One way to expand your knowledge of your ancestors is to use occupational records. By so doing you can often distinguish between people with very similar or same names and discern to which you’re related. You can also discover family traditions that were passed down from generation to generation through occupational “secrets” or techniques.

There are several places you can look for occupational information. One is the census. This will reveal a head of household’s job. It also helps trace job changes because it’s taken regularly (usually every 5 or 10 years).

A second source for job listings is your library. Here you can accomplish several things. First review old city directories. Many of these list a person’s occupations with the name and address. Note: you might have to hit the microfilm file for these since they’re hard to keep intact.

While you’re there, this is an excellent opportunity to check obituary records too since these regularly indicate occupation or important professional organizations to which someone belonged. And don’t forget to search newspaper articles that may have stories tied to your ancestor’s occupation. These will often lead you to other locations and specific company names where your search can continue. For example, if your ancestor was a carpenter and a neighboring town needed extra carpenters, it’s plausible that he or she may have gone there to work for a while. Note: Directory, obituary, and newspaper searches will usually only bear fruit if your ancestor spent at least part of his or her life in the town where you’re researching.

A third source is Social Security records. Any time a person applies for a SS card, or when they change jobs, this change is reflected at the SSA. Better still, the employer’s address accompanies the listing giving you another source that could help in your search.

Finally As you discover various occupations, some may seem strange to you. If you have an older dictionary that can help a lot as some terms have simply gone out of use. These antiquated designations are an important part of your ancestors history, and later as you’re searching immigration and other sources you’re likely to come across them again.

Tags:  ancestor Ancestors Census family Genealogy immigration occupation