United States Business and Occupations: Difference between revisions

There have always been business records but the challenge to genealogists is that they are seldom identified as genealogical records. Governments from the earliest times have issued permits and licenses to allow businesses to operate. Also from the earliest times there have guilds and trade unions governing the activities of their members and keeping records. Many businesses have also produced biographical collections of the company's officers and employees. In the Unites States publicly owned companies often produce an annual report in printed form. Cities have produced city directories listing all of the businesses in the city and included, in many cases, all of the residents. It is also important not to overlook advertisement which may contain information about the owners or operators of a business.  

*[[Occupations from Periodicals]]

A valuable reference book for all areas of genealogical research is [http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Source:_A_Guidebook_to_American_Genealogy Szucs, Loretto Dennis, and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking. The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy. Provo, UT: Ancestry, 2006.] The entire book is online. Look in the chapter on [http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Researching_Business,_Institution,_and_Organization_Records Business, Institution and Organization Records.]  

You may also wish to check each of the state's secretary of state and corporation commission for old records. For a list of the varios secretaries of state of the states see [http://www.coordinatedlegal.com/SecretaryOfState.html Coordinated Legal Tech]. For a list of the various corporation commissions see [http://transition.fcc.gov/wcb/iatd/state_puc.html Federal Communication Commission] however, no links are provided and you will need to search for a webpage for each of the entities listed.  

It is not too unusual for mortuaries or funeral homes to preserve their records for a considerable period of time. Even when the mortuary is sold, sometimes the records are maintained by the new owner. As is the case with most business related records, you have to spend some time researching the geographic area where your ancestor lived in order to determine which mortuary may have been involved with the internment. In some cases, the identity of the mortuary may be recorded in the cemetery records. There is also the possibility that the mortuary donated its older records to a local historical society, library or state archive.  

*[http://nfda.org/ National Funeral Directors Association]

Most researchers do not think of using farming and agricultural records, but it is important to know that from 1850 to 1900 Agricultural Schedules were compiled in conjunction with the U.S. Census records. For more information on these records see [[United States Census Agricultural Schedules]]. See also [http://www.census.gov/history/pdf/agcensusschedules.pdf Agricultural Schedules: 1850 to 1900]. There is some information available as early as 1840. See [https://www.census.gov/history/www/programs/agriculture/census_of_agriculture.html Census of Agriculture]  

*[[Sources for Labourers in an Agricultural Community]] Although this article deals with English records it suggests other places to look in the United States.

Many immigrants were slaves, indentured servants or apprentices.  

For information about slavery, see the following Wiki articles:  

*[[African American Research]]  

*[[African American Slavery and Bondage]]  

*[http://www.worldcat.org/title/apprenticeship-past-and-present/oclc/24782245 United States. Apprenticeship, Past and Present. [Washington, D.C.?]: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, 1991.]

From fire insurance maps to databases of historical insurance policies, there are companies that date back into the 1700s providing farm, life, fire and marine insurance. Applicants for policies were asked to provide information about their beneficiaries (usually family members), their lifestyle, health, age, residence and other topics.  

See also [[Sanborn Insurance Maps]]  

See [[United States Newspapers]] for information about searching in newspapers. Remember that newspapers are also a business and will have business records concerning employees and advertising. To contact existing newspapers, do a search online. For other newspapers, see the [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Chronicling America, Historic Newspapers on the Library of Congress] website. Search in the US Newspaper Directory, 1690 - Present.  

If you suspect that your ancestor worked at a job that could have been subject to labor union organization, then it is worthwhile to search for union records. For more extensive information on the type and location of the records see "[http://archivists.metapress.com/content/m17ku8200452k95h/ Labor Union Records in the United States]," prepared by the Committee on Labor Records of the Society of American Archivists in 1962. For later time periods see the Walter P. [http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/about Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs] is the largest labor archive in North America.  

There are mining records for every state where there are mines. These records may be kept in a mining museum or archive. Here are some examples of the types of repositories that might contain mining records:  

You may wish to do a search for mining records with the state of origin.  

