I was reading a book about the history of railway accidents in the United States, and it notes that one of the first people killed in a railway accident in the US was a slave working as a engine fireman for the South Carolina Railroad. Engine fireman is a fairly skilled job and would require a fair amount of technical training, something that is at odds with the image of American slavery being something found only on plantations or in manor homes.
Was having skilled slaves such as the fireman uncommon, or was it widespread in the US South? Was slave labour used in areas like blacksmithing, milling, or even manufacturing and industry (such as it existed in the pre-Civil War South)?
In short, yes! Slaves were trained as blacksmiths, millers, chefs, dressmakers, and worked in a wide range of industries. Often, their owners would hire out their slaves labor. And slaves would frequently work alongside paid white labor. The best example of this is the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Enslaved people quarried and cut the rough stone that was later dressed and laid by Scottish masons to erect the walls of the President's House..
According to the White House Historical Association"Slaves were likely involved in all aspects of construction, including carpentry, masonry, carting, rafting, plastering, glazing and painting, the task force reported,” Lane writes. “And slaves appear to have shouldered alone the grueling work of sawing logs and stones.”
Many large plantations would use slaves as carpenters, coopers, shoemakers, tanners, spinners, weavers and other artisans, since a large plantation would need all of those skills on site.