Theodosia Beacham, Railroad Contractor
Theodosia Reynolds Beacham (c. 1853 - ?) of Kalamazoo, Michigan, traveled the United States constructing railways. Her achievements were documented in the first decade of the twentieth century in numerous articles that followed headlines such as “Women who Make Money in Odd Ways” and “Builds Railroad in the Wilderness: Feminine Contractor Bosses Gangs of Rough Laborers and Wins Respect.”
The public found Beacham’s profitability as remarkable as her gender. One journalist wrote, “It was learned from other railroad sources that she makes $40,000 [more than $1.4 million in 2024] and upward annually….Mrs. Beacham says her biggest contract was with the Tennessee Central Railroad in 1900. She made about $75,000 or $80,000 on that, and it took nearly a year to do it.” Beacham also worked on the Tidewater Railway in Virginia (where she built from Kilby Station westward for five miles, “a relatively small job to Mrs. Beacham”), Old Dominion Railway, and Southern Railway, among others.
Beacham began railway contracting in the mid-1880s but her greatest profitability came in the southern states beginning around the turn of the century. Her husband became an “invalid” around this time and Beacham took over the business. She and her two sons, then in their mid-twenties, traveled and completed work in about ten states. About half their workforce traveled with them, with the remainder being hired locally. At the time Beacham’s company was working on the small Tidewater job, she commanded a workforce of more than 100 men and 40 mules.
Beacham superintended the work and was reported to be “regarded by her employees with a degree of respect which almost approaches reverence.” Railway officials were also said to hold her “in the highest esteem.” In addition to running the construction work, she also ordered all the supplies needed for the men and mules, and to keep the equipment in good repair. She still found time to read books from her library.
In spite of her successes, an article reported, “Mrs. Beacham said she did not so particularly admire the calling, but that the financial renumeration was good, and she did not expect to be a contractor always.” In a 1905 interview, Beacham said she planned to retire the following year. At 52 years old, she had already surpassed the life expectancy for women of that era by several years. She was planning to return to Kalamazoo when she retired; she said the celery there was good for the brain.
Sources:
Railroad tracks, 1902 (DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University)
“Women who Make Money in Odd Ways,” Common Sense, June 1906: 8.
“Builds Railroad in the Wilderness: Feminine Contractor Bosses Gangs of Rough Laborers and Wins Respect,” The Indianapolis Star, October 15, 1905: 14.
“A Railroad Builder,” Minneapolis Journal, September 23, 1905: 30.
Life expectancy in the USA, 1900-98 - University of California, Berkeley