Usually, when a new business is formed, the people forming the business have to file some legal documents to transact business in a given jurisdiction. For example, a new business being formed as a corporation, will have to file with the State department that regulates corporations. In some jurisdictions, such as cities, any business must have a business license to operate. At the same time, the business entity may also have been required to obtain a county and a state license, usually for tax purposes. These records are likely available for many years depending on the jurisdiction. They might contain quite a lot of information about the people forming the business. Unfortunately, it is rare that older records have been digitized and put online. Current records, going back as far as a hundred years, may be online. If you find that an ancestor conducted some kind of business it is important to search the business records in the all the pertinent jurisdictions.  

Most churches are also businesses. If your ancestor was a minister, paster or otherwise worked for a church, there will be employment records as well as other routine business correspondence. From this standpoint, you would not be concentrating on the records kept by the church about its members or adherents, but the records of the operation of the church itself. Unfortunately, these types of records are not usually found online. You will need to go to the headquarters of the church in question to find the records and request permission to search them.  

Some of the directories may be denominational specific so you might have to search on the denomination also. You may also need to determine whether the records are maintained on a local level, regional or national level.  

There are quite a number of online helps for locating railroad records. If you suspect that your ancestor may have worked for the railroad, then it is worthwhile to search for railroad records. Here are some suggested websites;  

*[http://www.genealogytoday.com/guide/railroad-employees.html Locating Railroad Employee Records]  

*[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sponholz/railroad.html The Great Search-Finding Railroad Employment Records]  

*[http://www.cyndislist.com/railroads/records/ Cyndi's List, Railroads, Records: Administrative, Employment and Pensions]

Shipping and transportation records can take a variety of forms, including employment records, government regulations and port of call records. These types of records are for the most part privately held and not necessarily accessible. You may be able to find the names and addresses of your ancestors' employers through trade association directories and trade journals.  

*[http://www.woodsholemuseum.org/woodspages/cllctns.html Woods Hole Historic Collection Archives]

Many of the professions and businesses in the United States require business licenses and may also require the posting of bond. One way to find you ancestor's business is through the information on the U.S. Census records about occupation. Some examples of licensed businesses may include the following:  

Depending on the time period involved you may wish to look for era specific businesses. In many cases, these types of licenses are recorded and held by government agencies. Other business that may be licensed can be found by searching for types of business licenses in each jurisdiction.  

Most professions in the United States have become licensed at some point in time. Some of the professions that may have been licensed include;  

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_certification Wikipedia: Professional certification]

Surprisingly, many of this type of record may be available for a long time in the past. But in more recent times, the records may be considered confidential and be difficult to obtain. These types of records may be found in hospitals, nursing homes, the offices of physicians, dentists and other health care practitioners and their facilities.  

Some example of the types of records that may be available from the United States Government include, [http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/medical-records.html Veterans' Medical and Health Records] are available from the National Archives as are [http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/medical.html Military Medical Records].  

Many professionally made photographs contain a logo or stamp from the photographer. The names of these photographers can be searched for additional information about the photography business and, in some cases, galleries of their photographs. You may find other unidentified photos of your own ancestors or, if your ancestor worked for or was the photographer, you may also find valuable biographical information. Look for collections of photos in university special collections, state and county historical societies and other similar repositories.  

*Palmquist, Peter E., David Haynes, and Richard Rudisill. Photographers: A Sourcebook for Historical Research : Featuring Richard Rudisill's Directories of Photographers, an Annotated Bibliography. Nevada City, CA: Carl Mautz Pub, 2000.

Business and city directories are useful for finding where your ancestors lived, but they are also useful to determine the type of business they were engaged in. Most of the larger cities had formal, commercially published city directories that served the same function as the later telephone directories. Look for copies of the directories in city, county and state public libraries as well as historical societies and state archives. See the following article:  

*[https://sites.google.com/site/onlinedirectorysite/ Online Historical Directories Website]

Some of the utility companies have been in business for over a hundred years. The availability of the records for research will depend entirely on the policies of the individual business entity with the records. But access problems aside, utility records can give an accurate picture of when the house or other structure was built, who was living on a particular property and when they moved. Be sure and contact the water company, electrical company and any other entity that supplied service to your ancestors' property.  

Employment records are usually kept by the company that employed your ancestor. But if the ancestor worked for the government, the employment records could be publicly available or in the National Archives.  

*[http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Employee_Records Ancestry.com Employment Records]

[[Category:United_States]] [[Category:United_States_Business_Records]]