Thankful Thursday - Unions and Child Labor Laws

I wrote this post months ago and scheduled it to go out around Labor Day. I've got a series of posts for Mondays so I didn't want to schedule it on Labor Day so I felt "Thankful Thursday" would do perfectly.

So what precisely am I thankful for? I'm thankful for unions that demanded action, better conditions, better pay, time off, etc. The union helped to build the middle class in America. Do some of the unions have bad reputations? Sure, but what group doesn't have some bad eggs. As they say, "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater." They are still beneficial today.

I have ancestors that worked as children. I'm grateful that my children don't have to do that. I'm grateful that it is illegal for children to work until they are a certain age. I'm glad that school has become more important (although not important enough) in our country. This was not always the case and if you have coal miners, railroad workers, etc in your family tree you may very well have a great aunt, uncle, or cousin that died as a child at a job.

I was searching through Newspapers.com and looking for hits on names in my tree. I was going down my Brogan line with no good hits for John Brogan. I was just getting ready to click on another member in my Ancestry.com tree when I saw the hint by his name. I had been ignoring the hints recently because I was in school and just didn't have time to sift through them the few times I was on. School was out giving me more genealogy time so I started looking through the hints and found a hit in the 1870 US Federal Census Mortality Schedule. So I took a closer look.

1870 US Federal Census Mortality Schedule from Ancestry.com

This tells me that John Brogan was 12 years old when he died in August by being run over by a rail car. He wasn't playing on the railroad tracks though. He was at work. To me that looks like it says "work at mines," but the 1870 US Federal Census Mortality Schedule Index lists his occupation as "railroad worker." It could be both though because the coal was transported by the railways so he could have been at one of the many mines, but working for the rail company. Either way here is a child that should not have died.

I'm sure that he was working because more money would have been helpful to the family so just saying that he shouldn't have been working isn't that easy. There was no minimum wage and wages weren't spectacular. There wouldn't be a national minimum wage until Roosevelt's New Deal and a federal child labor law didn't come into existence until 1938.

I could go on for quite some time about how unions and political movements to improve the lot of the blue collar worker were usually connected and how important it is to support our unions so we don't go back down this road, but this is a genealogy blog post so I'll stop there.

This information was important to me because I had a Family Group Record (FGR) given to me by a distant cousin who helped me so much with this line and many others we had in common. The FGR was the only source I had for John Brogan though and that's not good research. As mentioned I got no good hit on Newspapers.com for John because there weren't newspapers covering this time for the Hazleton area, or at least not on their site. This record tells me how the little boy died.

There's also something else significant about this find. I had his death listed as August 1870, but it's not. It's August 1869. This is an easy mistake to make though because you can get lost in the title. The fact that this is from the 1870 census. You have to look at the top to know which year he died in...

Instructions (Top) for the 1870 US Federal Census Mortality Schedule

Under #2 where they ask for the name of the deceased it says, "Name of every person who died during the year ending June 1, 1870, whose place of abode at the time of death was in this family." So the enumeration began or ended around June 1, 1870. This would be the cut off. Since he died in August and that didn't happen yet it's clearly telling us that it would mean August 1869.

There's a memorial on FindAGrave for John Brogan, but it doesn't have any dates on it because there aren't any on the tombstone. He's on the same stone as his parents, Frank and Mary Brogan nee Monaghan, and sister Roseanna. As serendipity often comes into play I can easily fix this memorial since I own it. I created it after one of my many trips to St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Beaver Meadows when I canvassed the cemetery looking for surnames from my tree.

So as we prepare to celebrate Labor Day this Monday with cookouts with friends and family take time to remember what we are celebrating and those that can't be with us or died before their time at work. God Bless the American worker, but God Bless the organizations that help to protect them.

Labor Day - Labor in Our Family Trees

Coal miners  - Pennsylvania (Luzerne or Carbon County, Pennsylvania)

This is a repost from last Labor Day, but one that I think is worth remembering each year.  I hope you enjoy it.

