Census Records - Occupation and Military Service

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today as we bring our discussion of Census Records to a close, we will cover Occupation, including Military Service. It appears that for most areas, the 1870 Census was the first to include Occupations.  Just after the Description section is a column titled “Profession, Occupation or Trade of Each Person Male or Female”.  On the line following the individual’s name is their occupation or profession.  On my great-great grandfather’s Census record from Bedford County, Virginia,  most males were listed as Farm Laborer and the females were listed as “Keeping House”,  Children age 10 and older had a question mark in the column while those under age 10 were left blank.  The 1880 Census carried the same format but the question marks were replaced with the words “At Home”.

In 1900 many of the enumerators listed only the occupation of the heads of household and the servants or boarders in the home.  Others may have been employed but it is not usually noted where or in which profession or trade.

By 1910 the Census Form was updated to include the following columns under the heading of Occupation:

·         Trade, Profession of or Particular kind of work done by this person (spinner, salesman, laborer, etc)

·         General nature, business, or establishment in which this person worked (cotton mill, dry goods store, farm, etc)

·         Whether an employer, employee or working on own account

·         In addition, the next two columns were for employees:

o   Whether out of work on 15 April 1010

o   Number of weeks out of work during year of 1909

What a boost to our search for our family members this is.  We can now look for them in a particular field of work and know if they are the owner or employed by another person, or if they were looking for work during that time.

On the 1920 Census form, the employer/employee column was changed to ask if the person was an employer, salary or wage worker or working on own account.  S in the column was for salary workers, W for wage workers. 

Fun Fact:  Did you know that in 1920, “Magician” was listed as the occupation over 190 times?  Were your relatives in this line of work?

By 1930, the Census form was refined again to include the following information in the Occupation Section:

·         Under the Industry column, the industries of shipyard and public school were added

·         Next was a Class of Worker column – O stood for Owner, W stood for Worker

·         Under the Employment Column heading were two columns:

o   Whether actually at work yesterday

o   If not, line # on Unemployment Schedule

·         Next came a section for Veterans.  Columns included:

o   Whether a Vet of US Military or Naval Forces (yes or no)

o   What war or expedition

By 1940, the latest released Census form available to us, the information on occupations was very detailed.  Employment was under the general heading of “Persons 14 Years Old and Over”. A good third of the entire form is dedicated to this section.  From left to right on the form, the columns under the general heading are:

·         Was this person at work for pay or profit in private or nonemergency Government work during the week of March 24-30 (yes or no)

·         If not, was he at work or assigned to emergency work during the week of March 24-30 (yes or no)

·         If neither at work nor assigned to public emergency work:

o   Was this person SEEKING WORK (yes or no)

o   If not seeking work, did he HAVE A JOB, business, etc (yes or no)

·         For persons answering no to questions 21, 22, 23, & 24

o   Indicate if person is engaged in home housework (H), in school (S), unable to work (U) or other (Ot)

·         If at private or nonemergency Government work, number of hours worked during week of March 24-30

·         If seeking work or assigned to public emergency work

o   Duration of unemployment up to March 30, 1940 in weeks

·         The rest of the columns follow closely to the 1930 Census except that spinner was changed to frame spinner, and rivet heater and music teacher were added to the occupation column

The last columns under the Occupation section include:

·         Weeks worked in 1939 (equivalent full-time weeks)

·         Income in 1939 (12 months ending Dec. 31. 1939)

o   Amount of money, wages or salary received

o   Did this person receive income of $ ______ (unable to read the amount) or more from sources other than money, wages or salary (yes or no)

As we examine the information given each decade on the Census forms, it gives us a look into history for the period. What was important to record?  How can we use this information to find our relatives?  Are we able to find them through work or schools?  Were they neighbors to another family member?  Maybe they were a boarder? 

A few weeks ago I mentioned that while looking through the census records it is a good idea to look at all the names before and after our family members.  As I was researching for this post, I followed my own counsel.  On the Census record that listed my grandfather in 1930, I found my great-grandfather listed a few lines down.  The information my mother had passed on to me stated he had passed away after 1930 and was in the area of Clallam County, Washington.  We could never find any sources to prove it.  I looked all over the Clallam County records that included his other family members, but apparently had overlooked this one.  He was listed a few lines below his son, my grandfather, as a boarder.  Now I can do more research!  He was living with two families who were related to each other but as far as I know he is not related to any of them.  It is a puzzle but at least I have a starting point.   We never know when a gem of information will be available to us. 

Have a wonderful week and enjoy searching the census records for your family members.  Maybe you will find a “missing great-grandfather” like I did!

Let us know if we can help…….  Brother and Sister May