--- title: 17th-century occupations in Massachusetts description: In his monumental work The Pioneers of Massachusetts, Charles Henry Pope summarized the occupations and trades of 1,725 of the 6,000 “pioneers”... image: https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/PioneersMA_front-cover-mock-up-Apr-21-2023-05-17-57-7305-PM.jpg --- # [Vita Brevis A resource for family history from AmericanAncestors.org](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # 17th-century occupations in Massachusetts [September 04, 2015](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/09/17th-century-occupations-massachusetts) [News](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/news), [Critical Analysis](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/critical-analysis), [American History](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/american-history), [Spotlight](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/spotlight), [The Well-Stocked Genealogical Library](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/the-well-stocked-genealogical-library) [Sam Sturgis](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/ssturgis) [![PioneersMA_front-cover-mock-up](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/PioneersMA_front-cover-mock-up-Apr-21-2023-05-17-57-7305-PM.jpg?width=143&height=216&name=PioneersMA_front-cover-mock-up-Apr-21-2023-05-17-57-7305-PM.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/PioneersMA_front-cover-mock-up-Apr-21-2023-05-17-57-7305-PM.jpg)In his monumental work [The Pioneers of Massachusetts](http://shop.americanancestors.org/collections/genealogical-classics/products/pioneers-of-massachusetts?pass-through=true), Charles Henry Pope summarized the occupations and trades of 1,725 of the 6,000 “pioneers” for whom the information was available. These 6,000 individuals were identified “in the journals and lists of the colonies, towns, churches and counties of the period 1620-1650, inclusive, as well as those perpetuated in the passenger-lists of that time which have survived to our day.” (Pope’s “day” was 1900, 115 years ago.) [![Pioneers Occupations](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Pioneers-Occupations-227x300-1.jpg?width=227&height=300&name=Pioneers-Occupations-227x300-1.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Pioneers-Occupations-1.jpg)Many of the occupations recorded by Pope are common today, while others are less so. I had to refer to a [rootsweb list of colonial occupations](http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/ocupaton.html) to learn that practitioners of the eighth most frequent occupation (“Wearers, say-makers, websters”) appear to be weavers or loom operators, while “Felmongers” are workers who “remove ... hair or wool from hides in preparation for leather making; a dealer in animal skins and hides, especially sheepskin.” There are some seeming anomalies: (75) “Mariners, sea Captains” but only (12) “Sailors,” (34) “Fishermen” and only (3) “Fishmongers,” (30) “Innholders, vintners, ordinary keepers” and only (6) “Brewers” and one lone “Distiller.” My compatriots in the NEHGS Library will be shocked to learn that only one individual was identified as a “Bookseller,” and only one as a “Bookbinder.” So, on this upcoming Labor Day, consider the occupations of your forebears. In my case, those include many, many farmers, a “chirurgeon” or two, and the ever-popular “ordinary keeper.” (The entire text of The Pioneers of Massachusetts is also available in [digital format at the Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/pioneersofmassac00pope). The list of occupations and trades is on p. 523.) ### Share this: - [mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/09/17th-century-occupations-massachusetts](mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/09/17th-century-occupations-massachusetts) - - - More - - ![Sam Sturgis](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported%20images/e7ba130ef66c2520d9eb1e7ecd4c5dcb%3Fs=96%26d=identicon%26r=g.jpeg) ## About Sam Sturgis Sam was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Psychology from Eastern Michigan University and worked as a Human Factors researcher in automotive safety for 13 years. He entered the field of commercial software development in 1983 and acted as software developer and development manager at Wang Laboratories and The Foxboro Company. Sam joined the NEHGS staff in 2005. Sam's interest in genealogy began shortly after moving to Massachusetts, when he and his family chanced upon the Sturgis Library in Barnstable, during a vacation on Cape Cod. There he discovered that he is a descendent of the Sturgis family that settled on Cape Cod in the 1630's. Sam and his wife Gail live in Medway, Massachusetts. They have two grown children: Katie, a Registered Nurse in Wrentham, and David, a software developer in Somerville.[View all posts by Sam Sturgis →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/ssturgis) [← The sweet satisfaction of labor](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/09/sweet-satisfaction-labor) [The figure in the photograph →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/09/figure-in-photograph) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ### Recent Posts [Sailor Bill and His Forgotten Wife](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/sailor-bill-and-his-forgotten-wife) [Professor X](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/professor-x) [Part I: Malaga Island, Maine](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/part-i-malaga-island-maine) [The Norwegian folge](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/the-norwegian-folge) [Research…in a Miniskirt? A ‘Style Guide’ to a Genealogist’s Wardrobe](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/research-in-a-miniskirt-a-style-guide-to-a-genealogists-wardrobe) ### Archives - [October 2014 (27)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/10) - [December 2015 (24)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/12) - [July 2020 (24)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2020/07) - [April 2014 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/04) - [July 2014 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/07) - [December 2014 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/12) - [July 2015 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/07) - [March 2017 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/03) - [May 2017 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/05) - [August 2017 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/08) - [January 2018 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2018/01) - [March 2014 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/03) - [August 2014 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/08) - [April 2015 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/04) - [September 2015 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/09) - [October 2015 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/10) - [March 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/03) - [June 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/06) - [August 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/08) - [September 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/09) - [November 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/11) - [December 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/12) - [January 2017 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/01) - [June 2017 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/06) - [November 2017 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/11) ### Categories - [Family stories (1260)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/family-stories) - [American History (1137)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/american-history) - [Critical Analysis (1126)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/critical-analysis) - [Research Methods (881)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/research-methods) - [Brick Walls (674)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/brick-walls) - [Object Lessons (617)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/object-lessons) - [Spotlight (617)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/spotlight) - [Genealogical Writing (554)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/genealogical-writing) - [Research tips (510)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/research-tips) - [Serendipity (479)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/serendipity) - [Road Trips (393)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/road-trips) ### Recent Posts [Sailor Bill and His Forgotten Wife](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/sailor-bill-and-his-forgotten-wife) [Professor X](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/professor-x) [Part I: Malaga Island, Maine](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/part-i-malaga-island-maine) [The Norwegian folge](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/the-norwegian-folge) [Research…in a Miniskirt? A ‘Style Guide’ to a Genealogist’s Wardrobe](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/research-in-a-miniskirt-a-style-guide-to-a-genealogists-wardrobe) ### Meta - [Log in](https://vita-brevis.org/wp-login.php) - [Entries RSS](https://vita-brevis.org/feed/) - [Comments RSS](https://vita-brevis.org/comments/feed/) - [WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/) ### Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. ### Archives - [October 2014 (27)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/10) - [December 2015 (24)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/12) - [July 2020 (24)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2020/07) - [April 2014 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/04) - [July 2014 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/07) - [December 2014 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/12) - [July 2015 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/07) - [March 2017 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/03) - [May 2017 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/05) - [August 2017 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/08) - [January 2018 (23)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2018/01) - [March 2014 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/03) - [August 2014 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2014/08) - [April 2015 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/04) - [September 2015 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/09) - [October 2015 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2015/10) - [March 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/03) - [June 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/06) - [August 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/08) - [September 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/09) - [November 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/11) - [December 2016 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2016/12) - [January 2017 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/01) - [June 2017 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/06) - [November 2017 (22)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/archive/2017/11)