Abbreviations used in genealogy http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/abbrev.html

Definitions of some words used in early VA documents (1700s & 1800s) http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/special/earlywords.txt

Terms commonly found in wills and other documents

• 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 placewhere 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 theU.S. in 1860 -1861, 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 the 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
• 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 - 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 nterest
• 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 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
• 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 a 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 a non-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 yds 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 ships list of passengers, usually referring to those ships arriving in the US or Canada, 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 - Prefix meaning after, as in post-war economy
• POSTERITY - Descendants; those who come after
• POWER OF ATTORNEY - When a person is unable to act for himself, he appoints another to act in his behalf
• PRE - 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 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
• TERRITORY - Area of land owned by a country, not a state or province,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
• VTAL 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 from 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.

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