meat packer, grain dealer, financier, b. near Stockbridge, N.Y. He moved to Milwaukee in 1856 after seeking his fortune in the California gold fields. Following an unsuccessful soap-factory venture, he formed a wholesale grocery and produce business with his brother, Herman, and in 1859 entered a partnership with Frederick Miles in the grocery and commission business. Much of their profits came from selling salt and pickled pork to western immigrants, and this venture marked the beginning of Armour's entry into the meat-packing business. He was also acquiring substantial grain interests, and in 1863 operated the largest grain elevator in the city. In 1863 he dissolved the Miles partnership and joined John Plankinton (q.v.) in establishing the pork-packing and grain-dealing firm of Plankinton&Armour. Through the accumulation of large war profits the company grew to be among the largest in the Midwest. Branch offices and affiliated companies were opened in several major cities and were usually under the management of one of Armour's brothers. In 1875, while Plankinton remained in Milwaukee to head the parent company, Armour moved to Chicago to assume management of the Chicago branch. In 1884 Plankinton withdrew from the partnership, and shortly thereafter the Armour family, under the leadership of Philip D. Armour, came into sole control of the organization, which by that time had main offices in Chicago, Kansas City, and New York. Such innovations as the utilization of waste products and the growth and development of refrigeration enabled the company to grow into one of the world's largest packing firms. Armour's interests subsequently expanded and he acquired large railroad holdings and became one of the country's leading grain traders and speculators. Dict. Amer. Biog.; J. G. Gregory, Hist. of Milwaukee (4 vols., Chicago, 1931); S. H. Holbrook, Age of the Moguls (New York. [1953]); WPA field notes.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
