Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. anyone who ekes out a living, esp. a petty criminal.

1953		R. Mais Hills Were Joyful Together (1966) 19: Ras a no-good, hulkin’, small-time scuffler.
1961		Rigney & Smith Real Bohemia 31: A few whose output bordered on nil, but they were described by their fellow Bohemians as ‘lazy,’ ‘phonies,’ ‘not dedicated,’ ‘scufflers,’ etc.
1980		M. Thelwell Harder They Come 367: A small time scuffler, cringing like a gulley dog even before the kick.

2. (US black) one who works hard and honestly for their subsistence.

1942		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam Star-News 7 Feb. 16: He’s a solid hustler [...] a square scuffler.
1944		D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 115: We’re all scufflers, ole man, born hustlers.
1953		R. Mais Hills Were Joyful Together (1966) 39: He never doubted that the Lord had somehow had a hand in his affairs that day, and many another scuffler felt the same.