Herman Ossian Armour

Herman Ossian Armour
Born(1837-03-07)March 7, 1837
Stockbridge, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 8, 1901(1901-09-08) (aged 64)
New York City, U.S.
Spouses
Mary Jacks
​
(m. 1862⁠–⁠1870)​
Jane Livingston
​
​
(m. 1887⁠–⁠1901)​
Children2
RelativesPhilip Danforth Armour (brother)
J. Ogden Armour (nephew)
Alice de Janzé (great niece)

Herman Ossian Armour (March 7, 1837 – September 8, 1901) was an American businessman and philanthropist who with his brother, Philip Danforth Armour, co-founded the meatpacking firm of Armour & Company, which would exist as the nation's largest such company for much of the twentieth century.[1]

Born the seventh of eight children in Stockbridge, New York, his parents were Methodists of English and Scottish ancestry.[2] In 1865, Armour established the New York syndicate of Armour Meats under the name Armour, Plankinton & Co. This move was prompted by a series of restrictive laws regarding lines of credit in effect throughout most Midwestern states at the time.[3] American forebear of the Armour family, Scotsman James Armour was among the earliest to settle in the newly established British colony of New Jersey, arriving just three years after its establishment in 1664, though settlers from Holland, Germany, Sweden, and France had been living in the area since 1614 in the former New Netherland and New Sweden (Nya Sverige) colonies. Armour died on September 8, 1901[4] at his New York City home and was laid to rest at the family mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery.[5]

Armour was a delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention[6] and a presidential elector in the 1896 presidential election.[7]

  1. ^ Allen, Albala, Gary, Ken (2007). The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food and Drink Industries. Santa Barbara, CA, United States: ABC-CLIO. p. 33.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Hall, Henry (1895). America's successful men of affairs: An encyclopedia of contemporaneous biography. New York, United States: New York Tribune. pp. 27.
  3. ^ Hammond, Charles (1893). The history of Union, Conn. New Haven, CT, United States: Press of Price, Lee & Adkins. pp. 200, 201.
  4. ^ Marquis, Albert Nelson (1912). Who's Who in America. New York: Marquis Who's Who Inc. p. 54.
  5. ^ Keister, Douglas (2011). Stories in Stone New York: A Field Guide to New York City Cemeteries. Layton: Gibbs Smith. pp. 51–52.
  6. ^ Rose, Theodore C.; Burke, James F. (1892). Proceedings of the Tenth Republican National Convention Held in the City of Minneapolis, Minn., June 7, 8, 9, and 10, 1892. Minneapolis, Minn.: Harrison & Smith. p. 104.
  7. ^ Proceedings of the Electoral College of the State of New York, January 11th, 1897. Albany. 1897. p. 29. hdl:2027/nnc1.cu54374480.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)