I do not have a direct answer to this, but I learned something
interesting about Hispanic populations doing my thesis.  In Spanish, the
word for farmer is "labrador."  In the area I studied, the population
was almost entirely Hispanic, but the census takers were all Anglo. 
Despite the fact that San Elizario was rural and had numerous farmers,
the number of "laborers" was excessively high.

So, sometimes you have to take the occupations category with a bit of
skepticism.

Bill Lockhart



>>> Kent Taylor <[log in to unmask]> 8/30/2006 11:20:52 am >>>
In looking through censuses, directories, and other historic documents,
I
sometimes come across types of occupations that are not easily defined
by
our modern standards.  Does anyone have a list of occupations for the
entire
historic period and exactly how they were defined during their period
of
use?  For example, the occupation of "gentleman."  How was that
defined? 
Was he a retired person?
Thanks in advance,


Kent Taylor