Daily AncestorOiler
An oiler kept engines and machinery lubricated, on a steamship, a railroad or in a mill or mine.
In the days of plain bearings, oiling was a full job in itself, and oilers worked in shipping, railroading, steelmaking and mining. On a ship the oiler was a junior member of the engine-room crew, ranking only above the wiper, and could work up toward engineer.
Machines needing less hand lubrication made the job rare on land, so an oiler in a 1900 to 1940 census is often a seaman or a mill or railroad worker. The industry column tells which.
As seen in a recordOccupation and industry columns of the 1910 to 1940 census
Gus Lindqvist, 28, Oiler, Steamship
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Daily Ancestor. "Oiler." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/oiler. Last checked 2026-10-10.