Jobs, Careers, Occupations, Professions and other forms of Employment in Family History
Charles Collins Day owned and operated the Asotin Stage.
I’ve never figured out why some people choose one profession over another. I’ve known families in which the son followed his father into the same career as a dentist, even working a practice together. I’ve known families where the sons didn’t follow their father’s career, but they all ended up instead as medical doctors. Then there is the family I grew up in. My father worked as a writer, first as a newspaper reporter in Rawlins, Wyoming, and finishing up more than 30 years at Washington State University writing for their Department of Agriculture. Yet not a single one of my five siblings entered a career as a writer. Law, Art, Computer Programming, Speech Pathology, Pharmacy, and Supply Chain. Not one of us had similar interests in our pursuit of a profession. Perhaps it just skipped a generation, as two of my daughters have had interest in English--one as a Junior High teacher, the other as a technical writer.
It doesn’t answer my curiosity about why people enter their chosen field, but when looking at historical records and what my ancestors did to provide for themselves and their families, it provides an interesting look into the past.
A variety of historical records can be useful in learning what our ancestors did for work. US Census records began recording occupations as early as 1850. Sadly, this valuable detail was left out of the 2020 Census I took recently, representing a decline in the historical value of the Census for future generations. Marriage records, draft registrations, and other historical records can also provide the details sought after.
Lyle Keith Day paving roads in Washington State
My grandfather, Lyle Keith Day, is listed in the 1940 census as a trucker. One of many jobs he held over the years, having worked a variety of laborer jobs as well, in fact the 1930 census records his occupation as a farm laborer. At the time of the 1940 census, Grandpa Day and his family were living in his father’s household. My great-grandfather C.C. Day, who was mentioned in previous blog posts, is listed in this census as a fruit farmer. Neither of C.C. Day’s sons followed their father in their careers. His older son, Russel is recorded as being an accountant at a garage in that 1930 census. One characteristic of the Day family at that time, is that they changed their employment to whatever it needed to be in order to provide for their families. Frequently there was no long term defined career. My father followed this pattern in changing companies that he worked for, four different newspapers in four different cities, and a university. But his career in writing was stable. On the advice of my father, my career has been the same -- five different food manufacturing companies, but all within Supply Chain Management.
In some instances, when the occupation of the children doesn't follow that of the parents, it highlights the cultural shift away from an agrarian society to life in the city. That is the case with my grandfather, Charles Frederick Thompson. He grew up on a farm in rural Fremont County, Idaho and later moved to a farm near Evanston, Wyoming. His father passed away in the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918, leaving 16 year old Charles Frederick to help his mother take care of his 6 younger siblings. Just a few years later, the 1920 Census lists him no longer as a farmer, but as a machinist for the railroad, living in his mother’s home, not yet 18. His railroad career took him to the larger cities in Utah just a few years later, where he would send money back to his mother and siblings to help support them. His 1942 World War II draft card listed him as still working for the Union Pacific Railroad Road, as it became his life career. It isn’t clear whether his employment change from his father’s farming to being a machinist for the railroad, was out of necessity to provide for his family, or the generational shift from an agrarian society. Understandably, it was likely both.
For my wife’s family, her German great-great-great grandfather Anton Wolf is listed in marriage records as a “koopman”, which translates as a merchant. His son and daughter are listed as a merchant and “winkelierster”, or shopkeeper, respectively. Much of the family joins in the business of being a merchant, with a notable exception that Anton’s son Anton is listed as a koopman in his marriage record, but by 1910 his profession has changed to that of a violist.
I sometimes look at the professions and talents of my ancestors and wonder if my daughter’s interest in art as a career is connected to the artistic talents of her grandfather and great-grandmother. Or whether my own career at a Welch’s juice bottling plant had its foundation in my grandfather working in the same building decades before when it was known as Church Grape Juice Company. Can my wife's time in the University of Idaho’s orchestra be linked to her great-great-grandfather’s profession as a violist? And was my pharmacist sister influenced at all by our great-great-great grandfather who was a druggist in mid-1800s Pennsylvania? Whatever drove our ancestors, or ourselves, to choose our professions, it is exciting to see the wide range of interests and methods that have been chosen to provide the necessities of life.