Historical Railroad Employees Database Search

In the 1850s railroads hired thousands of working people to build and operate their growing lines. In 1857 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad recorded every employee on the line. Over 6,000 individuals worked for the B & O in a variety of roles. At least one woman was employed by the company, Sarah Mally, as well as many free blacks and Irish immigrants. Our database will track these individuals over time and in coming months we will add more data from different railroads on slave laborers, Irish, and other workers.

Last Name:

Railroad: Baltimore & Ohio (1842, 1852, 1857) Blue Ridge Railroad, Virginia (1854-1858) Union Pacific Railroad (1864-1868) Illinois Central United States Military Railroads (1864-1865)

Occupation:

Date/Year: 1842 1852 1854 1857 1858 1864 1865 1867 1868

Gender: Male Female

Status: Enslaved

Results:

There are 8 records.

First Name	Last Name	Railroad Company	Occupation	Location	Total Pay	Gender	Rate per Day	Race	Status	Year
O. H.	Henderson	United States Military Railroad	Carpenter		88.12	M	2.500	W		1864-00-00
S. W.	Henderson	Illinois Central	Road Supervisor	Chicago to Kankakee	0.00	M	0.000			1852-00-00
Andrew	Henderson	Baltimore & Ohio	Machinist	Baltimore	33.55	M	1.720			1857-00-00
James	Henderson	Baltimore & Ohio	Foreman Brass Moulder	Baltimore	45.00	M	2.500			1857-00-00
Wm.	Henderson	Baltimore & Ohio	Brass Moulder's Helper	Baltimore	15.00	M	1.000			1857-00-00
William	Henderson	Baltimore & Ohio	Blacksmith Helper	Grafton	17.50	M	1.000			1857-00-00
James	Henderson	Baltimore & Ohio	Laborer	Grafton	24.35	M	1.250			1857-00-00
John	Henderson	Baltimore & Ohio	Laborer	Main stem second sub division	0.00	M	0.750			1842-00-00

Sources: A List of the Officers and Employees of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads with the Amount of their Pay for 1857 (Baltimore: John Murphy and Co., 1868), Maryland Historical Society; Illinois Central Railroad Records, Newberry Library, IC 3.9 Box 262 Folder 3644 Employee List; Second Auditor, Internal Improvements Entry 91, Payrolls, Blue Ridge Railroad Records, Library of Virginia; Union Pacific Railroad Company Collection, Nebraska State Historical Society, MS 3671, Box 1, Box 9, J. S. and D. T. Casement Payrolls, 1867, and Union Pacific Payrolls for Green River Work, 1868; U. S. Military Railroad Records, National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 92, Paryroll Books, 1861-1865, subgroups 1548 (USMRR payroll dated April to May 1861), 1718 (Letters received by W. J. Stevens, time report for USMRR March 1865), and 1738 (payroll of the USMRR Construction Corps, Dept. of the Mississippi); University of Iowa Digital Library Special Collections, Levi Leonard Collection, Union Pacific Casement payrolls.

Funding: worker mobility research made possible by a grant from the Economic Social and Research Council (UK)