The Labor of our Ancestors
Celebrating Labor Day by honoring the work of my ancestors
I got an email from Family Search, an online genealogy website, suggesting I celebrate Labor Day by taking a look at my ancestor’s jobs. I thought this was a wonderful idea! This is outside the usual WWII parameters of what I share here, but the research tools and skills I use in hunting down this information is very similar to what I employ for my podcast. I think it’s important to share these skills with others while at the same time learning a bit more about how my ancestors made a living.
So, I’m going to highlight nine of my ancestors for whom I have photographs! I have definitely gained a better appreciation for all of their many skills and talents.
One caveat: Census records provide the easiest way of finding out a person’s occupation, but unfortunately women’s occupations, if they’re married especially, tend to be left out. It depended on the information being gathered for a particular census (the info valued by the government changes each time) and it also depended on who was taking down the census and what they chose to record. If more information is wanted about women’s jobs, deeper digging is usually required. And sometimes, we just won’t ever know.
Starting with the man in the above photo:
Erastus Beardsley (1878-1935), Michigan. My 2nd great-grandfather was a trucker and celery farmer!
Erastus Beardsley Cyrus Creviston (1854-1926), Indiana. My 2nd great-grandfather was a laborer at a brass works and operated a nail machine at a mill!
Cyrus Creviston shown here with his wife, my great-great grandmother, Mary Ann whose parents immigrated from Ireland Elsie Mae Yerden (1902-1998), Michigan. My great-grandmother was a minister and a school teacher! (Her father was Erastus Beardsley.)
I remember visiting my great-grandmother when I was a little girl. Elsie and her husband Ivan met while she was traveling and preaching. Her sermons inspired him to study to become an ordained minister himself!
Ruth Razey Yerden (1877-1965), California & Illinois. My 2nd great-grandmother was a nurse and later a masseuse for movie stars in California! My great-uncle Burke remembered getting massages from her when she came out to visit from California.
Ruth Razey Yerden Virgil Hazelrigg (1897-1919), Illinois & Oklahoma. My great-granduncle was a brilliant, promising chemist!
I grew up learning about his tragic death in a lab explosion due to equipment malfunction. He left behind his young wife and baby girl. I’ve always felt sad about this story but really proud of his work. I learned about him most in newspaper articles.
Virgil Hazelrigg John Creviston (1903-1962), Indiana. My great-grandfather was a bank clerk and a clerk for the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.)!
Johnny Creviston (far right) with his cousins Babe & Fritz Glenn Hazelrigg (1893-1978), Illinois & Michigan. My great-grandfather was a painter and photographer! (I have a post featuring him and Great-Grandma Gladys in the works!)
Glenn Hazelrigg on the far right with my great-grandmother Gladys next to him with my great-aunt Elaine in her arms. Shaun Gee “Harry” Chan (1911-1970), China & Indiana. My great-uncle (married to Elaine who’s the baby in the photo above) was a restauranteur and businessman!
Harry Chan David Creviston (1932-2003), Indiana. My grandfather served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Korean War as a radio operator and later worked making steel alloys for everything from stainless steel silverware to heat shields! He also repaired televisions, computers, and electronics on the side. This is really cool to know, because now my oldest son is a 4th generation computer geek. Not many people can say that!
It’s so wonderful to appreciate and honor the working lives of my ancestors. I hope you get the chance to look into your family history to find out how your ancestors made a living! These occupations were their contribution to their communities and their families, whether they were traditional jobs or not. I couldn’t think of a better time to learn about them.
RESOURCES:
Fold 3 (military records)
I love this idea of digging into our ancestors' work as a way of celebrating Labor Day!