George Bangs facts for kids

George Bangs (born February 26, 1826 – died November 17, 1877) was an American businessman who helped make mail delivery faster. He started his career in different jobs like printing and journalism. Later, he became the postmaster of Aurora, Illinois in 1861.

During his time with the Railway Mail Service (RMS), he made big improvements to how mail was sorted on trains. He was a strong supporter of "fast-mail" express trains, which were special trains just for mail. In 1871, as the head of the RMS, he helped start the "fast-mail" service in 1875. He left his job in 1876 when the US Congress cut funding for the service. George Bangs died in 1877 and is remembered for his important work in speeding up mail delivery.

Early Life of George Bangs

George Bangs was born in Milan, Ohio. His family history goes back many generations to Edward Bangs, who came to America in 1623 on the ship Anne. This was the second ship to arrive in Colonial America after the Mayflower.

George grew up in Akron, Ohio and went to local schools. When he was nine, he started learning to be a printer at the Akron Beacon newspaper. By age 15, he was skilled enough to work as a journeyman printer (a trained worker) at the Cleveland Herald. He also worked at newspapers in Wisconsin, like the Milwaukee Sentinel.

Moving to Illinois

Later, George Bangs moved to Kane County, Illinois. He became friends with Lewis Steward, a businessman and politician. In 1851, Bangs moved to Aurora. He first worked for the Aurora Beacon newspaper. For a short time, he even tried farming strawberries!

Newspaper Work and War

In 1858, with help from his friend Steward, George bought the Aurora Republican newspaper. He combined it with the Beacon, becoming the editor and publisher. He made it a very important newspaper in Ohio. After the famous Lincoln–Douglas debates in 1858, he used his paper to suggest Abraham Lincoln should be the Republican candidate for president. He worked hard to help Lincoln get elected in 1860. He stayed involved with the newspaper until 1866, even during the American Civil War.

When the Civil War started, Bangs helped create a volunteer army unit called the 36th Illinois Infantry Regiment. He was made a Colonel, working for Governor Richard Yates.

George Bangs' Postal Career

In 1861, George Bangs was chosen by President Lincoln to be the postmaster of Aurora. He served in this role until 1869. He became friends with George B. Armstrong, who was the head of the Railway Mail Service (RMS). In 1869, Bangs became Armstrong's assistant in Chicago.

When Armstrong retired in 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed George Bangs as the General Superintendent (the main boss) of the RMS in Washington, D.C..

Improving Mail on Trains

A nighttime scene from around 1876, showing a "Fast-mail" train in the center.

The US Post Office Department started using trains to move mail in the 1830s. Mail was sent to towns along the train lines or forwarded to other places. In the 1860s, mail for the Western United States was sent by train to St. Joseph, Missouri. From there, it was sent by stagecoach.

Things got better in 1862 when the first mail car was used to sort mail right on the train. This meant mail was already sorted before it reached St. Joseph. In 1864, George Armstrong suggested using more mail-sorting cars. This led to the creation of the Railway Post Office car. The first test was between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa, in August 1864.

George Bangs made his first improvement to the RMS in 1869. He added "useful lamps" to the mail cars, which he had brought from Germany.

The "Fast-Mail" Trains

In 1874, Bangs suggested creating a special mail train that would run between New York and Chicago. This train would deliver mail from the east to the west much faster, in about 24 hours. His idea worked! In 1875, the RMS started using "fast-mail" trains. These were high-speed trains used only for mail, and they had priority over all other trains. Each "fast-mail" train had four mail cars and one passenger car.

The first "fast-mail" routes were from New York City to Chicago on the New York Central Railroad, and from Philadelphia to Chicago on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The very first "fast-mail" train left New York at 4 a.m. on September 16, 1875. It traveled over 900 miles to Chicago in a record-setting 26 hours. Many important people were on this first train, including postal officials and the Vice-President.

The "fast-mail" trains from New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad to Chicago were named the 20th Century Limited and Limited Mail.

Bangs also told the RMS to first sort mail only to the state level. Then, it would be sent to the farthest railway post office in that state for more sorting. This helped spread out the work and prevent mail from piling up. During his time, the number of miles of railroad used for mail increased to 70,083.

Even though these priority trains greatly improved mail delivery, the US Congress stopped funding them just eleven months after they started. Because of this, George Bangs resigned from his position in 1876.

Later Years and Legacy

Soon after Bangs resigned, President Grant offered him the job of Postmaster General (the head of the entire postal service). But Bangs chose not to accept because Grant's time as president was almost over. Bangs was known for being efficient and wanting to improve government services. Many thought he would be chosen for the Postmaster General job again by the next president, Rutherford B. Hayes, but Hayes chose someone else.

In 1876, Bangs went back to journalism and started a newspaper called Railway Age in Chicago.

He was also appointed as an assistant Treasurer of the United States in Chicago from March 1876 to August 1877. He then became an agent for a company called Merchant's Union Express in Washington, D.C., where he died on November 17, 1877. George Bangs had been suffering from a kidney illness.

His funeral service was held in Washington. Many important people attended, including US Senators and the Postmaster General. A special train car, provided by the Pennsylvania Railroad, carried his body to Chicago. He was buried there on November 21. The Chicago post office closed for his funeral, and 600 postal workers marched in a procession. Chicago mail trains were decorated to honor him.

His Unique Grave Marker

The monument on top of George Bangs's grave.

George Bangs's grave is in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. It has a large, special stone carving. It shows a big tree next to a three-foot-long railway mail car that looks like it's coming out of a tunnel. This monument was mostly paid for by postal workers. An inscription on the tree says, "His crowning effort, The Fast Mail." The dead tree represents death but also shows life, with plants and animals living on it. The train tunnel is at the base of the tree trunk.

The monument was made from grey marble by a sculptor named Engelbert Gast. He was a stonecutter from Bavaria who worked in Chicago. Today, it is considered a famous example of cemetery art. The monument is 18 feet tall and cost $5,000 in 1878. It was officially shown to the public at a ceremony on September 13, 1879.

Personal Life

George Bangs married Sophronia Wetmore. She passed away in 1888.

A Town Named Bangs

The small railroad village of Bangs, Ohio in Knox County, Ohio is named after George Bangs.