George Francis Train - Definition and Overview

George Francis Train (1829 - 1904) was a businessman and an eccentric figure in American history.

Referring to himself as "Citizen Train," he was a shipping magnate, a prolific writer, a minor presidential candidate, and a confidante of French and Australian revolutionaries (he had even been 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 (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 was not the trip that inspired Verne, which took place earlier.)

He was a staunch supporter of the temperance movement, and was jailed on obscenity charges while defending Victoria Woodhull. In his later years, he became increasingly eccentric. He spent his final days on park benches in New York City's Central Park, handing out dimes and refusing to speak to anyone but children and animals.

External links

• Twain on Train (http://www.twainquotes.com/gftrain.html)