Weaver

In colonial and early 1800s records a weaver was usually a hand craftsman working a loom in a home or small shop. Once power looms spread, the word mostly describes a mill hand who watched several looms at once and fixed broken threads.

Census instructions from 1900 on asked for the kind of mill, so entries such as weaver, silk mill or weaver, woolen mill are common. Census instructions also held up weaver as a good, precise mill title instead of a vague word like laborer.