Munn, Ira Y.

Born: 1810-XX-XX New York

Died: 1882-08-22

Flourished: 1854-11-11 Chicago, Illinois

Ira Y. Munn moved to Woodford County, Illinois, in the early 1840s and with Peter H. Willard and William Scott established a general merchandise business that also shipped grain and country produce. Munn eventually became proprietor of a store in Spring Bay. In 1850, he owned $4,000 in real estate. In 1854, Munn ran as a pro-slavery candidate to represent Woodford, Marshall, and Putnam counties in the Illinois House of Representatives, losing to Robert Boal. Having become a successful businessman, Munn moved to Chicago in 1856 and focused on grain, building a large grain elevator. By 1860, Munn had accumulated $10,000 in real estate, with a personal estate of $1,000. In Chicago, he found prominence as the senior partner of Munn & Scott, elevator proprietors, with George Scott—the brother of deceased William Scott—and became president of the Chicago Board of Trade. However, in 1872, both Munn and Scott were expelled from the Board of Trade for collecting money for more grain than they had to sell. Munn died in Ouray County, Colorado.

The Past and Present of Woodford County, Illinois (Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., 1878), 289, 306, 512; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Woodford County, IL, 461; Illinois State Register (Springfield), 24 September 1854, 3:2; Illinois Gazette (Lacon), 22 November 1854, 2:2; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 5, Chicago, Cook County, IL, 268; The Boston Daily Globe (MA), 23 August 1882, 4:3; Edwardsville Intelligencer (IL), 12 December 1872, 2:2; Gravestone, Cedar Hill Cemetery, Ouray County, CO.