Charles Alexander Munn, Sr. was born July 23, 1885, in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest child of Charles Munn (d. 1903) and Caroline “Carrie” Louise Gurnee Armour (1862-1922). Charles’s father emigrated from Londonderry, Ireland, in 1870. His uncle Alexander Ector Orr helped him establish Munn, Orr & Company provisioners in New York, which the Munns expanded to Chicago in 1875. After Charles’ birth, they moved on to Washington, DC, where his siblings were born: Gurnee, Carrie, Ector, and Gladys.
The Munn family wintered in St. Augustine until Flagler attracted the “Who’s Who” of society to Palm Beach with his railroad. Charles married Mary Paul Astor in 1909, and they lived in Boston while Charles finished his studies at Harvard then moved to Washington, DC.
In 1919 Charles built Casa Amado, where he lived with Mary, their four children, and twenty servants. His brother Gurnee built Louwanna next door. These were the second and third Palm Beach houses designed by Addison Mizner.
Charles was one of the founders in 1916 of the American Federation of Arts. He was a founder of the Everglades Club and among the first officers and owners of the Gulf Stream Club. He also helped to found the Seminole Club and the Poinciana Club of Palm Beach.
Owen Patrick Smith, distressed by the inhumane treatment of using live hares, invented the artificial lure for greyhound racing. Munn arranged with Smith in 1925 for exclusive rights to use his invention in Great Britain, and with several English backers, formed the English Greyhound Racing Association the following year.
Charles Munn sold out his British interests as his friend Joseph E. Widener was taking over the Hialeah Park, the horse racing track, in 1930. At Munn’s urging, Widener purchased the automatic betting board, or totalisator, invented by Australian Sir George Julius.
Charles and Gurnee Munn financed the invention and manufacturing of another tote board by Henry L. Straus, MFH (Master of Foxhounds). The Munns collected royalties on every bet placed on Straus’ machine. Charles became the first president and later the chairman of the board for the American Totalisator Company (AmTote). Gurnee was vice president.
In the 1940s, they invested in the Eckert-Mauchley Computer Corporation, which developed the Univac computer, the first general purpose computer in the world. Remington Rand Corporation acquired Eckert-Mauchley after working out a deal with Charles on the back of an envelope in 1950. The first Univac was delivered to the United States Census Bureau the following year.
Ector Munn said of his brother in 1987, “I guess you would call him an entrepreneur today. Everything he did, he was very successful. ” But in the midst of this success, he and Mary were divorced in 1931. In 1953 he married Dorothy Rohnert Spreckels DuPuy McCarthy, a sugar heiress. They moved between Palm Beach, Paris, the south of France, and San Francisco.
Charles practiced philanthropy quietly. With his wife Mary he hosted an outdoor fete to benefit overseas hospitals for the American Red Cross in 1918. Charles and Dorothy continued to support many charities. Charles, his siblings, and children intermarried with some of the oldest, wealthiest, and most socially connected American families of the twentieth century, such as Wanamaker, Drexel, Pulitzer, and Kellogg.
Charles Munn was tagged by others as “Mr. Palm Beach,” “The Grand Seigneur” of Palm Beach, and “The Last Gentleman. ” He consistently appeared on best-dressed lists and is credited with popularizing the official uniform of the social set: blue blazer, ascot, and flannel trousers. Munn believed in civility and said, “If you are rude, you are wrong!” For many years, his home Wednesday Nights-at-the-Flicks were sought-after invitations, attended by twenty guests each week. He chose guests from a white cardboard “Christmas Calendar” that listed his social “A” group and was the precursor to the Fanjul family’s Christmas card.
Charles A. Munn died March 14, 1981, at the age of 95. His widow and other relations donated many family papers and photographs, including the guest register from Amado’s parties, to the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, where Charles was a member of the Advisory Board.