Be thankful we live today.  The term "labor" certainly isn't what it used to be.  I come from coal miners and teachers.  My husband from farmers mostly, but also cheese makers, woodworkers, and my father-in-law was a truck driver.

To be a coal miner...well, I don't really like thinking about it too much.  Always wondering if your husband and sons come home that night?  If they came home, would they be broken and able to continue working?  I can't imagine sending my young sons off to work in the coal mines, but that's what my ancestors did.  Boys went to work in the mines as soon as they were able.  Girls helped mom raise the babies and do the housework (which was a LOT harder than today).  They had gardens and chickens in their yards to help feed their families.  They made their own clothes and had few tech-gadgets to make their lives easier.

Feeding her birds

I know my ancestors worked hard and hoped that some day their children wouldn't have to work in the mines. Around the turn of the century that started to happen and my grandparents and great aunts and uncles more often became teachers.

One room schoolhouses.  Teaching all grade levels at once, but eventually schools changed and became more what I remember as a child and teenager.  Teaching though is still a thankless job more often than not.  Where would we be without our teachers?  I get emails and comments about my grandfather and what a wonderful teacher  and role model he was (and strict).  I have obituaries that show how much my great aunt achieved in her lifetime and how respected she was (you can read about her here).

My father-in-law, like many truck drivers today spent the week driving and would come home on the weekends to see his family.  His wife took care of their 5 children while he was away.  Sacrifice and a strong and loving family.  He worked for Schneider United.  The "United" meant it was unionized.  Schneider busted that union by hiring new truck drivers that would work for a little more money up front, no pensions and diminished benefits.  They didn't fire the unionized drivers, they merely waited for them to retire.  Now Schneider National stands in its place.  Same company...less security for the drivers and their families.  My father-in-law was able to retire comfortably and when he passed my mother-in-law was able to receive his pension and continue to live well.

As for the farmers in our family, well I can only imagine how difficult working on a farm must have been.  I am so not a morning person and I can only imagine having to rise early to tend the crops and animals.

Feeding the chickens

My ancestors (and yours as well, if they held many of these occupations) had something that helped them make ends meet.  Helped them fight for better working conditions and to keep their children out of the dangerous mines.  Had someone to speak for them so they weren't driving truck longer than was safe for them and others on the road.  Someone that made sure that the teachers got the benefits they deserved for the hard work that they did...they had unions.

Labor Day hardly means what it once did.  What it must have meant to our ancestors.  Our ancestors that just wanted an honest day's wage for an honest day's labor.  To be able to live in dignity and raise their families from what was frequently an impoverished and brutally hard life.  Labor Unions fought for:

-Overtime pay

-A tolerable length for the work week and workday

-Minimum wage

-Paid vacation and sick days

-Safety standards

-Child Labor Laws

-Health benefits

-Retirement security

-Unemployment compensation

You would not have had Labor Day if there had not been unions.  Unions pushed for a day to celebrate America's laborers.  States passed laws marking the holiday, but it wasn't until August 28, 1893 that Labor Day became a National holiday.

Schoolhouse from an old family album

The word "union" and "unionized" seems to be the equivalent of a swear word today, but why?  Some unions were corrupt, but it's up to the members to fix that.  Not up to the employers and politicians to bust the unions that help keep our union workers safe and earning a decent wage.

I would not dishonor my ancestors to disparage what is a wonderful part of our American history.  The Labor Union and Labor Day will always be connected.  Even if people sometimes refuse to acknowledge the connection.  Our ancestors changed this country so that their children and grandchildren would be able to live a better life than they did.  Not a life of sloth as many wrongfully think of unionized labor, but an honest day's wage.  An honest day's work.

Today I celebrate Labor Day and my ancestors that helped make working in America better for everyone.  I will keep their hard work and intentions alive and I thank them for their sacrifices so that my life was better than theirs.  May we always be a country that values it's workers.

