Orrin Henry Ingram Sr. (June 26, 1904 – April 25, 1963) was an American heir and businessman.

Early life

Orrin Henry Ingram Sr. was born on June 26, 1904, in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire ( ; lit. "clear water") is a city in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, Eau Claire and Chippewa County, Wisconsin, Chippewa counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat, seat of Eau Claire County. It is the List of citie ...

. His father, Erskine B. Ingram, was a lumber heir."Inside a $15 Billion Dynasty"
''Bloomberg Business'', September 28, 1997 His mother was Harriet Coggshall. His parents were members of the

Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

. His paternal grandfather three times removed, David Ingram, had immigrated from

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, England, in 1780.Ingram Chronicles
''Forbes'', 9/06/1999 His paternal grandfather,

Orrin Henry Ingram Orrin Henry Ingram (May 13, 1830 – October 16, 1918) was an American lumber baron and philanthropist from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Orphaned at age 11, he established sawmills in Ontario, Canada, and the Chippewa Valley of Wisconsin. He was a banke ...

, was a lumber baron in Wisconsin. His great-uncle,

Julius Ingram Julius G. Ingram (May 31, 1832 – May 13, 1917) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Early life Julius Ingram was born on May 31, 1832, in Saratoga County, New York. His brother, Orrin Henry Ingram, was a lumber baron. Career Ingram ...

, was a member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

Career

In 1928, Ingram ran a

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

firm in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

owned by his wife's family.Bill Carey
"A place for a damned fool or an Eskimo"
''

Nashville Post ''NashvillePost.com'' is an online news service covering business, politics and sports in the Nashville metropolitan area. It is locally owned and available by subscription. ''NashvillePost.com'' competes with other daily news media in the Middl ...

'', March 22, 2000 He relocated it to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. By 1937, at the time of the textile strike, he sold half his investment and acquired Wood River Oil and Refining, an oil company based in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. He was the owner of Ingram Oil & Refining, a chain of 240 gas stations headquartered in

Meraux, Louisiana Meraux is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,804 in 2020. It is part of the New Orleans– Metairie– Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. History In 2005, the town wa ...

, just outside

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

.Murphy Oil Corp.: A Century of Exploration
/ref> In 1961, he sold the company to

Murphy Oil Murphy Oil Corporation is an American energy company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company is ranked 625th on the Fortune 500 and 1860th on the Forbes Global 2000. As of December 31, 2020, the company ...

Philanthropy

Ingram served as the Vice President of the Board of Trust of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

in Nashville from 1952 to 1963.Princine Lewis
"New Commons residence halls named for former vice chancellor, BOT member"
''Vanderbilt Register'', 12/04/06 William H. Honan
"Vanderbilt U. Receives a Gift of $300 Million"
''The New York Times'', December 1, 1998

Personal life

Ingram married Hortense Bigelow, the daughter of the president of the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. (later known as

The Travelers Companies The Travelers Companies, Inc., commonly known as Travelers, is an American multinational insurance company. It is the second-largest writer of U.S. commercial property casualty insurance, and the sixth-largest writer of U.S. personal insurance t ...

). They resided in

White Bear Lake, Minnesota White Bear Lake is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota, United States. A small portion of the city also extends into Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County. The population was 24,88 ...

Hobe Sound, Florida Hobe Sound is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States, located along Florida's Treasure Coast. The population was 13,163 at the 2020 census, up from 11,521 in 2010. Geography Hobe Sound ...

, and Nashville, Tennessee. They had two sons, E. Bronson Ingram II and Frederic B. Ingram, and a daughter, Alice, who married Henry William Hooker.

Death and legacy

He died of a heart attack on April 25, 1963, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville. The Hank Ingram House on the campus of Vanderbilt University was named in his honor in 2006.Vanderbilt University Office of Housing & Residential Education: Hank Ingram House
/ref>

References

External links

* (Nashville grave) * (Eau Claire cenotaph) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Orrin Henry Sr. 1904 births 1963 deaths People from Eau Claire, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Nashville, Tennessee People from Hobe Sound, Florida American people of English descent American company founders American businesspeople in the oil industry Vanderbilt University people Ingram family 20th-century American businesspeople People from White Bear Lake, Minnesota