Slave Labor on Virginia's Blue Ridge Railroad - (American Heritage) by Mary E Lyons (Paperback)

About the Book

Between 1849 and 1859, Virginia raced to pierce the Blue Ridge Mountains by rail and reach the Ohio River. At least 300 enslaved people labored involuntarily toward that goal, along with 1,500 Irish immigrants. The state leased the labor of enslaved Virginians from local slaveholders, including four connected with nearby University of Virginia. Blue Ridge Tunnel and Blue Ridge Railroad historian Mary E. Lyons explored hundreds of primary documents to write the first nonfiction book about slave labor on a specific antebellum railroad. She shares hundreds of enslaved people's names, traces where they toiled along the line and describes their backbreaking--and sometimes fatal--tasks.

Book Synopsis

Between 1849 and 1859, Virginia raced to pierce the Blue Ridge Mountains by rail and reach the Ohio River. At least 300 enslaved people labored involuntarily toward that goal, along with 1,500 Irish immigrants. The state leased the labor of enslaved Virginians from local slaveholders, including four connected with nearby University of Virginia. Blue Ridge Tunnel and Blue Ridge Railroad historian Mary E. Lyons explored hundreds of primary documents to write the first nonfiction book about slave labor on a specific antebellum railroad. She shares hundreds of enslaved people's names, traces where they toiled along the line and describes their backbreaking--and sometimes fatal--tasks.

Review Quotes

Mary E. Lyons has written yet another masterful work of scholarship about the Blue Ridge Railroad, following The Blue Ridge Tunnel (2014) and The Virginia Blue Ridge Railroad (2015). Slave Labor on Virginia's Blue Ridge Railroad was published March 30, 2020, by Arcadia Publishing and The History Press. Through exhaustive research, culling through hundreds of primary documents, including contracts, receipts, letters, diaries, and payrolls, Lyons is able to paint a detailed picture of the lives of these workers and the vital roles they played in making Crozet's dream a reality--blacksmith, floorer, fireman, and brickmaker. Crozet Gazette