| Alexander Ector Orr | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alexander Ector Orr 1831 |
| Died | [1914] New York City |
| Residence | New York City |
| Employer | New York Produce Exchange New York Life Insurance Company |
| Title | President |
| Board member of | New York Produce Exchange (1875-1914) |
| Relatives | Charles Alexander Munn, Sr. (nephew) Gurnee Munn (grandnephew) |
Alexander Ector Orr (1831–1914) was a prominent businessman in New York City and was influential in the building of the New York City subway system.
Orr was the first member to immigrate to the United States of what was to become an prominent family. Orr married Juliet Dows, heiress to the fortune of a large grain dealer.
Once established, Orr invited his nephew, Charles A. Munn, Sr., to join him in the United States. He accepted, immigrating from Ireland. Once Munn arrived, they established Munn, Orr & Company, a business concern engaged in wholesale provisions and slaughterhouses.
A prominent New York financier and merchant, who during the Age of Monopoly served on the boards of twenty-nine corporations, Orr headed the New York Produce Exchange (1887–1888) and was president of the New York Chamber of Commerce (1894). Orr's marriage to Juliet Dows, the daughter of the nation's largest grain dealer, greatly enhanced his power and prominence. After the infamous corruption scandal of 1905, he became president of the Equitable Insurance Company. Best known for arranging the financing and construction of New York's subway system, his estate was valued at more than $10 million in 1914.[1]