Regular Jobs A-D

Here are a few regular careers:

Apothecary: druggist
Archivist: kept historical records
Barber-Chirurgeon: barber and surgeon; an 18th century law delegated the barber to cutting hair, shaving, dentistry and blood-letting
Blemmere: plumber
Buryeman: grave digger
Chandler: made and sold candles; retailer dealer in provisions, groceries and the like
Corn cutter: podiatrist [foot doctor]
Crocker: made and sold pottery
Crowner: coroner
Cutler: made, sold, sharpened knives, scissors and other cutting instruments
Dairyman: rented, owned, managed a dairy; sold dairy products
Disher: made bowls and dishes

Leathercraft

Leather industry:

Basil worker: worked with sheep and goat skins
Tuwer: made white leather
Tanner: converted hides into leather
Pelterer: worked with animal skins
Flesher: worked in a tannery
Bender: cut leather
Beamster: worked at a beam in a tannery
Cordwainer: worked with leather [also shoemaker]
Saddletree maker: made saddle frames
Saddler: made saddles, harnesses, bridles, horse collars, etc.
Knacker: harness maker

Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub

Wooden-container-makers and related jobs:

Tubber: made tubs, barrels, casks, etc.
Trugger: made long, shallow baskets
Tranquetter: made hoops
Hooper: put hoops on barrels, casks, etc.
Cowper: made wooden items
Cooper: made and repaired barrels, tubs, casks, etc.
Bodger: made wooden chair legs and spars
Auger maker: made carpenter's augers, used for boring holes in wood
Arkwright: made arks [wooden chests and coffers]

Head and Toe

Folks who made or sold head and footware:

Beaver: made felt for hats
Blacking maker: made shoe polish
Block cutter: made wooden blocks used in making hats
Boot binder: operated a machine that bound footware
Boot closer: stitched together shoe upper
Chamber master: made shoes at home
Chapeler: made and sold hats
Clogger: made wooden shoes for sale
Cobbler, Souter: shoemaker
Haberdasher: sold men's furnishings [hats, gloves, shirts, neckties, etc.]
Milliner: sold ladies' hats and bonnets
Laster: shaped shoes on a last [wooden mold in the shape of a human foot]
Plaiter: made straw plaits used in making hats

Precious metals and coal

Mining became a major industry in California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, West Virginia and elsewhere. Some jobs were....

Stamper: worked with an ore crushing stamp mill
Smelter: worked the smelter, which melted down ores
Pitman: coal miner
Miner: worked in a mine or
Prospector: searched for precious metals in streams, rocks, etc.
Jagger: hauled ore from mines to smelters by pack trains [mules, horses, etc.]
Hewer: miner who cut coal
Cracker boy: cleaned and sorted slate and other impurities from coal crushed by crackers [machines that crushed anthracite coal]
Balancer: operated the balance [machine with a pulley at the top where empty tubs pulled tubs filled with coal up a slope]
Collier: coal miner or merchant

Mr. Miller

During colonial times up to the early 20th century, the majority of our ancestors were farmers. You may also find a large number of millers or grist millers among the ranks. Frequently, a farmer with land bordering a good water source would erect a grist mill. His neighbors would bring their corn, wheat, or other grains to the mill where it would be ground into flour. The miller would often get a portion of the flour as payment.

The following careers relate to mills:

Pikeman: miller's assistant
Miller: owned or operated a mill [could be any mill - textile, grain, paper, wind, saw, etc.]
Milleress: miller's wife
Bolter: sifted meal
Gristmiller: ground corn and other grains into flour
Melder: corn miller
Meal man: dealt in corn and flour
Boothman: corn merchant

Dealing in spirits

Here are a handful of professions that deal with alcohol:

Ale draper: ale house keeper
Ale tunner: filled casks in a brewery
Alewife: female tavern keeper
Brewer [m]; Brewster [f]: maker of beer
Distiller: makes or manufactures liquor
Skinner: tapster. drew ale in a saloon
Tippler: keeper of ale house
Vatman: works with vats in brewery or winery
Vintager: grape farmer, wine maker
Vintner: wine merchant
Barman, -keep, -keeper, -tender: person who tends bar in a tavern or saloon
Tapper: taps beer kegs
Tavern or Saloon keeper: owns or operates a public house