Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Occupations of Your 2nd Great-Grandfathers

 From Randy (my cousin) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Our ancestors had to work to support themselves and their families. Do you know what occupations your 2nd great-grandfathers had?  Tell us about them. If one intrigues or mystifies you, ask a free Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool to tell you more about the occupation in that place and time.

2) Tell us about the occupations of your 2nd great-grandfathers (and any AI created description of those occupations) in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

Here's mine:

I went about answering this question by hand-drawing a spreadsheet with census years down the left side, and the names of my 2nd great-grandfathers across the top.  Then I checked every census each one would have been enumerated in after becoming an adult to the end of their life.  I filled in the squares with what the census listed as their occupation for each year.  So the census years ranged from 1850 - 1910.   

My eight 2nd great-grandfathers and their occupations are as follows:

    *  George Washington Tapley (1814-abt 1880), Georgia, occupations included blacksmith, carpenter, and farmer.

    *  Solomon Page Jr (1800-1860) was a farmer in Georgia.

    * James William Drake (1829-1908) from Georgia was a farmer most of his life until 1900 when he is listed as a Preacher. (Of course, he could have been doing both the whole time.)

    * William Robert Harrell (1838-1908), Georgia, was a farm hand, farmer, and a merchant.

*  James Madison "Jim" Tapley (1847-1912), Georgia, was a farmer most of his life. In his later years, he was a laborer on a farm.

    

* George W. Schwalls, Sr. (1837-1908), also from Georgia, was a farmer and then a day laborer in his later years.  Of course, he is missing on two censuses!

   

 * Comfort Ranney (1838-1920) was a farm laborer before he became a lumberman and ran a mill with his brother-in-law in Ohio.  Then during the last 30 years of his life, he was a farmer, first in Ohio and then in Michigan.

    *  Charles Kelso Carter (1843-1916) was a farm laborer and machinist in Ohio. Then he moved to Iowa and became a jeweler.  

Perhaps you have the same question that I did:  "What is the difference between a farmer, farm hand, and farm laborer?"  They sounded about the same to me.  However, ChatGPT educated me and explained why they are all very different.

My query:  "In the 19th century in south and middle Georgia, what was the difference between a farm laborer, a farm hand, and a farmer?"

ChatGPT replied:

In 19th-century South and Middle Georgia, the terms "farm laborer," "farm hand," and "farmer" had distinct meanings, reflecting social and economic differences:

1. Farmer:

• A farmer was typically the owner or manager of a farm.

• They usually owned the land and resources and made decisions about planting, harvesting, and managing livestock.

• Farmers could range from small subsistence farmers to large plantation owners.

• They often had a higher social standing compared to laborers and hands, especially if they were successful landowners.

2. Farm Hand:

• A farm hand was an employee who worked on a farm.

• They were typically hired laborers who lived either on the farm or nearby.

• Farm hands were usually paid wages or received room and board in exchange for their work.

• Their tasks were diverse, from plowing and planting to feeding livestock and performing general maintenance.

• Unlike laborers, farm hands were often semi-permanent workers and might work on the same farm for many years.

3. Farm Laborer:

• A farm laborer was generally a temporary or seasonal worker.

• They often performed manual, unskilled labor, such as picking cotton, harvesting crops, or clearing fields.

• Farm laborers could be tenant farmers, sharecroppers, freedmen, or migratory workers (especially after the Civil War).

• Laborers were typically paid by the day or task, and their employment was more unstable compared to farm hands.

• Socially, farm laborers were considered at the bottom of the rural economic ladder.

Key Differences:

• Ownership and Control: Farmers owned or managed the farm; farm hands were hired workers; laborers were often temporary or hired by the day.

• Stability: Farm hands had more stable and possibly longer-term employment than laborers.

• Social Status: Farmers held the highest status, followed by farm hands, then farm laborers.

• Economic Relationship: Farmers profited from production; farm hands earned steady wages; laborers were often paid per job or task.

In summary, the distinctions reflected both employment stability and social hierarchy, shaped by economic realities of the region, especially in the context of agricultural practices and labor systems of the time."

So I definitely learned some things about the social hierarchy of farming and my 2nd great-grandfathers doing this exercise!