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George Pullman ( March 3, 1831 - October 19, 1897) was an American inventor and industrialist.

Although Pullman dropped out of school at age 14, he eventually became one of Chicago's most influential and controversial figures. He arrived in Chicago in 1855 and discovered that Chicago streets were frequently filled with mud deep enough to drown a horse. He suggested that the houses be raised up and a new foundation built under them, a technique his father used to move homes during the widening of the Erie Canal. In 1857, with a couple of partners, Pullman proved his technique would work by raising an entire block of stores and office buildings.

He used his money and success to develop a comfortable railroad sleeping car, the Pullman sleeper. The first one was finished in 1864. Although the sleeper cost more than five times the price of a regular railway car, by arranging to have the body of President Abraham Lincoln carried from Washington, D.C. to Springfield on a sleeper, he received national attention and the orders began to pour in. Pullman built a new plant on the shores of Lake Calumet, several miles from Chicago. It an effort to make it easier for his employees, he also built a town with its own shopping areas, theaters, parks, hotel and library for his employees. (see Pullman, Chicago)

When business fell off in 1894, Pullman cut jobs, wages and working hours. His failure to lower rents, utility charges and products led his workers to the Pullman StrikeThe Pullman Strike of 1894 occurred when 3,000 Pullman Palace Car Company workers went on a wildcat strike in Illinois on 11 May. Owner George Pullman was a " welfare capitalist" who hoped to prevent labor discontent, but was not willing to grant high wag, which was eventually broken up by federal troops sent in by President Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland Order 22nd President 24th President Term of Office March 4, 1885 March 4, 1889 March 4, 1893 March 4, 1897 Followed Chester A. Arthur ( 1885) Benjamin Harrison ( 1893) Succeeded by Benjamin Harrison ( 1889) William McKinley ( 1897) Date o.

Loathing for Pullman remained, and when he died in 1897, he was buried in Graceland CemeteryGraceland Cemetery is a large Victorian-era cemetery on Chicago's North Side. Its main entrance is at Clark and Irving Park, the Sheridan street Red Line stop is the nearest L station. Established in 1860, numerous famous Chicagoans are interred at Gracel inside a Pullman Sleeper, with steel rails criss-crossed on top of it. Several tons of cement were poured over the sleeper to ensure that his body would not be exhumed and desecrated. Celebrated journalist and author Ambrose BierceAmbrose Gwinnett Bierce (b. June 24, 1842, Meigs County, Ohio d. 1913 or early 1914, presumably in Mexico) was an American satirist, litterateur and critic, short story writer, editor and journalist. His dark, sardonic views gave him the nickname Bitter B observed sardonically, "It is clear the family in their bereavement was making sure the sonofabitch wasn't going to get up and come back."

His daughter Florence was married to Illinois Governor Frank O. Lowden.