On 3/31/2012 7:30 PM, jp.underwood@ns.sympatico.ca wrote: > Lois: It might also be "Printers Boy." In the old days of hot lead > off-set type, they were also called "Printer's Devils," and did all > the dirty work of removing old type to be re-melted, cleaning the > presses etc. However he was living in a house between Alfred Saunders, a farmer and Daniel Bruce ?, a carpenter. This leads me to the apprentice being more likely. > > The next step up in the craft would be a Compositor, setting the type > into the frames to be placed on the press.

Actually, Bob, if I'm reading the household indicators correctly, James Wilkins was living in a separate section of the house of "Eunic" Saunders, widow (her bachelor son Alfred being listed as son of household). Eunice (Spinney) Saunders was the second wife of Timothy Saunders, eldest son of the New England Planter Timothy Saunders. According to Calnek (History of the County of Annapolis) early members of this family "did a vast and most valuable pioneer work in developing the agricultural resources of the county". Also, the census record indicates James Wilkins was attending school. I find it remarkable for a 19-yr old "boy" to be attending school in rural N.S. in 1871. So I'm leaning toward James being an apprentice farmer, but leaning is probably as far as I will be able to get . . . See my next posting for a more complete story of this James Wilkins, and my plea for assistance in determining his origins. Lois ----- Original Message ----- From: "bob gillis" <robertgillis@verizon.net> To: <nova-scotia@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2012 10:52 AM Subject: Re: [NS-L] Need help deciphering record > > > On 3/31/2012 7:30 PM, jp.underwood@ns.sympatico.ca wrote: >> Lois: It might also be "Printers Boy." In the old days of hot lead >> off-set type, they were also called "Printer's Devils," and did all >> the dirty work of removing old type to be re-melted, cleaning the >> presses etc. > > However he was living in a house between Alfred Saunders, a farmer and > Daniel Bruce ?, a carpenter. This leads me to the apprentice being more > likely. >> >> The next step up in the craft would be a Compositor, setting the type >> into the frames to be placed on the press. > ---------------------------------------- > Basic List Commands: > > 1. To post to the list > Send a message to: > NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com > > 2. How to unsubscribe > a. List mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-L- > request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word > unsubscribe > > b. Digest mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-D- > request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word > unsubscribe > > 3. How to subscribe > Send an email containing only the word > subscribe > to NOVA-SCOTIA-L-request@rootsweb.com > > 4. How to change to Digest mode > a. Unsubscribe from List mode (2.a. above) > b. Subscribe to Digest mode > Send an email containing only the word > subscribe > to NOVA-SCOTIA-D-request@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NOVA-SCOTIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message