Extremely unique set of five Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company bonds in sequential order (C968-C972), each assigning the sum of "Ten Thousand Dollars gold coin of the United States of America" at 3.5%, issued November 26, 1915. All issued to James Roosevelt Roosevelt, Douglas Robinson, Nicholas Biddle, and William Vincent Astor as trustees for Ava Alice Muriel Astor in 1915, and subsequently transferred to Ava Alice Muriel Astor on July 9, 1923. Signed on the transfer slip of the first bond in ink, "James Roosevelt Roosevelt" and "William Vincent Astor." All bear rare State of New York secured debt tax stamps in the amount of $25 (red) and $50 (blue). In overall fine condition.
The older half-brother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, James Roosevelt Roosevelt (1854-1927) was a diplomat and New York society figure who married Helen Schermerhorn Astor, making Ava Alice Muriel Astor and William Vincent Astor his niece and nephew. William Vincent Astor (1891-1959) is remembered as a philanthropist and for his service in the US Navy during the First and second World Wars. His sister, the heiress Ava Alice Muriel Astor (1902-1956) is remembered for her several marriages and as a patron of the arts. The impressive $50,000 combined total of these bonds in 1915 is equivalent to over $1.3 million in today's dollars.
