{"id":8494,"date":"2017-08-28T09:35:39","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T13:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=8494"},"modified":"2017-09-07T14:04:12","modified_gmt":"2017-09-07T18:04:12","slug":"where-did-my-ancestors-work-newspapers-reveal-occupations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/where-did-my-ancestors-work-newspapers-reveal-occupations.html","title":{"rendered":"Where Did Your Ancestors Work? Newspapers Reveal Family Occupations."},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: This Labor Day we’re thinking back to our hard-working ancestors, so many of whom came to the United States chasing the American Dream. Scott Phillips, a genealogical historian and owner of Onward To Our Past\u00ae genealogy services, shows how old newspapers can tell you a lot about your ancestors’ occupations and workplaces, and help you better understand their lives and the times in which they lived. These articles really add some wonderful depth and richness to your family story.<\/em><\/p>\n

Everyone works. They say the only things you can\u2019t avoid are death and taxes, but I\u2019d have to add \u201cworking\u201d to that list. And in our genealogy this is a good thing. Searching for information about our ancestors\u2019 occupations and work can add significantly to our family trees. This is especially true when you work with the thousands of newspapers in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We can gain some exciting and interesting insights into the lives of our ancestors when we add their occupations to our usual family research. As a matter of fact, my family tree is peppered with some wonderful discoveries that came as the result of researching the occupations and workplaces of my ancestors.<\/p>\n

One of the aspects of my youth that I regret is that I neither paid close enough attention to, nor asked enough questions about, the work of several of my ancestors who are now gone.<\/p>\n

Uncle Chuck<\/strong><\/p>\n

One example is my uncle Chuck. I remember from my youth and family stories that he worked for a company with the name of Acme-Cleveland, but not much more. So not long ago I decided to do some research to see if I could learn more about one of my favorite uncles.<\/p>\n

When I searched on the company name \u201cAcme Cleveland,\u201d GenealogyBank\u2019s search results page showed 2,600 hits. One of those results was this 1978 newspaper article which gave a detailed history of the company, explaining that its roots go all the way back to 1896. It also mentioned that the headquarters were at one time considered \u201cto be one of the most modern manufacturing plants in the United States.\u201d This is a fact I never knew when we would drive by and I would always shout in the car, as though my parents and sisters didn\u2019t know: \u201cThat\u2019s where Uncle Chuck works!\u201d In the last paragraph of this old newspaper article they even quoted my uncle.<\/p>\n

\"National<\/a>
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 19 July 1978, page 23<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0My Great-Great-Grandfather Frederick Evenden<\/strong><\/p>\n

In another instance, I decided to do some occupational research on my mother\u2019s family. She lost her dad when she was only 12 so I didn\u2019t have much to go on\u2014but one of the stories my mother had shared was that her paternal grandfather, Frederick Evenden (1851-1918) had worked for a firm by the name of Chandler and Rudd. I began my newspaper search and soon found several advertisements for Chandler and Rudd published in an 1876 newspaper. It immediately sounded like a wonderful grocery store. Listed in the advertisements were enticing entries for cheese, nuts, fruit, etc. What a cornucopia of edible offerings!<\/p>\n

\"food<\/a>
Cleveland Leader (Cleveland, Ohio), 28 November 1876, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then I found this Chandler and Rudd advertisement in a 1907 newspaper for Easter week. It was fun to see they were offering some of the same Easter treats we can get today, such as Cream Easter Eggs, Marshmallow Eggs, and Chocolate Covered Almonds, plus some others I was unfamiliar with\u2014like Sunshine Candies, Nut Puffs, and Chocolate Covered Fig Squares.<\/p>\n

\"Easter<\/a>
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 18 March 1907, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My Grandfather-in-Law Pasquale D\u2019Aquila<\/strong><\/p>\n

On my wife\u2019s side of the family we are blessed to have many family members who owed their livelihoods to the iron mining industry. My wife\u2019s paternal grandfather, Pasquale D\u2019Aquila, was one of those men who toiled away in the austere conditions of the open pit iron ore mines of Northern Minnesota. This was only after he had spent a few years in the mines of Minas Gerais, Brazil; then Western Canada; and then Montana. Sadly, Pasquale passed away long before I joined the family, so I did some newspaper research on what it was like in the mines in his day.<\/p>\n

I first found this 1902 newspaper article. In addition to saying Hibbing, Minnesota, was \u201cwhat is known in the expressive vernacular of the street as a \u2018crackerjack,\u2019\u201d the article also stated: \u201cHibbing is at present the theater of greatest iron mining activity on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hibbing<\/a>
Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota), 19 October 1902, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But of course it wasn\u2019t all \u201ccrackerjack\u201d\u2014the mining work was hard and dangerous, as were other types of work such as railroads and sawmills. This 1903 newspaper article reported that more than 1,000 \u201ccasualties among the working people of Minnesota\u201d had occurred in the past year.<\/p>\n

\"Many<\/a>
Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota), 3 October 1903, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sometimes it was dangerous just getting to work in the mines in those days, as reported in this 1911 newspaper article. The Scranton Mine was one of the mines Pasquale worked in, and the article explained an accident in detail\u2014and reported that the men involved were John Lampi, Emil Jackson, and John Fari.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota), 11 November 1911, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s another mining accident, reported in this 1916 newspaper article. The Albany Mine was another mine in which Pasquale worked, and this article explained how a dozen railroad cars, each filled with 50 tons of ore, broke loose and wrecked in the mine.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota), 5 November 1916, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This 1918 newspaper article reported another danger my ancestor faced: the scourge of Spanish influenza. This article explained that the area was under consideration for the imposition of martial law to combat the spread of this flu. The article detailed the situation in Grand Rapids, Gilbert, Hibbing, Aitkin, and Virginia, Minnesota, even listing an entire paragraph of the names of all those who died from the flu in Grand Rapids alone. No doubt, it had to have been a challenging life in a tough environment.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota), 12 November 1918, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These many articles from the historical newspapers of GenealogyBank have added immensely to my family tree and my genealogy work. So when you get into your family history work, be sure to do some of your searching on the occupations and companies of your ancestors. These articles really add some wonderful depth and richness to your family tree!<\/p>\n

Do you know what type of work your ancestors did for a living? Share their occupations with us in the comments.<\/p>\n

Related Ancestor Occupation Research Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n