Another summer is gone! Here in the US, Labor Day marks the end of summer for most people and of course, it’s a three day weekend. The news reports indicate that there were a record numbers of travelers this weekend traveling both by air and car. Summer here in Florida has been hot and wet, which allowed me to stay in the air conditioning digitizing the paper records that have stuffed my many file cabinets. It’s taking me longer than I expected, as I end up re-reading much of the material. It’s been a goldmine!
Since it is Labor Day, are you making note of your ancestors’ occupations? What can you learn about them based on that information. I wrote about occupations back in 2018 and I encourage you to go back and read that blog. Here are some additional items I discovered this summer.
My Dad was a draftsman and engineer and worked for most of his career at Pitney Bowes (postage meters and mailing machines). Checking the US Patent and Trademark (USPTO) site I found two patents listed for him in the 1970s and one in the 1960s. I tried the US Patent and Trademark Office database at Ancestry with no results, although I did find the results at MyHeritage. I also found a patent for my husband (also Pitney Bowes) and for his uncle, who worked for Electrolux (they made vacuums). The Moughtys were easy to find (unusual name) but with Mitchell being such a common name, it was much more difficult. Typically when if your ancestor worked for a business, the patent was assigned to the Corporation. The combination of Mitchell and Pitney Bowes gave me the results.
My father-in-law and brother-in-law were both tradesmen…a plumber and an electrician. You can google the trade and location and possibly find out more about the local union and salary information.
Both my grandfather and my husband’s grandfather were chauffeurs, beginning in New York City. My grandfather worked for private families, and as the story goes, he met my grandmother, who was working as a nanny in the same neighborhood. One of the documents I recently digitized was a “report” sent to me by my uncle in the 1990s, shortly after I began researching. I read it at the time and filed it. Re-reading it now highlighted lots of hints to further my research. I have little information on my grandfather who emigrated from what is now Ukraine in 1907 and died in 1942. I now have the names of three of his employers. My Dad and Uncle had referred to living in “the castle” but the report gave me the name of the employer, Mr. Duane Armstrong as well as the name of the castle, Freestone Castle. When I googled it, I came up with this Post Card. One of the other google results was a real estate listing from 2022 with the property listed for $11.2 million! Mr. Armstrong sold the property in the later 1920's and built a new home in Harrison, New York.
According to my uncle, when Mr. Armstrong died, my grandfather worked for a Mr. Siebert. I had the 1930 census for my family, which began at the top of the census page, but when I searched for Mr. Siebert, he was listed at the bottom of the previous page. When I travel to Connecticut in December, there will be a trip to the Westchester Archives to obtain a copy of the will of Mr. Armstrong and the land records for the property in Harrison, New York.
My husband’s grandfather worked for a “government employee” and as such received a deferment during World War I (according to family lore). His Draft Registration indicated he worked for E.Walker who lived at 875 Park Avenue in New York City. In the family papers I found his Chauffeur License from 1912. By 1942 he was working at Electrolux as a Truck Driver and I found a United States Coast Guard Identification Card for the Port of New York.
Two points here…even if you don’t have specifics, you can research the type of work of your ancestors to add general information to your family history. Second, you back and read the information you researched as a new genealogist…I’ll just about guarantee you’ll find information that, as a more experienced genealogist, will provide new directions for your research.
Happy Hunting!
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