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  • | Letter

    Claudius Crozet's Monthly Report for December, 1853

    In his report Claudius Crozet explains the high costs of white labor and the difficulties of securing enslaved labor.

  • | Letter

    Letter from Claudius Crozet to the Board of Public Works, January 17, 1854

    Under pressure from the legislature to complete the Blue Ridge Tunnel project as soon as possible and at reasonable cost, Claudius Crozet outlined the progress on the construction for the Board of Public Works.

  • | Letter

    Letter from John Wood Jr. to Colonel Claudius Crozet, April 20, 1854

    When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the slaveholders retained legal counsel to negotiate a settlement with the Board of Public Works.

  • | Letter

    Letter from Claudius Crozet Reporting the Cholera Epidemic at the Blue Ridge Tunnel, September 1, 1854

    When cholera broke out among Irish workers at the Blue Ridge Tunnel, Claudius Crozet reported on the epidemic and the various problems on the project with contractors.

  • | Letter

    Samuel G. White's Affidavit, October 27, 1854

    When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.

  • | Letter

    Thomas W. Wood's Affidavit, October 27, 1854

    When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.

  • | Letter

    William P. Jarman's Affidavit, October 27, 1854

    When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.

  • | Letter

    William M. Sclater's Affidavit, October 28, 1854

    When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.

  • | Letter

    Attorney General W.P. Bocark's Opinion Regarding the Bureau of Public Works' Liability for Slaves Killed on Blue Ridge Railroad, November 1, 1854

    When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, slaveholders held the Virginia Board of Public Works, which had hired slaves through contractors, liable for the losses. Affidavits were taken on the value of the slaves, their character and history. The Attorney General of Virginia, W. P. Bocock, ruled that whether the slaves were killed on the Virginia Central Rail Road Co. or the Blue Ridge project was immaterial, and that the Board of Public Works was liable for reasonable compensation to the slaveholders.

  • | Letter

    William M. Sclater's Proposal to the Board of Public Works, November 1, 1854

    When labor shortages slowed the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, Claudius Crozet solicited proposals from local contracting agents to supply slave labor.

  • | Letter

    Letter from Claudius Crozet to the Virginia Board of Public Works, November 5, 1854

    Claudius Crozet comments on the problems with white labor on the Tunnel project, and the possibilities for increasing the use of black slaves.

  • | Letter

    Letter from Claudius Crozet Reporting the Condition of Work Under his Charge, December 1, 1854

    Commenting on the unreliablity of Irish labor, Claudius Crozet recommends to the Board of Public Works that they hire black enslaved labor instead.

  • | Letter

    Letter from Claudius Crozet to the Virginia Board of Public Works, December 28, 1854

    In one of his regular reports to the Board of Public Works, Claudius Crozet comments on the use of enslaved labor and the use of "time" that its employment enables. Because slaves were worked longer hours, often in gangs, and not paid by the hour, unlike whites, they could be transferred from one task to the next until their annual hire was renegotiated with the slaveholder.

  • | Book

    My Bondage and My Freedom

    In this excerpt from My Bondage and My Freedom, Frederick Douglass recounts the segregation of Northern railcars and the attitudes of Northern passengers.

  • | Time Table

    Illinois Central Railroad, Time Table No. 1, January 8, 1855

    This Illinois Central Railroad time table, in effect starting January 8, 1855, notes the arrival and departure schedules for freight and passenger trains between Galena and Cairo, Illinois.

  • | Contract

    Contract Between the Illinois Central Railroad Company and Pinkerton & Company, February 1, 1855

    In this February 1, 1855 contract between the Illinois Central Railroad and Allan Pinkerton's Detective Agency, Pinkerton & Company agree to establish a "Police Agency" in Chicago to assist the Railroad in the "prompt and efficient performance of their business."

  • | Contract

    Receipt for Purchase of a Slave

    This 1855 receipt describes the purchase of a young female slave and her two children.

  • | Broadsides

    Broadside Publicizing the Town of Nevin, Iowa, April 15, 1856

    This April 15, 1856 broadside details the benefits of the "New England Colony of Iowa," in the town of Nevin. This community, "consisting of persons from the New England States," has two railroads, a school, a hotel, and, of course, tracts of land and town lots for sale.

  • | Letter

    Letter from Sarah Sim to Electa, October 12, 1856

    In this letter from October 12, 1856, Sarah Sim writes to her sister, Electa, and details her family's small home and the favorable land they have purchased. Though she describes the roads in southeast Nebraska as "first rate", she notes her disappointment in not yet receiving any mail or the remainder of her family's possessions. She remarks that the country is "filling up very fast" and that most of their neighbors are "eastern people".

  • | Letter

    Letter from Sarah Sim to Wealthy Hathaway, November 16, 1856

    In this November 16, 1856 letter to her sister, Wealthy Hathaway, Sarah Sim gives the details of her new home, the land, and the health of her family. She mentions that though the land is filling quickly, there is still no church or school in her area, and that Indians lived on their land as recently as the past winter. She ends by expressing her thankfulness for several newspapers sent to her and the receipt of the rest of her long-delayed possessions.