Old Genealogy Terms

• OLD DOMINION – A term for Virginia
• ORAL WILL – See Nuncupative Will
• ORPHAN – Child who has lost at least one parent
• “OF COLOR” – Reference to a black person
• OBITUARY – Newspaper or other notice of death often with some biography of the deceased
• PASSENGER LIST – A ships list showing passengers it may contain occupation, age, sex and country of origin
• PARISH – Site of a church often including religious lands
• PER ANNUM (LATIN) – Yearly
• POLECAT – A skunk
• POLL – Early term denoting a taxable person
• POSTHUMOUS – After death, often referred to a child born after the death of the father
• PRIMARY RECORD – One created at the time the event occurred
• PROBATE - Court approval of a will and settlement of an estate
• PROVED – Establishment of the validity of a will, deed etc. by a court proceeding
• QUARDROON – Refers to a child of mixed parents or having a grandparent of a different race
• QUIT RENT ROLLS – (COLONIAL AMERICA) A list of persons who paid an annual fee to the Crown for the right to farm or live on a property
• REEVE – (COLONIAL AMERICA) A churchwarden or sheriff
• RELICT – Widow or surviving spouse
• RESIDUARY or RESIDUE – Normally in reference to a will that part left over after the division set forth by the will
• REVENUE STAMP – A mark or stamp on an item indicating a tax had been collected
• RUN – A small creek, branch or stream also called a kill run
• SECONDARY RECORD – A record created some time after an event has occurred
• SOCIETY OF FRIENDS – Term for Quakers
• SPOUSE – A husband or wife
• SPONSOR – One other than a parent who takes responsibility for a Childs religious education, often at Baptism or church membership, may also be a Godparent
• SURNAME – Family name or last name
• TENANT FARMER – A farmer who rents land to farm for money or a share of the crops
• TERCE – An agreement (lending or renting) by law, giving a widow a dower of one third of a mans property if the marriage was one year and a day
• TESTABLE – Any item which can be transferred by way of a will
• TESTAMENT- (Also last will and testament) The transfer of ones property in a will
• TESTATE – Having died with a legitimate will
• TESTE – The end of a legal document usually showing the date and signed by a judge or other person of authority
• TITHE – A Church offering usually 10 per cent of ones income
• TITHABLE – A person obligated by law to pay tax, sometimes refers to a person reaching an age to pay taxes
• TOWNSHIP – A government survey of a tract of land six by six miles square
• TRADITION or FAMILY TRADITION – Stories, legends or customs about the family (usually oral) passed from generation to generation

• TRANSCRIBE – To make a written copy, in more traditional terms to covert an old document to a newer more understandable version using current words or terms
• UNDERGROUND RAILROAD – A route by which slaves could get safe passage to a Northern State
• UNPROBATED WILL – One which was not sent to a court for probate
• UNREGISTERED WILL – One not recorded for one of several reasons such as non payment of a recording fee 
• UNSOLEM WILL – One where an executor was not named
• VERBATIM (LATIN) – Exactly as written
• VESTRY – The ruling body of a church
• VICAR (OLD ENGLISH) – A church minister who served under another.
• VITAL RECORDS – Records kept of births, marriages and deaths
• WAINWRIGHT – A person whose craft was building wagons
• WAGONMASTER (CIVIL WAR) – One who tended the horses
• WAIVER – The voluntary giving up of a persons rights
• WHEELWRIGHT – A person whose craft was the manufacture or repair of a wheel
• WILL – A  legal document explaining how a person wants their property divided upon their death
• WRIT of SUMMONS – A notice to appear in court
• YEARS PROVISIONS – A set aside from a husbands estate of goods or money, exempt from creditors
• YEOMAN – A dependable or diligent worker
• YOBBO (OLD ENGLISH) – Cruel or brutal fellow, a ruffian or hooligan
• ZAMBO – A person having one native American parent and one African American parent