July 15, 1858 | Letter
In this July 15, 1858 letter to her mother, Sarah Sim writes of the new Sabbath School library (containing 100 volumes), her triumphs and failures in gardening, and the developments in Otoe, Nebraska, which include a school, regular preaching, and a printing press. She inquires after the activities of various female relatives who are teaching, attending school, and, in one case, enjoying a somewhat unconventional lifestyle selling sewing machines in Cincinnati.
March 25, 1867 | Letter
In this March 25, 1867 letter, Sarah Sim tells her mother of Nebraska's recent attainment of statehood and of the expansion of the railroad across Nebraska. She reports that there is over 300 miles of railroad in Nebraska west of Omaha, and predicts easy access to any part of the country within a year.
January 1, 1860 | Letter
This January 1, 1860 letter from Sarah Sim to her parents describes her loneliness, the cold winter weather, and the current lack of a school for area children. She closes the letter with news of a railroad being built that will pass within three or four miles of their home, and she expresses hope that it will enable her to more easily return home for a visit.
October 29, 1863 | Letter
IIn her October 29, 1863 letter to her sister, Sarah Sim describes the deaths of her daughters, Helen and Mary, from diphtheria. She also mentions the recent birth of another son, and her struggles to maintain her own health while watching three sons under the age of three. With her childcare burdens, she fears that she will not be able to return to the East for a winter visit.
November 16, 1856 | Letter
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.
October 16, 1864 | Letter
Labor bosses ask Adna Anderson to pressure the Quarter Master to approve the sale of winter clothing to contrabands.
August 20, 1860 | Letter
In this letter from August 20, 1860, Thomas M. Isett and William C. Brewster write to Samuel Reed seeking his opinion of a business proposition made to them by the Keokuk and Des Moines Valley Railroad.
August 8, 1862 | Letter
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Master of Transportation, W. P. Smith, writes to the firm's president of the "rough" removal of a nurse from a B and O train.
November 19, 1863 | Letter
McCafferty notes damage done to Engine Rapidan by contrabands.
January 29, 1864 | Letter
An inquiry about re-hiring a blacksmith for the military railroad.
April 17, 1880 | Letter
In this April 17, 1880 letter, Wealthy Hathaway writes to her husband about her Aunt Sarah's final days and the settling of her affairs. She proposes several scenarios for different relatives visiting and staying with the Sim family, and leaves the date of her return up to her husband.
N.D. | Letter
In this letter, Willard Grant asks George P. Cather numerous questions about life in Nebraska, including the method for constructing a good sod house, the possibility of raising fruit, the availability of water and timber, and the opportunities for additional work as a mason.
July 21, 1877 | Letter
On July 21, 1877 Secretary of War George W. McCrary informs Maryland Governor John L. Carroll of the troops that are coming to his aid.
July 21, 1877 | Letter
On July 21, 1877, Secretary of War George W. McCrary sends a message to Maryland Governor John L. Carroll telling him that federal troops are coming to his aid.
January 15, 1851 | Letter
In one of the first reports to the Board, Claudius Crozet explains the dangerous conditions in the construction and advises against using sink shafts on the project. Crozet refers to Col. Randolph, probably Thomas Jefferson Randolph, grandson of Thomas Jefferson and contractor of slaves to the project.
1864 | Letter
Passes for African American railroad employees requested of W. J. Stevens, Superintendent of the Military Railroad, Nashville.
May 2, 1888 | Letter
In the wake of the 1888 strike, railroad officials worked to compile lists of violent protesters and their victims; in this report, S. E. Crance lists violence at strategic points along the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad line.
June 11, 1888 | Letter
In the wake of the 1888 strike, railroad officials worked to compile lists of violent protesters and their victims; in this report, S. E. Crance lists violence at strategic points along the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad line.
October 27, 1854 | Letter
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.
June 24, 1862 | Letter
In this June 24, 1862 telegram between a Mr. Young and E. H. Stokes, Young informs Stokes that he has "sent you by train three (3) negroes," which cost $1,800.