Work history sheds light
“What do you do for work?” used to be one of the staples of conversation. While we no longer feel that our jobs characterize us, it is still true that the job we hold tells a great deal about our lives. This is even truer for our ancestors’ lives, when jobs were usually very strictly controlled and defined. In the early years of industrialization, factory jobs called for long hard hours at dangerous machines. They were taken by people who felt a certain desperation about providing for their own or their families’ finances.
Family Searcher
By Nina Brawn 
Moving to Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts to work in the woolen mills may have been the only way for many young rural New England women to earn money in the 1800s.
When you know what your ancestor did for a living, you can guess at a person’s skills, education, possibly even work ethic or toughness. So where do we learn this important information? Of course the first line of inquiry should always be family. When this outlet is unavailable (or exhausted) then look through family paperwork. Old boxes of “clutter” may contain check stubs, or the little brown envelopes for cash which preceded them. There may be letters, either between family and friends or the employee and employer or insurance or pension paperwork.
Government paperwork may produce clues, such as censuses, travel/passenger lists across international borders, Social Security (SS), vital records and death-related documents such as wills and obituaries. Of course local newspapers, histories and city directories are great sources. Do not forget to check various military possibilities, even if your recent ancestor never served; there were draft cards filed for the First and Second World War eras. SS numbers may hold an unexpected clue. Originally they were issued when a person entered the job force, and, for example, an ancestor whose number began with the numbers between 700 and 728 would be eligible for railroad retirement benefits. (This is no longer the case, SS numbers are usually issued at birth.)
Finally there are often ethnic or specific job-related sources. I did a genealogy for a gentleman who knew that one of his ancestors had been a coal miner in Illinois. Researching history I realized many miners in his ancestor’s time and place had been from Poland, which led to more clues. Eventually he was surprised with coal miners in both his parents’ families for several generations on two continents.
One great resource was through www.archive.org. I searched on “coal mine report Illinois.” Use any state to see if there is a mining history, and even add an ancestor’s name or a particular mine disaster for other possibilities.
Remember also that while unions, such as railroad and teamsters rarely held records helpful to the genealogist, the industries with unions often had related magazines, such as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers magazine. It was surprising to me to learn that these national industry magazines often carried human interest information: births, deaths, babies, promotions, etc.
Give some thought to the impact their jobs would have had on your ancestors and the people whose lives they touched, and it may help you think about where to find clues.
Editor’s note: Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft, who has been doing genealogy for over 30 years, is a freelance genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader e-mails are welcome at ninabrawn@gmail.com. The Aroostook County Genealogical Society meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at the Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center, 163 Van Buren Road, Caribou, at 6:30 p.m. Guests and prospective members are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501.
