I wonder if someone would be so kind as to look at an entry line on a census page for 1870 Minneapolis and see if you can read a word that I can't read and is driving me nuts? It isn't so much that it's illegible, but the enumerator does have his own style of handwriting that makes a few key letters hard to read.
Here is the info if someone could take a look and see what you think the word is:
Census: US Census Year: 1870; Census Place: Minneapolis Ward 1, Hennepin, Minnesota
Dwelling 42/Family 42, for the household of Oswald, John C.
Under the column for his profession/occupation, there is where I'm having trouble. There are two words for his occupation, and I'm pretty sure the 2nd word is 'merchant', but I cannot read the first word, which should tell me what type of merchant he was.
I do know that in 1862, John was listed in trade article I found as being "owner and operator of a general store in Minneapolis". But in this 1870 census, it would be helpful to know what type of merchant it says is his profession, since "general store" is so... well, so general, lol.
If anyone is able to take a look and see if you can read what that first word of John's profession looks like to you, I'd very much appreciate the help.
Thank you!