Labor in our Family Tree

Coal miners  - Pennsylvania (Luzerne or Carbon County, Pennsylvania)

Be thankful we live today.  The term "labor" certainly isn't what it used to be.  I come from coal miners and teachers.  My husband from farmers mostly, but also cheese makers, woodworkers, and my father-in-law was a truck driver.

To be a coal miner...well, I don't really like thinking about it too much.  Always wondering if your husband and sons come home that night?  If they came home, would they be broken and able to continue working?  I can't imagine sending my young sons off to work in the coal mines, but that's what my ancestors did.  Boys went to work in the mines as soon as they were able.  Girls helped mom raise the babies and do the housework (which was a LOT harder than today).  They had gardens and chickens in their yards to help feed their families.  They made their own clothes and had few tech-gadgets to make their lives easier.

Feeding her birds

I know my ancestors worked hard and hoped that some day their children wouldn't have to work in the mines. Around the turn of the century that started to happen and my grandparents and great aunts and uncles more often became teachers.

One room schoolhouses.  Teaching all grade levels at once, but eventually schools changed and became more what I remember as a child and teenager.  Teaching though is still a thankless job more often than not.  Where would we be without our teachers?  I get emails and comments about my grandfather and what a wonderful teacher  and role model he was (and strict).  I have obituaries that show how much my great aunt achieved in her lifetime and how respected she was (you can read about her here).

My father-in-law, like many truck drivers today spent the week driving and would come home on the weekends to see his family.  His wife took care of their 5 children while he was away.  Sacrifice and a strong and loving family.  He worked for Schneider United.  The "United" meant it was unionized.  Schneider busted that union by hiring new truck drivers that would work for a little more money up front, no pensions and diminished benefits.  They didn't fire the unionized drivers, they merely waited for them to retire.  Now Schneider National stands in its place.  Same company...less security for the drivers and their families.  My father-in-law was able to retire comfortably and when he passed my mother-in-law was able to receive his pension and continue to live well.

As for the farmers in our family, well I can only imagine how difficult working on a farm must have been.  I am so not a morning person and I can only imagine having to rise early to tend the crops and animals.

Feeding the chickens

My ancestors (and yours as well, if they held many of these occupations) had something that helped them make ends meet.  Helped them fight for better working conditions and to keep their children out of the dangerous mines.  Had someone to speak for them so they weren't driving truck longer than was safe for them and others on the road.  Someone that made sure that the teachers got the benefits they deserved for the hard work that they did...they had unions.

Labor Day hardly means what it once did.  What it must have meant to our ancestors.  Our ancestors that just wanted an honest day's wage for an honest day's labor.  To be able to live in dignity and raise their families from what was frequently an impoverished and brutally hard life.  Labor Unions fought for:

-Overtime pay

-A tolerable length for the work week and workday

-Minimum wage

-Paid vacation and sick days

-Safety standards

-Child Labor Laws

-Health benefits

-Retirement security

-Unemployment compensation

You would not have had Labor Day if there had not been unions.  Unions pushed for a day to celebrate America's laborers.  States passed laws marking the holiday, but it wasn't until August 28, 1893 that Labor Day became a National holiday.

Schoolhouse from an old family album

The word "union" and "unionized" seems to be the equivalent of a swear word today, but why?  Some unions were corrupt, but it's up to the members to fix that.  Not up to the employers and politicians to bust the unions that help keep our union workers safe and earning a decent wage.

I would not dishonor my ancestors to disparage what is a wonderful part of our American history.  The Labor Union and Labor Day will always be connected.  Even if people sometimes refuse to acknowledge the connection.  Our ancestors changed this country so that their children and grandchildren would be able to live a better life than they did.  Not a life of sloth as many wrongfully think of unionized labor, but an honest day's wage.  An honest day's work.

Today I celebrate Labor Day and my ancestors that helped make working in America better for everyone.  I will keep their hard work and intentions alive and I thank them for their sacrifices so that my life was better than theirs.  May we always be a country that values it's workers.