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Showing posts with label occupations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label occupations. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Occupation: Farm Laborer and Census Enumerator

In a rural community during a midwestern summer in the year 1900, one might expect to find a 20-year-old man working hard on the family farm. Right?

Of course! So it was no surprise when I found my great-great grandpa Jesse Workman in the 1900 U.S. Census listed with his parents and brother right there on the family farm in Sterling township, Brookings County, South Dakota. Twenty-one years old, single, and his occupation listed as "Farm Laborer".

Source: Ancestry.com - 1900 U.S. Federal Census.  To see the census lines for the George Workman family, click here.


But as I looked up towards the top of the census page to gather the little bits of data identifying the location and date of the census, I saw a familiar name. 


"Enumerated by me on the 1 day of June, 1900, Jesse Workman, Enumerator."

Grandpa!  I never would have expected to see grandpa Jesse's name listed as the census enumerator.  I just always expected that city folks would be the enumerators.

I guess this might explain why his parents George and Minnie Workman are the first people listed for this enumeration district as well.  Gotta start with the people you know best!


(Disclaimer: I didn't really need to look at the top of the census page to identify the location of this family since Workman family members still farm the same land today. It's just a good habit to look there.  And now I have another reason to look at that information - you just never know what you'll find!)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Occupation: Junk Dealer

Many of the men in my family were farmers all their lives.  When I began researching the Crapser family several years ago, I had no idea what Grandpa Oral Crapser had done for a living.  I was under the impression that he had lived in town all his life, so I knew it wasn't a farmer.   It wasn't until I located the family in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census in Brookings, South Dakota that I learned of Grandpa Oral's occupation.

The census taker had marked the occupation as "Junk Dealer".
Source: Ancestry.com, 1930 U.S. Federal Census.  To see the census lines for the Crapser family, click here.

Upon seeing "Junk Dealer" my initial reaction was a laugh.  I finally understood that it was Grandpa Oral, who shared with his sons and grandsons the passion for collecting random items.

Much to my surprise, while digging through Grandma Leola's collection of photos, I found a photo of Grandpa Oral's truck taken a few years later. 

The signage clearly states:

"Oral Crapser, Dealer in Hides & Furs".

Ah ha!  Mr. Census Taker, it's not junk he deals! It's hides and furs!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Inspiration for Rosie the Riveter

A recent post over on the Genealogy Insider blog titled Inspiration behind WWII Rosie the Riveter "We Can Do It!" Poster Dies, struck a chord today.  The original inspiration behind the Rosie the Riveter posters passed away last Sunday.

Grandma Leola Crapser was one of many "Rosies" who worked in the factories during World War II.  She worked at the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Factory in California between 1942 and 1945.