Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/453

 PULLIsIAN

PULSIFER

of Poland, and his estates were confiscated, and a price set upon his head. He escaped into Turkey in 1772 found refuge in Paris in 1775 ; and became interested in the efforts of the American colon- ists to acquire their independence, through his acquaintance with Benjamin Franklin who induced him to join the patriot army, and in March, 1777, he was welcomed on the staff of General Washington. He took part in the battle of Brandyvvine, Sept. 11, 1777, and for his masterly aid in the retreat was appointed chief of dra- goons with the rank of brigadier-general, Sept. 15, 1777. By prompt action at Warren Tarern he again saved the army from a surprise, and he commanded the dragoons at the battle of Ger- mantown, Oct. 4, 1777. He co-operated with Gen. Anthony Wayne during the winter of 1777- 78, and resigned his command in March, 1778, upon learning of the dissatisfaction of the Ameri- can officers under him who objected to being commanded by a foreigner who exacted such strict discipline and who could not speak English distinctly. Washington approved of a sugges- tion made by Pulaski to recruit a corps made up of lancers, light infantry, deserters and prisoners of war in Baltimore for special service, and con- gress authorized its acceptance. The corps, known as Pulaski's Legion, did good service at Little Egg Harbor, N.J., in September, 1778, and was stationed during the winter of 1778-79 at Minesink, N.J., where, becoming dissatisfied with an inferior command, Pulaski decided to return to Europe. General Washington, how- ever, prevailed upon him to remain, and ordered him to Charleston, S.C., where he arrived May 8, 1779. He held the invested city against repeated assaults until the arrival of re-enforcements on May 13, and when Prevost retreated across the Ashley, Pulaski followed and finally obliged the British army to leave the state. He joined Gen. John Mcintosh at Augusta, Ga., in September, 1779, and moved on to Savannah by way of Beaufort, S.C, where he opened communication with the French fleet. During the siege he had command of the entire cavalry, and in the assault of Oct. 9, 1779, he received his mortal wound. Con- gress voted a monument to his memory, but failed to carry the act into execution. The people of Savannah, however, completed one, the corner- stone of which was laid by Lafayette in 1824 ; and the monument was completed in 1855, on Pulaski square. Savannah. He died on board the brig Was}}, near Savannah, Ga., Oct. 11, 1779.

PULLMAN, George Mortimer, capitalist, was born in Chautauqua county, N.Y., March 3, 1831; son of James Lewis and Emilj' Caroline Pullman. He attended the public schools irregularly ; en- gaged as a clerk and later as a cabinet maker, and in 1853 contracted to move buildings along

the Erie canal, then being widened. In 1857 he removed to Chicago, 111., where he engaged as a contractor and builder. In 1858 he became in- terested in providing better accommodation for travelers on the railroads, and in 1859 remodeled two day coaches of the Chicago and Alton rail- road as sleeping cars at a cost of $4,000 each. The enterprise was temporarily abandoned, owing to the reluctance of the railroad companies to change their methods. He engaged in merchandising in the mineral regions of Colorado, 1859-63, during which time he worked out the details of the sleeping car. He returned to Chicago in 1864, and began the construction of sleeping and parlor cars. He was married, June 13, 1867, to Hattie. daughter of J. Y. Sanger of Chicago. He built the palace car " Pioneer " at a cost of $18,000, which he placed on the Chicago and Alton rail- road at his own cost and venture, and subse- quently placed sleeping and palace cars on the Michigan Central, and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroads and on the Great Western rail- way of Canada. He next introduced the dining car on the Union Pacific railroad, and continued to develop his ideas for the safety and comfort of travelers until the Pullman car became known all over tlie world. He organized car works at Atlanta, Ga., in 1866, at Chicago, 111., in 1867, and later at San Francisco, Cal. In 1880 he removed his establishment to Pullman, near Chicago, where he established an industrial town, built homes for his employees, supplied the place with every modern convenience, laid out beautiful streets, and erected public build- ings — the town, according to statistics, proving to be one of the most healthful in the world. He designed the vestibule car and establislied the vestibuled trains in 1887, which were first run upon the Pennsylvania trunk lines. He also en- gaged extensively in other enterprises, including the Metropolitan Elevated railroad in New York city, of which he was president ; the Eagleton Wire Works of New York, of which he was principal owner, and various car manufactories. He gave a church valued at $80,000 to the Uni- versalist congregation at Albion, N.Y., in 1895, and in his will made thirteen bequests of §10,000 each to local charitable institutions in Chicago, also directing his executors to set aside $1,200,000 for the founding and endowment of a free manual training school at Pullman, 111. He was a promoter of the Chicago Athfeneum and its president ; a director of the Relief and Aid society, and a member of the board of councillors of the Chicago College of Dental Surgery. He died in Chicago, 111., Oct. 19, 1897.

PULSIFER, David, antiquar}-, was born in Ipswicli, Mass., Sept. 22, 1802; son of Capt. David and Sarah (Stanwood) Pulsifer, and a descendant