Jacob “Jakey” Astor VI, but because he was unborn at the time of his father’s death, the will stipulated only 3 million dollars to any child unborn at the time of the will’s drafting. This was nothing to sneeze at, but not much compared to his elder brother Vincent’s 69 million and elder sister Alice’s 10 million. Vincent had never liked his father’s new wife and was said to have voiced belief that Jakey was likely not his father’s son. The brothers never reconciled.