I'm not sure where to post this but I was looking and finding my grandparents and great-grandparents in the city directories [U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Beta)] on Ancestry.com. Does anyone know what the lowercase "r" next to a person's name means? Could it have meant "renter"? Just curious. Having trouble adding an image but here's an example:

Reaside, Wm r...address...phone number

Thanks.