Not much in George Pullman's early years suggests he would revolutionize train travel and make a fortune.

Born near Buffalo, N.Y., in 1831, Pullman dropped out of school and worked at his uncle's general store. By age 17 he was an apprentice cabinet maker and then went to work with his father moving buildings when the Erie Canal was widened.

What he lacked in education, he made up for in ambition and a knack for sensing good opportunities.

When his father died, George took over the business and in 1859 moved to Chicago, which needed a building mover. Chicago was built on a marsh, and the city's streets often filled with mud. That forced planners to build a sewer system 10 to 12 feet above ground so waste could drain into the Chicago River.

Streets, fire hydrants, lamps and foliage were raised up to the new level, but the buildings remained below, forcing residents to climb stairs to get to the street.

Pullman supervised crews that used machines to jack up whole blocks of buildings to street level and built foundations under them.

On Pullman's signal, each worker would turn his jack an equal amount, lifting the building in a slow and smooth process that let businesses keep running even as they were being elevated.

Perhaps his most impressive feat came when he raised the massive Tremont House, a six-story brick hotel that stood on an acre of land — with the guests still in it. Pullman was hailed as a genius.

Along with the notoriety came enough money to let Pullman start work on a project he'd dreamed about for years: building a comfortable passenger railroad car.

Engineering Comfort

Pullman had become interested in sleeping cars after long, uncomfortable train rides. The seats were hard and amenities scarce. They contrasted with his memories of relatively comfortable sleeping conditions of boats that plied the Erie Canal.

After remodeling some old coaches, he came up with a design for what would be known as the Pullman sleeper, which rolled off the assembly line in 1864 and set the standard for comfortable railroad travel.

Pullman believed that if his sleeper cars were to succeed, he needed to provide high-quality service to travelers. That included selling and collecting tickets, dispatching messages and mending torn clothes.

His train cars featured elegant restaurants, bellowslike connectors between cars to keep out wind and noise, and luxurious sleeper compartments with freshly washed sheets and pillows. The staff was helpful and well-trained, the food top-notch and the cars spotless.

After President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Pullman arranged to have a Pullman car carry the body from Washington, D.C., to Springfield, Ill. The attention this generated led to a big increase in orders.

He later teamed up with Andrew Carnegie, who held key patents, to secure the transcontinental sleeping car business. He bought out Detroit Car & Manufacturing Co. and competitors such as Central Transportation Co. and, along with Carnegie, Union Pacific railroad.

By 1875, Pullman Sleeping Car Co. had 700 cars in operation, each costing railroad firms five times as much as a regular railway car to lease.

The railroad car business made Pullman loaded. In 1893, his company was worth $60 million — $1.4 billion in today's dollars — and had 2,000 cars on the rails.

Carnegie called Pullman "one of those rare characters who can see the drift of things, and was always to be found, so to speak, swimming in the main current where movement was the fastest."

Everything Pullman did was designed to benefit his business, even his philanthropy.

Pullman said he aimed to improve the "taste, health, cheapness of living and comfort among the artisan class."

He supported institutions such as the Chicago Manual Training School, which provided workers for his and other businesses.

Pullman also created a utopian town for thousands of his employees so they could walk to work. Each house had indoor plumbing and gas lighting. The streets were paved. The town — 14 miles from downtown Chicago — had a church, library, hotel, parks and theaters. Alcohol was forbidden.

Economist Richard Ely, writing for Harper's Magazine in 1885, called Pullman's intentions "benevolent, well-wishing feudalism, which desires the happiness of people, but in such a way as shall please the authorities."

Ely added: "One cannot avoid thinking of the late czar of Russia, Alexander II, to whom the welfare of his subjects was truly a matter of concern. He wanted them to be happy, but desired their happiness to proceed from him, in whom everything should center."

Pullman named the town after himself and acknowledged that he was at least partly motivated by business concerns. He figured employees living in a nice neighborhood would work harder and better.

The town, like his business, was designed to make a profit for Pullman's investors. He owned the town. All houses were leased, and employee residents had to pay a 10% premium for city water and gas.

In 1893, the stock market crashed, marking the start of a depression that forced 150 railway firms to close. Orders for Pullman cars plummeted.

To keep paying dividends to his investors, Pullman cut factory workers' wages by 25% or more, but did not reduce rents in the town of Pullman. He met with workers, but refused to discuss their grievances.

One worker later testified, "I have seen men with families of eight or nine children crying because they got only 3 or 4 cents after paying their rent."

On May 12, 1894, 4,000 Pullman employees launched a strike that mushroomed in July when 100,000 railroad workers across the country refused to handle Pullman cars.

When strikers were fired, entire rail lines closed, halting mail service. President Cleveland sent troops to Chicago to ensure that mail would not be delayed. The arrival of troops sparked riots in which six people died.

By the end of July, 34 people had been killed, the strikers were dispersed and the troops withdrawn.

A federal commission investigating the strike censured Pullman for refusing to negotiate and for economic hardship he caused workers in the Pullman town.

In 1898, as a result of a lawsuit filed in the wake of the investigation, the Illinois Supreme Court ordered Pullman to sell all nonmanufacturing real estate. The town of Pullman was absorbed into Chicago.

The Last Stop

Pullman's inability to compromise hurt his reputation.

"It's kind of a mixed bag," said Bill Withuhn, curator of transportation history at the Smithsonian Institution. "He certainly liked philanthropy. He was a paternalist of an ordinary stripe for the wealthy folks of his time. George helped make the United States the most mobile society on earth. George is one of those characters from that time who really hit on a good and enduring business model" — knowing that quality control was important when providing a service to the public.

Pullman's health deteriorated after the strike. He died on Oct. 19, 1897, of a heart attack. He was 66. His will included a bequest of $1.25 million for a manual trades school.


BY SCOTT STODDARD