Herman Armour

Herman O. Armour

Interment LocationVisited 
New York, NYSeptember 7, 2019 

Still from video recorded September 7, 2019.

“What kind of kids eat Armour hotdogs?” These “kids,” for starters; my father and his friend Andy chowed down on some franks at the private mausoleum of the co-founder of Armour & Company, a meat-packing and supply business. The wealthy Herman O. Armour left an estate of an estimated $2 million “and upward” in personal property when he died in 1901. That sum was equal to the purchasing power of $60.1 million when Andy, my dad, and I visited the Armour tomb in 2019. No doubt some of that money went toward creating the looming Armour mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

This image shows the rear of the grand Armour tomb. The prestigious Woodlawn Cemetery hosts many of the most elaborate private mausoleums that a person can visit. Other tombs worth mentioning are those of socialite Alva Belmont, robber baron Jay Gould, and department store founder F.W. Woolworth.

Photographed September 7, 2019.
Photographed September 7, 2019.

The services that followed Herman O. Armour’s death contrasted starkly with the opulence of his final resting place. The New York Times described his funeral — held at his family’s Fifth Avenue mansion — as being “of the simplest character, and was attended by only the immediate relatives of Mr. Armour, close friends, and a few business associates.” However, The Times had previously reported that the New York Produce Exchange “adopted resolutions” in Armour’s memory, and that “a delegation of sixty-five members will attend the funeral.”

Around 1855, 18-year-old Herman Armour, one of eight children, left his home in upstate New York. He settled in the Midwest, where he worked as a butcher before he established a grain commission business. In that venture, Armour was partnered with brother Joseph. Another sibling, Philip, later convinced Herman and Joseph that they should take advantage of Chicago’s promising future as a pork-packing center. The brothers formed Armour & Co. as they stepped into the meat industry, and the grain commission arm of the enterprise was renamed H.O. Armour & Co. The meat business boomed, and the Armours expanded into New York in 1871. Herman relocated to the Big Apple so that he could “watch the markets, guard the Armour credit, and oversee the distribution of grain and packing products[.]” His second wife, Jennie Livingston, was described by the New-York Tribune as “a woman of strong character, who, [Herman Armour] was accustomed to say, was invaluable to him as a counselor in his business.”

Photographed September 7, 2019.
Photographed May 15, 2023.

This image, which was challenging to capture, shows the interior of the Armour mausoleum. Herman Armour’s vault is located in the center.


Fast Facts

Born: March 7, 1837 in Stockbridge, New York

Spouses: Mary Jacks Armour (m. 1862-1870); Jane P. Livingston (m. 1887-1901)

Died: September 8, 1901 in Saratoga Springs, New York

Cause of Death: Apoplexy

Age: 64

Interment: Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York, New York

"Grilled hot dogs with mustard are a standard summer treat, and many visitors to Woodlawn remark how ironic it is that the man who established the local market for Armour Hot Dogs has a substantial reddish/pink mausoleum right around the corner from the family that distributed Gulden’s Mustard."
- Woodlawn Cemetery

Sources Consulted and Further Reading

Miller, Tom. “The Lost Herman O. Armour House – 856 Fifth Avenue.” Daytonian in Manhattan (blog). May 20, 2018. http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-lost-herman-o-armour-house-856.html.

New York Times. “Death List of A Day: Herman O. Armour.” September 9, 1901. Page 7. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/09/09/102431466.html?pageNumber=7.

New York Times. “Died.” September 10, 1901. Page 7. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/09/10/117973382.html?pageNumber=7.

New York Times. “Funeral of H. O. Armour.” September 12, 1901. Page 7. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/09/12/117973636.html?pageNumber=7.

New York Times. “In Memory of H. O. Armour.” September 11, 1901. Page 7. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/09/11/101207344.html?pageNumber=7.

New York Times. “Penalties More Than A Million.” April 25, 1896. Page 1. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1896/04/25/108228719.html?pageNumber=1.

New York Times. “Philip D. Armour Is Dead.” January 7, 1901. Pages 1-2. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/01/07/101175438.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0.

New York Times. “Will of Herman O. Armour.” September 15, 1901. Page 20. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/09/15/101080887.html?pageNumber=20.

Woodlawn Cemetery. “Celebrate Summer Memories.” Accessed February 24, 2023. https://www.woodlawn.org/blog/celebrate-summer-memories/.

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