Son of James Secor, Jay Ketcham Secor was born in Toledo on April 28, 1872.  

Secor graduated from the Toledo public schools, then Andover Academy in Massachusetts. He returned to Toledo and worked in the banking business. At the age of 26, he became a partner in the firm of Secor & Bell, established in 1898 (it became Secor, Bell & Beckworth in 1920). Known for dealing in stocks and bonds as well as handling the securities and financial transactions, Secor's firm was one of the first in the Toledo area to open a direct, private line to the New York stock exchange.

Secor was involved in many companies in Toledo. He was president of the Citizens' Ice and Cold Storage Company, president of the Toledo Bridge & Crane Company and vice president and director of the Northern National Bank. He was a director of the Toledo Steamship Company and the W. Milner Company, a leading department store. He was also a trustee of the Toledo Museum of Art.

Secor was the president of the firm that constructed and owned the Secor Hotel, which was opened August 1, 1908 as the first fireproof hotel between New York and Chicago. The hotel was named in honor of Secor, painted portraits of James and Joseph Secor hung inside.

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Secor married Mary Young Barnes, daughter of C.W. Barnes, a western oil & gold executive, on April 28, 1898. He and his family were the third occupants of the 1886 Reynolds-Secor house, located at 2035 Collingwood Blvd.