Genealogy 101

GENEALOGY 101

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Genealogy Definitions

Definitions used in Genealogy Research

ABSTRACT	Summary of important points of a given text, especially deeds and wills.
ADMINISTRATION (of estate)	The collection, management and distribution of an estate by proper legal process.
ADMINISTRATOR (of estate)	Person appointed to manage or divide the estate of a deceased person.
ADMINISTRATRIX	A female administrator.
AFFIDAVIT	A statement in writing, sworn to before proper authority.
ALIEN	Foreigner
AMERICAN REVOLUTION	U.S. war for independence from Great Britain 1775 - 1783
ANCESTOR	A person from whom you are descended; a forefather.
ANTE	Latin prefix meaning before, such as in ante-bellum South, "The South before the war"
APPRENTICE	One who is bound by indentures or by legal agreement or by any means to serve another person for a certain time, with a view of learning an art or trade.
APPURTENANCE	That which belongs to something else such as a building, orchard, right of way, etc.
ARCHIVES	Records of a government, organization, institution; the place where records are stored.
ATTEST	To affirm; to certify by signature or oath.
BANNS	Public announcement of intended marriage.
BENEFICIARY	One who receives benefit of trust or property.
BEQUEATH	To give personal property to a person in a will. Noun- bequest.
BOND	Written, signed, witnessed agreement requiring payment of a specified amount of money on or before a given date.
BOUNTY LAND WARRANT	A right to obtain land, specific number of acres of unallocated public land, granted for military service.
CENSUS	Official enumeration, listing or counting of citizens.
CERTIFIED COPY	A copy made and attested to by officers having charge of the original and authorized to give copies.
CHAIN	See measurements.
CHATTEL	Personal property, which can include animate as well as inanimate properties.
CHRISTEN	To receive or initiate into the visible church by baptism; to name at baptism; to give a name to.
CIRCA	About, near, or approximate-usually referring to a date.
CIVIL WAR	War between the States; war between North and South, 1861 - 65.
CODICIL	Addition to a will.
COLLATERAL ANCESTOR	Belong to the same ancestral stock but not in direct line of descent; opposed to lineal such as aunts, uncles & cousins.
COMMON ANCESTOR	Ancestor shared by any two people.
CONFEDERATE	Pertaining to the Southern states which seceded from the U.S. in 1860 - 1, their government and their citizens.
CONSANGUINITY	Blood relationship.
CONSORT	Usually, a wife whose husband is living
CONVEYANCE	See deed.
COUSIN	Relative descended from a common ancestor, but not a brother or sister.
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW	Wife of one's son.
DECEASED	Dead.
DECEDENT	A deceased person.
DECLARATION OF INTENTION	First paper, sworn to and filed in court, by an alien stating that he wants to become a citizen.
DEED	A document by which title in real property is transferred from one party to another.
DEPOSITION	A testifying or testimony taken down in writing under oath of affirmation in reply to interrogatories, before a competent officer to replace to oral testimony of a witness.
DEVISE	Gift of real property by will.
DEVISEE	One to whom real property (land) is given in a will.
DEVISOR	One who gives real property in a will.
DISSENTER	One who did not belong to the established church, especially the Church of England in the American colonies.
DISTRICT LAND OFFICE PLAT BOOK	A book or rather maps which show the location of the land patentee.
DISTRICT LAND OFFICE TRACT BOOK	Books which list individual entries by range and township.
DOUBLE DATING	A system of double dating used in England and America from 1582-1752 because it was not clear as to whether the year commenced January 1 or March 25
DOWER	Legal right or share that a wife acquired by marriage in the real estate of her husband allotted to her after his death for her lifetime.
EMIGRANT	One leaving a country and moving to another.
ENUMERATION	Listing or counting, such as a census.
EPITAPH	An inscription on or at a tomb or grave in memory of the one buried there.
ESCHEAT	The reversion of property to the state when there are no qualified heirs.
ESTATE	All property and debts belonging to a person.
ET AL	Latin for "and others".
ET UX	Latin for "and wife".
ET UXOR	And his wife. Sometimes written simply Et Ux. EXECUTOR - One appointed in a will to carry out its provisions. Female = Executrix FATHER-IN-LAW - Father of one's spouse.
FEE	Estates of inheritance in land, being either fee simple or fee tail. An estate in land held of a feudal lord on condition of the performing of certain services.
FEE SIMPLE	An absolute ownership without restriction.
FEE TAIL	An estate of inheritance limited to lineal descendant heirs of a person to whom it was granted.
FRANKLIN, STATE OF	An area once known but never officially recognized and was under consideration from 1784 - 1788 from the western part of North Carolina.
