[note: Originally I spelled “thresh” as “thrash” throughout the entire post. I’ve corrected it, but I’ve made the notation here because, as some readers have pointed out, the spelling based on the pronunciation brings back a nice memory.. In my case Grandma would talk about making large meals when the “thrashers” were there. I can almost hear her saying it.] Reviewing my grandfather’s farm ledger, I noticed who he hired to come and thresh grain for him in 1944. The last name was one I recognized from my childhood, so I looked him up on the 1940 census. He was easily found living not too far from my grandfather and was about his age–just seven years older. The last name was the same as one of my Dad’s […]
My grandmother used to work out and my Grandpa paid locker rent. When Grandma worked out in the 1920s and 1930s, it meant she worked for a neighboring family doing household chores, preparing meals, and other related tasks. When my Grandpa Neill paid locker rent in the 1940s it was for rent at a frozen food cooperative where he had freezer space where he and Grandma could store butchered meat and other food items they wanted to preserve by freezing. Readers of a certain age will already know what these terms mean. Others may not. Any document or record can easily contain a term or phrase whose meaning has changed over time. That chance increases as the genealogy research extends further and further back in time. Is there […]
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