Daily AncestorTeamster
A teamster was a man who drove a team of horses, mules or oxen hauling wagons of goods.
Before trucks, goods moved over roads in wagons pulled by teams of animals. A teamster drove and cared for the team, hauling freight, lumber, ore or farm produce.
The labor union that took the name later carried it over to truck drivers. In census records before about 1920, teamster almost always means a driver of animals.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1880 to 1920 census
Jas. Leary, 35, Teamster, N.Y.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Teamster." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/teamster. Last checked 2026-10-01.