FRATERNITY	Group of men (or women) sharing a common purpose or interest.
FREE HOLD	An estate in fee simple, in fee tail, or for life.
FRIEND	Member of the Religious Society of Friends; a Quaker.
FURLONG	See measurements.
GAZETTEER	A geographical dictionary; a book giving names and descriptions of places usually in alphabetical order.
GENEALOGY	Study of family history and descent.
GENTLEMAN	A man well born.
GIVEN NAME	Name given to a person at birth or baptism, one's first and middle names.
GLEBE	Land belonging to a parish church.
GRANTEE	One who buys property or receives a grant.
GRANTOR	One who sells property or makes a grant.
GREAT-AUNT	Sister of one's grandparent
GREAT-UNCLE	Brother of one's grandparent.
GUARDIAN	Person appointed to care for and manage property of a minor orphan or an adult incompetent of managing his own affairs.
HALF BROTHER/HALF SISTER	Child by another marriage of one's mother or father; the relationship of two people who have only one parent in common.
HEIRS	Those entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit property from another.
HOLOGRAPHIC WILL	One written entirely in the testator's own handwriting.
HOMESTEAD ACT	Law passed by Congress in 1862 allowing a head of a family to obtain title to 160 acres of public land after clearing and improving it for 5 years.
HUGUENOT	A French Protestant in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. One of the reformed or Calvinistic communion who were driven by the thousands into exile in England, Holland, Germany and America.
ILLEGITIMATE	Born to a mother who was not married to the child's father.
IMMIGRANT	One moving into a country from another.
INDENTURE	Today it means a contract in 2 or more copies. Originally made in 2 parts by cutting or tearing a single sheet across the middle in a jagged line so the two parts may later be matched.
INDENTURED SERVANT	One who bound himself into service of another person for a specified number of years, often in return for transportation to this country.
INFANT	Any person not of full age; a minor.
INSTANT	Of or pertaining to the current month. (Abbreviated inst.)
INTESTATE	One who dies without a will or dying without a will.
INVENTORY	An account, catalog or schedule made by an executor or administrator of all the goods and chattels and sometimes of the real estate of a deceased person.
ISSUE	Offspring; children; lineal descendants of a common ancestor.
LATE	Recently deceased.
LEASE	An agreement which creates a landlord - tenant situation.
LEGACY	Property or money left to someone in a will
LEGISLATURE	Lawmaking branch of state or national government; elected group of lawmakers.
LIEN	A claim against property as security for payment of a debt.
LINEAGE	Ancestry; direct descent from a specific ancestor.
LINEAL	Consisting of or being in as direct line of ancestry or descendants; descended in a direct line.
LINK	See measurements.
LIS PENDENS	Pending court action; usually applies to land title claims.
LODGE	A chapter or meeting hall of a fraternal organization.
LOYALIST	Tory, an American colonist who supported the British side during the American Revolution.
MAIDEN NAME	A girl's last name or surname before she marries.
MANUSCRIPT	A composition written with the hand as an ancient book or an un-printed modern book or music.
MARRIAGE BOND	A financial guarantee that no impediment to the marriage existed furnished by the intended bridegroom or by his friends.
MATERNAL	Related through one's mother, such as a Maternal grandmother being the mother's mother.
MEASUREMENTS	Link - 7.92 inches; Chain - 100 Links or 66 feet; Furlong - 1000 Links or 660 feet; Rod - 5 1/2 yd. or 16 1/2 ft (also called a perch or pole); Rood - From 5 1/2 yards to 8 yards, depending on locality; Acre - 43,560 square ft or 160 square rods.
MESSUAGE	A dwelling house.
METES & BOUNDS	Property described by natural boundaries, such as 3 notches in a white oak tree, etc.
MICROFICHE	Sheet of microfilm with greatly reduced images of pages of documents.
MICROFILM	Reproduction of documents on film at reduced size.
MIGRANT	Person who moves from place to place, usually in search of work
MIGRATE	To move from one country or state or region to another. (Noun : migration)
MILITIA	Citizens of a state who are not part of the national military forces but who can be called into military service in an emergency; a citizen army, apart from the regular military forces.
MINOR	One who is under legal age; not yet a legal adult.
MISTER	In early times, a title of respect given only to those who held important civil officer or who were of gentle blood.
MOIETY	A half; an indefinite portion
MORTALITY	Death; death rate.
MORTALITY SCHEDULES	Enumeration of persons, who died during the year prior to June 1 of 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 in each state of the United States, conducted by the bureau of census.
MORTGAGE	A conditional transfer of title to real property as security for payment of a debt.
MOTHER-IN-LAW	Mother of one's spouse.
NAMESAKE	Person named after another person.
