| Abstract: |
Thomas R. Booth grew up in Delaware, residing with his family in West Chester. In 1851, he left the state to pursue a career
as a civil engineer and worked extensively for the Pacific Railroad Company in different areas of Missouri. The Thomas R.
Booth diaries consist of six volumes spanning the years 1855 to 1860. They chronicle his time spent working and living in
Missouri as an engineer for the Pacific Railroad and for the Southern Kansas Railroad. The daily entries consist predominantly
of records of professional and social events and activities. Booth's writings focus mainly on aspects of his job as an engineer
and detail certain projects he was working on at the time, such as laying tracks or building bridges or tunnels. Because Booth
was raised in Delaware and also lived in Missouri, both states practicing legalized slavery, the diaries to some extent illustrate
his attempts to negotiate issues of race and slavery.
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