Daily AncestorJanitor
A janitor cleaned and looked after a building such as a school, church, office block or apartment house.
The word comes from Latin ianitor, doorkeeper, and once also meant a doorman. In American usage a janitor cleaned and maintained a building, sometimes with some security duties too.
In 1900 the census listed janitor beside sexton and undertaker among service jobs to be written exactly, and the 1930 and 1940 examples include janitor, apartment house.
As seen in a recordOccupation and industry columns of the 1910 to 1940 census
Gus Lind, 54, Janitor, School
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Daily Ancestor. "Janitor." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/janitor. Last checked 2026-10-10.