Ancestral Occupational Portraits

Thank you for sending in your photographs of ancestors at work! I’ve got quite a selection to show you. This is going to be a two-part article. There are too many to show in one blog post.

Wendy Negley owns this lovely picture (above) of her great-grandfather Frank Stefani with his laundry delivery wagon in Issaquah, Wash., in 1913. Frank immigrated from Sporminore, Trentino, Italy, but lived most of his life in Issaquah.

Wendy says Frank owned the laundry and it was a family business. His son ran the company and Frank’s daughters did all the washing and ironing, while he picked up and delivered to customers.

Carol Norwood’s paternal grandfather, William John Jacobs (above), was a blacksmith. He learned his trade as an apprentice in Ireland and when he immigrated in 1907, he found employment in the United States.

William worked for the John B. Stetson Co. in Philadelphia from March 1917 until October 1935. He served in World War I and during his service, worked in the locomotion machine shop.

This 1945 photo was taken at the Johnsville Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pa. It was poster-size and on display at the center.

Jackie Corrigan sent in two pictures. This one (above) shows her husband’s grandfather Michael Charles Corrigan (right) (1844-1915) in his harness-making shop. She believes it was taken in Winnipeg, Manitoba, between 1903 and 1911.

Norwood’s second image (above) depicts her father, Thomas (1909-1972), who was a welder for the Canadian National Railways.

What do all these pictures have in common? They depict only men at work. All date from the first half of the 20th century.

Next week I’ll be back with an office scene and two images taken in a meat packing plant.

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