Hello List, I've been quiet on the List for awhile, but I am still here always reading it in an effort to learn about life in early Milwaukee. One thing that I don't believe I have seen discussed (I might be wrong) is about the occupation of "teamster" in the 1840s and 1850s. Does anyone on the list know of any clubs/organizations that teamsters belonged to? I realize there were no unions as yet at that time, but it seemed that many occupations had their own fraternity. My GGGrandfather, Lewis Kent (born 1818), came to Milwaukee in about 1842 and worked as a teamster. He had spent 3-4 years previously in Hoboken, NJ, and I suspect he learned the trade there. He married Margaret Schmidt (daughter of Martin Schmidt and Sophie Winger) in Milwaukee and their children were born in Franklin. Eventually the family moved to Racine County in the 1870s. I know nothing about Lewis before NJ. If anyone has any information on teamsters, or might be related to these Kents/Schmidts, I would appreciate hearing from you. One more question. The name of Kent was not the original surname. He came from Germany and I suspect either changed -or had his name changed-here in the States. I have tried Kindt, Kind, Kintz, Gintz and other variations, with no luck. Does anyone have any other suggestions? It makes it difficult to take them back to Germany when you haven't the foggiest idea of the true surname! Thank you for your time and information. Laurel Campbell _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

Sorry to be belatedly putting in 2 cents but I have not dealt well with the mail this week and am just now working on Monday. One of the things which has always amused me, given the unionized teamsters' reputation in the 60's especially, is that the name changed, sometime in the early 1800's to mid century. At one time, team drivers were called teamers. Lots and lots of women worked in the field. They were at first called teamsters, and later called teamstresses. The men working in the field thus became the teamsters, one of the few occupations today that is largely male but has a feminine form on the occupational title. Shortly to be caught up with mail, Ashley Laurel Campbell wrote: ( edited ) Does anyone on the list > know of any clubs/organizations that teamsters belonged to? I realize there > were no unions as yet at that time, but it seemed that many occupations had > their own fraternity. > > Thank you for your time and information. > > Laurel Campbell > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp