It's no occupation, that's true. I have been extracting ship records from Ellis Islands for a project, and seen the term used a lot. Many times the recorder is pretty casual about how things are stated, spelled, named, etc. My comrads and I have always supposed "spinster" was listed in the occupation space more as a discription than anything else. We might be way off base. Good luck. Pat >I believe that it just lists the person as unmarried. I don't believe that >this would be an occupation.