NECROLOGY	Listing or record of persons who have died recently
NEE	Used to identify a woman's maiden name; born with the surname of.
NEPHEW	Son of one's brother or sister.
NIECE	Daughter of one's brother or sister.
NONCUPATIVE WILL	One declared or dictated by the testator, usually for persons in last sickness, sudden illness, or military.
ORPHAN	Child whose parents are dead; sometimes, a child who has lost one parent by death.
ORPHAN'S COURT	Orphans being recognized as wards of the states, provisions were made for them in special courts.
PASSENGER LIST	A ship's list of passengers, usually referring to those ships arriving in the US from Europe.
PATENT	Grant of land from a government to an individual.
PATERNAL	Related to one's father. Paternal grandmother is the father's mother.
PATRIOT	One who loves his country and supports its interests.
PEDIGREE	Family tree; ancestry.
PENSION	Money paid regularly to an individual, especially by a government as reward for military service during wartime or upon retirement from government service.
PENSIONER	One who receives a pension.
PERCH	See measurements.
POLE	See measurements.
POLL	List or record of persons, especially for taxing or voting.
POST	Latin prefix meaning after, as in post-war economy.
POSTERITY	Descendants; those who come after.
POWER OF ATTORNEY	When a person in unable to act for himself, he appoints another to act in his behalf.
PRE	Latin prefix meaning before, as in pre-war military build-up.
PRE-EMOTION RIGHTS	Right given by the federal government to citizens to buy a quarter section of land or less.
PROBATE	Having to do with wills and the administration of estates.
PROGENITOR	A direct ancestor.
PROGENY	Descendants of a common ancestor; issue.
PROVED WILL	A will established as genuine by probate court.
PROVOST	- A person appointed to superintend, or preside over something.
PROXIMO	In the following month, in the month after the present one.
PUBLIC DOMAIN	Land owned by the government.
QUAKER	Member of the Religious Society of Friends.
QUITCLAIM	A deed conveying the interest of the party at that time.
RECTOR	A clergyman; the ruler or governor of a country.
RELICT	Widow; surviving spouse when one has died, husband or wife.
REPUBLIC	Government in which supreme authority lies with the people or their elected representatives.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR	U.S. war for independence from Great Britain 1775 - 1783.
ROD	See measurements.
ROOD	See measurements.
SHAKER	Member of a religious group formed in 1747 that practiced communal living and celibacy.
SIBLING	Person having one or both parents in common with another; a brother or sister.
SIC	Latin meaning thus; copied exactly as the original reads. Often suggests a mistake or surprise in the original.
SON-IN-LAW	Husband of one's daughter.
SPINSTER	A woman still unmarried; or one who spins.
SPONSOR	A bondsman; surety.
SPOUSE	Husband or wife.
STATUTE	Law.
STEP-BROTHER / STEP-SISTER	Child of one's stepfather or stepmother.
STEP-CHILD	Child of one's husband or wife from a previous marriage.
STEP-FATHER	Husband of one's mother by a later marriage.
STEP-MOTHER	Wife of one's father by a later marriage.
SURNAME	Family name or last name.
TERRITORY	Area of land owned by the united States, not a state, but having its own legislature and governor.
TESTAMENTARY	Pertaining to a will.
TESTATE	A person who dies leaving a valid will.
TESTATOR	A person who makes a valid will before his death.
TITHABLE	Taxable.
TITHE	Formerly, money due as a tax for support of the clergy or church.
TORY	Loyalist; one who supported the British side in the American Revolution.
TOWNSHIP	A division of U.S. public land that contained 36 sections, or 36 square miles. Also a subdivision of the county in many Northeastern and Midwestern states of the U.S.
TRADITION	The handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, genealogies, etc. from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth.
TRANSCRIBE	To make a copy in writing.
ULTIMO	In the month before this one.
UNION	The United States; also the North during the Civil War, the states which did not secede.
VERBATIM	Word for word; in the same words, verbally.
VITAL RECORDS	Records of birth, death, marriage or divorce.
VITAL STATISTICS	Data dealing with birth, death, marriage or divorce.
WAR BETWEEN THE STATES	U.S. Civil War, 1861 - 1865.
WARD.	Chiefly the division of a city for election purposes
WILL	Document declaring how a person wants his property divided after his death.
WITNESS	One who is present at a transaction, such as a sale of land or signing of a will, who can testify or affirm that it actually took place.
WPA HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY	A program undertaken by the US Government 1935 - 1936 in which inventories were compiled of historical material.
YEOMAN	A servant, an attendant or subordinate official in a royal household; a subordinate of a sheriff; an independent farmer.
Permission given to pass along or publish. Dan Burrows

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