George Armour

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George Armour (1812-1881) was a Scottish American businessman who found success in Chicago as a grain merchant and member of the Chicago Board of Trade. He served as the president of the CBOT in 1875.
Armour was active in civic affairs and was elected the first president of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, which later was renamed the Art Institute of Chicago.
He was a part of the firm of Armour, Dole and Company. In 1860, the firm built the first grain elevator which handled grain from the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad.
== Background ==
Amour was born April 24, 1812 in Campbelltown, Argyleshire, Scotland. He died on June 13, 1881 at the age of 69 in Brighton, England. Armour came to the U.S. two years after becoming of majority age, according to a Chicago Tribune story written at the time of his death.
Armour was a grain elevator operator. He built a home in Chicago at 1945 South Prairie Avenue about 1872. Prairie Avenue was home to some of the leading citizens in Chicago.
He first moved to Ottawa, IL, then later Joliet and Lockport before finally moving to Chicago.
He moved to Chicago in 1855 and formed a partnership with Wesley Munger, starting a Chicago grain-warehousing company called Munger & Armour. In 1863, Hiram Wheeler joined Munger, Wheeler & Co., a firm with substantial grain elevators near the Chicago & North Western Railroad depot. After Wesley Munger's death in 1868, his son Albert joined the company. Despite losing all three elevators in the 1871 Chicago Fire, the firm rebounded. By 1880, it owned eight of Chicago's 23 large-scale grain warehouses, with a total capacity of 6.4 million bushels. In 1889, the firm was bought by English investors.
In 1856, Armour was first elected as a director of the Chicago Board of Trade at the eighth annual meeting, held on April 7 at the Tremont House. Charles H. Walker was elected president, G.C. Martin, vice president and W.W. Mitchell, secretary and treasurer. The other directors elected were Julian S. Rumsey, D. R. Holt, James E. Dalliba, James Peck, William Blair, E. Hempsted, John P. Chapin, S. B. Pomeroy, L. P. Hilliard. 
In 1857, Armour was re-elected as a director of the CBOT, along with President Walker. The new vice president was George W. Noble, W.W. was secretary and treasurer again and the other directors were George Steel, E. W. Griffin, James L. Allen, Tarlton Jones, D. R. Holt, James Peck, C. L. Bissell, I. D. Harmon and E. I. Tinkham.
In 1858, Armour was re-elected as a director of the CBOT again, but Julian S. Rumsey was elected president and Thomas Beebe was selected vice president. W.S. Mitchell remained as secretary and treasurer and the other directors included R. M. Mitchell, H. K.
Elkins, Ira Y. Munn, N. Ludington, J. Magill, B. F. Culver, Calvin T. Wheeler, D. Kreigh, and M. C. Stearns.
Armour played a significant role in creating the Chicago Board of Trade Battery for the Civil War. He was instrumental in organizing and funding the battery, which consisted of volunteers from the Chicago Board of Trade. Armour's leadership and financial support were crucial in assembling the unit, which served in various battles during the Civil War, contributing to the Union cause.
In early June of 1863, Armour was part of a delegation from the Chicago Board of Trade to the Canal Convention, held in Chicago and chaired by U.S. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin. The delegates from
the Board of Trade were John L. Hancock, N. K. Fairbank, Stephen Clary, Charles H. Walker, Ira Y. Munn, William Sturges, R. McChesney, N. K. Whitney, W. D. Houghteiing, Calvin T. Wheeler, Julian S. Rumsey, G. S. Hubbard, Charles Randolph and E. W. Densmore.
In 1872, Armour bought the assets of Munn & Scott, another grain elevator operator who had been bankrupted by losing speculative transactions in the grain markets. Munn & Scott may have caused a panic in the market as it was suspected they had overissued receipts for grain in their warehouses. Armour by taking over the warehouses kept the situation quiet and may have quietly bought grain to make the receipts good. Reportedly, George Armour & Co. bought about 40,000 bushelsof wheat and 475,000 bushels of corn in order to honor Munn & Scott's receipts. This ultimately led to calls for a measurement of the grain in storage at the Munn & Scott elevators, which disclosed their fraud. 
Cook County National Bank sued George Armour & Company as a result of the Munn & Scott fraud. The bank did not recover through this action. However, subsequent legal action saw a court nullify the transfer of the Munn & Scott elevators to Armour. 
Armour and other Chicago Board of Trade leaders represented the exchange at a social event in Chicago in 1874 when President Ulysses Grant came to Chicago to attend the wedding of his son, Frederick Dent Grant, and Miss Ida Marie Honore.
Also in 1874, President President Rutherford B. Hayes paid a visit to the exchange on September 13 and was waited on and escorted by a committee of ex-presidents consisting of Armour, George M. How, Charles E. Culver, John L. Hancock, Hiram Wheeler, Wiley M. Egan and Josiah W. Preston.
At the annual meeting of the Chicago Board of Trade in April of 1875, Armour was elected president, John R. Benseley became first vice president and David H. Lincoln became second vice president. The new directors were Calvin T. Wheeler, H. H. Ross, J. B. Dutch, E. W. Densmore and R. P. Murphey.
Amour served as an elector on the Hayes 1876 presidential ticket, though he had to prove he was a naturalized citizen in order to place his vote.
He was charitable supporter of the Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago and served there as a trustee and elder.
== Education ==
== References ==	
Category:Deceased
Category:CBOT Members
Category:Former CBOT Officials
Category:Presidents of the Chicago Board of Trade