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  • | Contract

    Slave sale receipt, blank

    A blank receipt for individual slaves from E.H. Stokes of Richmond, Virginia.

  • | Contract

    Receipt for Sale of Slaves to the Mississippi Central Railroad Company, March 5, 1860 (#2)

    This March 5, 1860 receipt lists the names, ages, and purchase price of 31 slaves "sold & delivered" to the Mississippi Central Railroad.

  • | Contract

    Receipt for Sale of Slaves to the Mississippi Central Railroad Company, March 5, 1860

    This March 5, 1860 receipt lists the names, ages, and purchase price of 21 slaves sold to the Mississippi Central Railroad.

  • | Contract

    Receipt for Purchase of a Slave

    This receipt and letter describes the terms of sale for a slave in 1858.

  • | Contract

    Receipt for Purchase of a Slave

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

  • | Contract

    Mordecai Sizer's Estimate No. 27 for the Month of May, 1852

    Contractors on the Blue Ridge Railroad and Tunnel project filled out elaborate and detailed descriptions of work that they were to complete.

  • | Contract

    Gallaher & Mc Elroy's Estimate No.37 for the Month of March, 1853

    Contractors on the Blue Ridge Railroad and Tunnel project filled out elaborate and detailed descriptions of work that they were to complete.

  • | Contract

    Contract for Negro Slaves, December 23, 1853

    In December 1853, George A. Farrow and David Hansbrough signed a contract with the Blue Ridge Railroad to provide fifty slaves to assist in the construction of the Blue Ridge railroad tunnel.

  • | 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

    Claudius Crozet's Comparative Estimate of the Five Lowest Bids Offered for Blue Ridge Tunnel No. 1, January 21, 1850

    Claudius Crozet offers the Board of Public Works his assessment of the bids for one section of the Tunnel project.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, Signature Sheet

    This signature sheet from a Johann Brunken's Nebraska land contract has spaces for fares and freight on the Burlington and Missouri River and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads, showing at least two of the railroads that had expanded into Nebraska by 1874.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, May 25, 1874

    This May 25, 1874 document is an application to purchase land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company in Lancaster County, Nebraska. This applicant was an immigrant from Prussia, and financed his land purchase on "long credit", paying $43.20 when he filled out the application. Abundant land in the Great Plains gave immigrants like this man opportunities to become property owners.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, March 26, 1874

    This March 26, 1874 document is an application to purchase land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company in Lancaster County, Nebraska. The applicant, Adolph Brauer, was a German immigrant who had lived in the United States for only four years, but apparently seized the opportunity provided by the railroads to purchase his own property.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, March 18, 1874

    In this March 18, 1874 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, a quarter section of Nebraska land sells for $7.00 per acre. A German immigrant who had lived in the United States for six years, Johann Brunken had spent only five days in Nebraska prior to his land purchase. The opportunity to own land as a recent immigrant may have influenced his decision to relocate.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, March 14, 1874

    This March 14, 1874 application to purchase land in Lancaster County, Nebraska from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company details the costs associated with land purchases. As both an immigrant and a woman, this applicant shows that the availability of relatively cheap land opened ownership opportunities to a variety of non-traditional demographic groups.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, June 9, 1874

    In this June 9, 1874 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, James O'Reily purchases 160 acres of land at $6.00 per acre on ten years credit. Leaving the "Length of time in Nebraska" line blank, O'Reily's application from Minnesota to purchase railroad land shows how the railroad's involvement in real estate may have influenced migration choices.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, June 26, 1876

    In this June 26, 1876 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, a Bohemian purchases 80 acres in Lancaster County, Nebraska, only eight days after arriving in the United States and four days after arriving in Nebraska. In a little over a week, this immigrant used the railroad as a means of transport across the country and as a vehicle of acquiring property.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, June 16, 1874

    In this June 16, 1874 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, Hungarian Andreas Mosser purchases land in Lancaster County, Nebraska. Mosser's application is especially remarkable, as he lists his time in the United States as "14 days" and his time in Nebraska as "8 days". The railroad clearly played an instrumental role in Mosser's new life in America, both by selling him his own land and likely by transporting him across the country to take possession of it, all within the span of only two weeks.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, January 20, 1874

    This January 20, 1874 document is an application to purchase land at $6.00 per acre from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company in Lancaster County, Nebraska. An immigrant from Bohemia, the applicant lists his length of time in the United States as six years and his time in Nebraska as 20 months. This purchaser's status as a relative newcomer to the country shows how the availability of land near railroads simultaneously provided opportunities for new immigrants to become property holders and also gave incentive for people to settle in the Great Plains.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, Febrauary 10, 1877

    In this February 10, 1877 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, 80 acres of land in Lancaster County, Nebraska are sold for $7.00 per acre. This immigrant took advantage of railroad lands to increase his property holdings, as he already owned land in Nebraska.