Today is the start of another Labor Day weekend, which is the last holiday of summer.

Today I have been thinking of the labors of some of my ancestors.

To read about the labors of my grandparents you can visit: Labor Day – Grandparents

This evening I will share the labors of some of the ancestors further back in my family tree.

In Ancestral Postmasters I wrote about two of my ancestors who were postmasters.

I have many ancestors who were preachers or ministers including Absalom Leeper who was one of the first Church of Christ ministers in Iowa. Absalom was also a hatter in his younger days.

My great grandfather may have worked in this building in Omaha where Ford built the Model T. Did he work with machinery? We don’t know. See: TipTop Ford

My 10th great grandfather Joseph Jenks worked at the Saugus Iron Works as a toolmaker.

The iron works at Saugus were founded by the Leonard family who then went on to found the Leonard Iron Works near Taunton, Massachusetts. I have just recently found out that my Braman ancestors may have worked at these iron works. I am still trying to figure out the records that I have found, but perhaps they were bound as apprentices to the Leonard Iron Works. I do know that there are many blacksmiths scattered throughout this branch of my family.

Silas Ramsey, one of the few Civil War ancestors that I know of served as a farrier for the 3rd Iowa Cavalry. He was also a blacksmith as a farrier uses some of the skills of a blacksmith in their care of horses feet, especially at a time when manufactured horse shoes would not have been readily available.

Here is the gravestone of Silas, which was recently placed over his grave after almost 120 years.

Building cars, tool makers and blacksmiths are in my genes.

I now understand a little more of why I am an engineer 🙂

Steven