George Francis Train (1829 - 1904)
First edition of Jules Verne's 'Around the World in Eighty Days'
January 5th 1904: George Francis Train dies
On this day in 1904, the eccentric American entrepreneur George Francis Train died in New York City aged 74. Born in Boston in 1829, Train emigrated to Australia in 1853 after the gold rush. Train became a prominent figure in Melbourne, establishing a successful business that imported various items including clothing, medicines, and tools. He returned to the United States in 1855 via Asia and the Middle East, and this desire to travel later led Train to undertake a series of famous around the world trips that gave Jules Verne the inspiration for his famous story Around the World in Eighty Days. Train is also known for his role in railway development in both Europe and the United States. His passionate support for unpopular causes such as women’s suffrage led several times to his imprisonment, including when he was jailed for defending the first female presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull against obscenity charges. The infamously eccentric Train also ran for President of the United States as an independent in 1872, and claimed to have been offered the presidency of a potential Australian republic. In his later years his actions became increasingly outlandish, including standing for the position of Dictator of the United States and handing out dimes in Madison Square Park, speaking exclusively to children and animals. Train was eventually even threatened with confinement in an insane asylum. George Francis Train died of smallpox in January 1904 and was buried in Brooklyn.
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