GLOSSARY

Last revised: 04/05/01 08:51 PM

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• ABSTRACT:—Summary of important points of a given text, especially deeds and wills.
• ACRE:—See measurements.
• 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.

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B

• 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.

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C

• 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.

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D

• 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 be come 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:—Books 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 which a wife acquired by marriage in the real estate of her husband, allotted to her after his death for her lifetime.

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E

• 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

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F

• FATHER-IN-LAW:—Father of one's spouse.
• FEE:—An estate 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.

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G

• 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. grandparent.

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H

• 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 16th and 17th centuries. One of the reformed or Calvinistic communion who were driven by the thousands into exile in England, Holland, Germany and America.

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I

• 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.

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L

• 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.

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M

• 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 unprinted 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 yds or 16 1/2 ft (also called a perch r 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.

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N

• 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.

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O

• 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.

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P

• PASSENGER LIST:—A ships 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.

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Q

• QUAKER:—Member of the Religious Society of Friends.
• QUITCLAIM:—A deed conveying the interest of the party at that time.

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R

• 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.

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S

• SHAKER:—Member of a religious group formed in 1747 which 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 step-father or step-mother.
• 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.

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T

• 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.

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U

• ULTIMO:—In the month before this one.
• UNION:—The United States; also the North during the Civil War, the states which did not secede.

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V

• 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.

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W

• 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.

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Y

• YEOMAN:—A servant, an attendant or subordinate official in a royal household; a subordinate of a sheriff; an independent farmer.

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