George Mortimer Pullman

The Man

George Pullman was born March 3, 1831 in Brockton, New York. In 1867 he married Harriet Sanger, daughter of a Chicago railroad contractor. They had four children: Florence, Harriet, and twins George Jr. and Walter.

His father was a carpenter and instilled in George a devotion to work and family. George clerked in a small general store in Westfield, New York, and later joined his family in Albion, New York where he worked as a cabinetmaker in his brother's shop. When the widening of the Erie Canal necessitated moving some of the buildings along the banks, George's father was chosen to handle the work at Albion. After his father's death George completed the contract and took over his father's business.

When Pullman heard that Chicago was going to raise its muddy streets, and hence its buildings from four to seven feet, he went to Chicago where he got the commission to raise the Tremont Hotel – at five stories, Chicago's tallest commercial building. The building was of masonry construction, and Pullman was able to raise the building using 500 jackscrews without breaking a single pane of glass or waking a guest.

By 1858 he was financially stable and became an entrepreneur in an industry he had become interested in (supposedly after a miserable trip traveling from New York to Chicago) – building sleeping cars. In Albion, Pullman met Benjamin Field, who obtained the right to run sleeping cars on the Chicago and Alton and on the Galena and Chicago Union railroads. With Field and his brother, he began a partnership outfitting two bare passenger cars for use as sleepers at a cost of $2,000.

A younger George Pullman. More...

George Pullman in 1890. More...

THE PULLMAN RESIDENCE ON PRAIRIE AVENUE

The project took off and Pullman commissioned John M. Dunphy to build a mansion for his family at 1729 S. Prairie Ave. (demolished per Mrs. Pullman's will in 1922). The three-story greystone mansion (valued between $350,000 to $500,000) was set in a private garden with lighted fountains and a large conservatory. When he was frequently out of town, he traveled in a luxurious private car outfitted for him at a cost of $38,000.

The Pullman Mansion. More...

The Pullman Mansion -- Interior View. More...

CASTLE REST

Pullman also maintained a home, Castle Rest, on an islet in the St. Lawrence River; a home in Albion, New York; and one in Long Branch, New Jersey.

Castle Rest. More... Reverse side of postcard

Castle Rest. More...

HIS DEATH

Pullman died of a heart attack on October 19, 1897 at the age of 66. Funeral services were held privately at his mansion on Prairie Avenue in the afternoon. The funeral cortege arrived at Graceland Cemetery where elaborate preparations had made. A pit the size of an average room had been dug on the family plot, its base and walls of reinforced concrete 18 inches thick. Into this the lead-lined mahogany casket was lowered, and covered with tarpaper and asphalt. The pit was filled with concrete on top of which a series of steel rails were laid at right angles to each other and bolted together. These rails were embedded in another layer of concrete. It took two days to complete, then sod was put down. These precautions were taken to prevent any desecration of the body – an unfortunate price Pullman paid for his victory in the Pullman strike

Ambrose Bierce said It is clear the family in their bereavement was making sure the sonofabitch wasn't going to get up and come back.

The monument was designed by Solon Beman and features a towering Corinthian column, flanked by curved benches.

At the time of his death, Pullman's estate was worth c. $7,600,000. His will provided $1,200,000 for the establishment and endowment of an industrial school for children of people living in or employed by the Pullman Company. This school was built in 1915 and was known as the Pullman Free School of Manual Training (111th St. and King Drive). When the endowment was depleted, the school was purchased and operated by the Chicago Archdiocese until it became too much of a financial burden. It is now owned by the Chicago Public Schools and is called the Southside College Preparatory Academy.