A County Compass Column by Judi Heit (January~December 2012)

CAREERS, JOBS OFTEN DEFINED LIVES OF OUR ANCESTORS
Week of January 12~18, 2012

What people do for half (or more) of their waking hours tells a lot about them: You can guess their interests, skills, values, educational background and, when the job is tough, their endurance!

Our ancestors’ vocations offer insight into their everyday lives, too … especially if they worked in industry. Their work tells you something about the determination that drove them into dark mineshafts, loud production lines or furnace fires each day. Their industrial labor also generated heavy-duty paperwork. You’ll find similar types of documents and historical collections across different industries. But for now, I’ll focus on railway, mining and auto workers.

LESSON 30: CLOCK IN FOR OCCUPATIONAL RECORDS

Railways: Though pre-1936 records are hard to find, various archives and historical societies have rescued and preserved some over the years. Start by determining the railroad your ancestor worked for. Local histories will tell you which railroad(s) operated in his town. Check draft registration cards for an employer and census records which often show an occupation or company name. After 1936, the Railroad Retirement Board began administering retirement benefits to workers and their families. If your ancestor’s SSN starts with a number of between 700-728, you’ll know he was eligible to receive benefits from the board. For $27 you can request records on deceased employees since 1936. Go to: www.rrb.gov/mep/genealogy.asp.

Coal Miner Tags

Mining: If you have a numbered “tag” belonging to your ancestor, he might have been a coal miner. Workers attached these tags to their belts. A corresponding tag was hung on a pegboard when they went underground. When men still hand-loaded cars and were paid by the ton (a system immortalized in Sixteen Tons), they tagged their individual loads of coal so the boys outside would know who to pay. Search for miners in state historic Coal Mining Reports. These documents offer rosters fitting particular criteria, like those injured/killed in the mines. You’ll find names of the companies they worked for and read testimony of living coal miners talking about accidents or explosions. This is a great substitute for company records, which tended to be destroyed. Disaster Source: http://www3.gendisasters.com/ (search by state and then disaster type).

Auto: Start with home sources by looking for union cards, employee badges, pictures taken at union picnics/Christmas parties and news clippings. Check local newspapers for stories, ads and photos. If your relative is still alive, have him request his own employee record from corporate headquarters or regional plants. Your relatives are the only ones who can request these. Ford is best for genealogical research, but its records are hit or miss. Request records from their archives by emailing archives@ford.com. If your ancestor attended the GM Institute (now Kettering University) you can try searching www.kettering.edu/archives for year books or school newspapers. Many auto plants also had in-house newsletters. Search: UAW, auto worker and labor in historical newspaper databases.

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect: All kinds of documents may mention employment. Don’t overlook letters, pay stubs, check registers, insurance and pension paperwork, death certificates, obituaries and city directories.