Barry Wolfe
Eng 324
Dr. Welsch
An American Story
Researching my family tree has always been an interesting
subject matter for me, and this project has allowed me to fulfill
a longtime desire. I will admit some of my keenness comes from
the stories about my family serving America during war time, all
the way back the Revolutionary war. The thought of tracing my
family tree as a means to connect my ancestors working life to
who they were and how they lived was never a consideration for
me. However, I will say with certainty their working life and
class associations are equally as important as the family blood
spilled on the battlefield. Analyzing my family’s past with the
concept of the linkage between class and working life is a
powerful tool I’ve used to peek through the looking glass of
time. I can now related on a more familiar level, and have a
better understanding of who my ancestors were and how they lived.
Class and collar appears to have been passed down my family tree,
and it has played a part in my life from birth to today.
As far as I can reliably go back at this point on
ancestory.com I’ve discovered that a couple of my great-great-
great-grandfathers were laborers. Ephraim Stoll was a farm
laborer in the year 1860 until he fought in the civil war, and
Benjamin Wolfe was a laborer from 1850-1870 when he was listed as
a farm laborer during the 1870 census. Farming has always been a
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hard job, but it was more difficult back then due to the lack of
the modern farming technologies we have today. History has proven
the position of a laborer does not lend itself to easy class
advancement. However, as America changed and began its move into
the industrial age my family changed with it. Between 1900 and
1940 many braches of my tree came to know factory life. The
Stoll, Wolfe, and Rodimer families were working in a silk mill,
shoe factory, and nut and bolt factory. They were lacers,
trimmers, breasters, inkers, packers, ironers, lasters, and
laborers in these sweatshops. Often fathers, sons, and daughters,
worked in the same industries. They worked in these factories
during the time before unions made a resurgence in America; and
