Everything about George Francis Train totally explained
George Francis Train (
March 24,
1829 –
January 5,
1904) was a businessman, author, and an
eccentric figure in
American history.
Biography
Train was born in
Boston,
Massachusetts in
1829. At the age of four he was orphaned in
New Orleans after a
yellow fever plague killed his family. He was raised by his strict
Methodist grandparents in Boston, who hoped he'd become a minister.
Throughout his life Train was engaged in the mercantile business in Boston and in
Australia, then went to
England in
1860 and undertook to form
horse tramway companies in
Birkenhead and
London where he soon met opposition. Although his trams were popular with passengers, his designs had rails that stood proud of the road surface and obstructed other traffic. In 1861 Train was arrested and tried for "breaking and injuring" a London street.
Referring to himself as "Citizen Train", he became a
shipping magnate, a prolific
writer, a minor
presidential candidate, and a confidant of French and Australian revolutionaries. He was offered the presidency of a proposed Australian republic, but declined.
Train was likely the inspiration for
Phileas Fogg in
Jules Verne's
Around the World in Eighty Days, although he managed to accomplish the feat in 67 days. A plaque in
Tacoma, Washington commemorates the start and finish point. (Note: The Tacoma trip was Train's third around the world and took place in
1880. It wasn't the trip that may have inspired Verne, which took place in 1870.) He was accompanied on the trip and many others by a long-suffering cousin and private secretary named
George Pickering Bemis, who later became mayor of Omaha, Nebraska.
While in
Europe after his 1870 trip, Train met with the
Grand Duke Constantine. During that period he also persuaded the
Queen of Spain to back the construction of a railway in the backwoods of
Pennsylvania. This was the beginning of the
Atlantic and Great Western railroad. He also promoted and built new
tramways in Britain after some opposition, which was eventually overcome by offering to run the rails level with the street.
On his return to the U.S., Train's popularity and reputation soared. He began promoting the great
Union Pacific Railroad, despite the advice of short-sighted industrialists, such as
Vanderbilt, who told him it would never work. Forming a finance company called
Credit Foncier of America, Train made a fortune from real estate when the great railway running from coast to coast opened up huge swathes of western America, including large amounts of land in
Omaha,
Council Bluffs, Iowa and
Columbus, Nebraska. He was responsible for building the
Cozzens Hotel and founding
Train Town in pioneer Omaha.
Along with Credit Foncier, Train's most infamous creation was Credit Mobilier, which he started specifically to fund the development of the Union Pacific Railroad as the
First Transcontinental Railroad. That venture was torn asunder by
scandals that rocked the nation.
Train ran for
President of the United States of America as an independent candidate in 1872. He was a staunch supporter of the
temperance movement, and was jailed on
obscenity charges while defending
Victoria Woodhull. He was the primary financier of the newspaper
The Revolution, which was dedicated to
women's rights, and published by
Susan B. Anthony and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
As he aged Train became more eccentric. He stood for the position of Dictator of the United States, charged admission fees to his campaign rallies and drew record crowds. He became a vegetarian and adopted various fads in succession. Instead of shaking hands with other people, he shook hands with himself, the manner of greeting he'd seen in
China. He spent his final days on park benches in
New York City's
Madison Square Park, handing out dimes and refusing to speak to anyone but children and animals.
He died in New York and was buried at a small private ceremony at
Green-Wood Cemetery. On his death
The Thirteen Club, of which he was a member, passed a resolution that he was one of the few sane men in "a mad, mad world."
Works by Train
- An American Merchant in Europe, Asia, and Australia (1851)
- Young America Abroad (1857)
- Irish Independency (1865)
- Championship of Women (1868)
- My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands (1902)
Further Information
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