Old Occupations List - Morgan County IL

compiled by Dan Burrows
"I put these 130 items together from many sources and used it as a handout for our local Orange County (NY) Genealogical Society. I was asked by many recipients if the CHART could be forwarded to other lists or used in local newsletters. The answer is yes - please share this information." Dan Burrows - [email protected]


Accomptant - Accountant
Almoner - Giver of charity to the needy
Amanuensis - Secretary or stenographer
Artificer - A soldier mechanic who does repairs
Bailie - Bailiff
Baxter - Baker
Bluestocking - Female writer
Boniface - Keeper of an inn
Brazier - One who works with brass
Brewster - Beer manufacturer
Brightsmith - Metal Worker
Burgonmaster - Mayor
Caulker - One who filled up cracks (in ships or windows or seems to make them watertight by using tar or oakum-hem fiber produced by taking old ropes apart
Chaisemaker - Carriage maker
Chandler - Dealer or trader; one who makes or sells candles; retailer of groceries, ship supplier
Chiffonnier - Wig maker
Clark - Clerk
Clerk - Clergyman, cleric
Clicker - The servant of a salesman who stood at the door to invite customers; one who received the matter in the galley from the compositors and arranged it in due form ready for printing; one who makes eyelet holes in boots using a machine which clicked.
Cohen - Priest
Collier - Coal miner
Colporteur - Peddler of books
Cooper - One who makes or repairs vessels made of staves & hoops, such as casks, barrels, tubs, etc.
Cordwainer - Shoemaker, originally any leather worker using leather from Cordova/Cordoba in Spain
Costermonger - Peddler of fruits and vegetables
Crocker - Potter
Crowner - Coroner
Currier - One who dresses the coat of a horse with a currycomb; one who tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease
Docker - Stevedore, dock worker who loads and unloads cargo
Dowser - One who finds water using a rod or witching stick
Draper - A dealer in dry goods
Drayman - One who drives a long strong cart without fixed sides for carrying heavy loads
Dresser - A surgeon's assistant in a hospital
Drover - One who drives cattle, sheep, etc. to market; a dealer in cattle
Duffer - Peddler
Factor Agent, commission merchant; one who acts or transacts business for another; Scottish steward or bailiff of an estate
Farrier - A blacksmith, one who shoes horses
Faulkner - Falconer
Fell monger - One who removes hair or wool from hides in preparation for leather making
Fletcher - One who made bows and arrows
Fuller - One who fulls cloth;one who shrinks and thickens woolen cloth by moistening, heating, and pressing; one who cleans and finishes cloth
Gaoler - A keeper of the goal, a jailer
Glazier - Window glassman
Hacker - Maker of hoes
Hatcheler - One who combed out or carded flax
Haymonger - Dealer in hay
Hayward - Keeper of fences
Higgler - Itinerant peddler
Hillier - Roof tiler
Hind - A farm laborer
Holster - A groom who took care of horses, often at an inn
Hooker - Reaper
Hooper - One who made hoops for casks and barrels
Huckster - Sells small wares
Husbandman - A farmer who cultivated the land
Jagger - Fish peddler
Journeyman - One who had served his apprenticeship and mastered his craft, not bound to serve a master, but hired by the day
Joyner/Joiner - A skilled carpenter
Keeler - Bargeman
Kempster - Wool comber
Lardner - Keeper of the cupboard
Lavender - Washer woman
Lederer - Leather maker
Leech - Physician
Longshoreman - Stevedore
Lormer - Maker of horse gear
Malender - Farmer
Maltster - Brewer
Manciple - A steward
Mason - Bricklayer
Mintmaster - One who issued local currency
Monger - Seller of goods (ale, fish)
Muleskinner - Teamster
Neatherder - Herds cows
Ordinary - Keeper Innkeeper with fixed prices
Pattern Maker - A maker of a clog shod with an iron ring. A clog was a wooden pole with a pattern cut into the end
Peregrinator - Itinerant wanderer
Peruker - A wig maker
Pettifogger - A shyster lawyer
Pigman - Crockery dealer
Plumber - One who applied sheet lead for roofing and set lead frames for plain or stained glass windows.
Porter - Door keeper
Puddler - Wrought iron worker
Quarrier - Quarry worker
Rigger - Hoist tackle worker
Ripper - Seller of fish
Roper - Maker of rope or nets
Saddler - One who makes, repairs or sells saddles or other furnishings for horses
Sawbones - Physician
Sawyer - One who saws; carpenter
Schumacker - Shoemaker
Scribler - A minor or worthless author
Scrivener - Professional or public copyist or writer; notary public
Scrutiner - Election judge
Shrieve - Sheriff
Slater - Roofer
Slopseller - Seller of ready-made clothes in a slop shop
Snobscat/Snob - One who repaired shoes
Sorter - Tailor
Spinster - A woman who spins or an unmarried woman
Spurrer - Maker of spurs
Squire - Country gentleman; farm owner; justice of peace
Stuff gown - Junior barrister
Stuff gownsman - Junior barrister
Supercargo - Officer on merchant ship who is in charge of cargo and the commercial concerns of the ship.
Tanner - One who tans (cures) animal hides into leather
Tapley - One who puts the tap in an ale cask
Tasker - Reaper
Teamster - One who drives a team for hauling
Thatcher - Roofer
Tide waiter - Customs inspector
Tinker - An itinerant tin pot and pan seller and repairman
Tipstaff - Policeman
Travers - Toll bridge collection
Tucker - Cleaner of cloth goods
Turner - A person who turns wood on a lathe into spindles
Victualer - An tavern keeper, or one who provides an army, navy, or ship with food
Vulcan - Blacksmith
Wagoner - Teamster not for hire
Wainwright - Wagon maker
Waiter - Customs officer or tide waiter; one who waited on the tide to collect duty on goods brought in.
Waterman - Boatman who plies for hire
Webster - Operator of looms
Wharfinger - Owner of a wharf
Wheelwright - One who made or repaired wheels; wheeled carriages, etc.
Whitesmith Tinsmith; worker of iron who finishes or polishes the work
Whitewing - Street sweeper
Whitster - Bleach of cloth
Wright - Workman, especially a construction worker
Yeoman - Farmer who owns his own land





Census page
County Main Page