Legal and Land Terms

• Abstract – The important or main parts of a document.
• Administrator – A person appointed to manage the assets of a deceased person.
• Administratix – A female appointed to manage the assets of a deceased person.
• Affidavit – A written statement sworn to before a person of authority.
• Affinity – A non-blood or marital type relationship.
• Ancestor – A person that you are descended from such as a grandfather.
• Anno Domini – Latin for “ In the year of our Lord “.
• Apprentice – Often a minor, bound by law or indentures to learn a trade.
• Appurtenance – Real property belonging to another such as a building, or garden.
• Appurtenant – An access agreement such as rights to enter a cemetery.
• Assigns – To give or transfer property on a voluntary basis.
• Attest – To witness or affirm by oath or signature.
• Banns – A public announcement often in a church of intent to marry.
• Beneficiary – The recipient of a trust or property.
• Bequeath – A gift of personal property by a last will.
• Bequest – The gift of personal property by will.
• Bond – An agreement, requiring a performance or payment by a given date.
• Bounty Land Warrant – A right to a specific number of acres for military service.
• Census – An official counting or enumeration of a population.
• Certified Copy – A copy of an original document certified as original.
• Chain – A unit of measure equaling 100 links or 66 feet to measure a property.
• Chattel – The personal property belonging to an individual.
• Child of Tender Years – A minor child under age 14.
• Christen – The Baptism or naming of an infant as dedicated to Christ.
• Circa – An approximation of a date.
• Codicil – A change or modification to a will after the initial writing.
• Collateral Ancestor – From the same family line but not of the direct line of decent.
• Common Ancestor - The sharing of an ancestor by two or more individuals.
• Consanguinity – Relationship as a Blood Relative.
• Consort - The wife of a living husband.
• Conveyance – The transfer normally by deed.
• Croft – A small piece or parcel of land.
• Curtsey – The lifetime estate of a widower living on the lands of a deceased spouse.
• Deceased – A person that has died.
• Decedent – A person no longer living a deceased person.
• Deed – A document transferring interest in a property from one person to another.
• Deed Poll – A deed signed by an individual, sometimes for the interest of others.
• Deposition – The testimony of an individual taken under oath.
• Devise – A gift of property by will.
• Devisee or Devisor – The giver of property. The recipient of property.
• Direct Deed – A grantor deed.
• Dissenter – A person not belonging to an established church.
• Dower – One-third share acquired by marriage of a husbands estate for natural life.
• Enumeration – The listing or counting as in a Census.
• Epitaph – An inscription on a tomb or headstone for the memory of the deceased.
• Escheat – The reverting of property, when there are no heirs, to the state.
• Estate – Property and debts belonging to an individual.
• Executor – A male appointed to carry out the will or bequest of a deceased person.
• Executrix - A female appointed to carry out the will or bequest of a deceased person.
• Family Burying Ground – A family cemetery.
• Fee Simple – Ownership of property with no restrictions.
• Fee Tail – Land or inheritance limited by lineal decent of the heirs.
• Free Hold – A fee simple estate that could be Fee Tail or for life.
• Friend – Reference to a member of any number of religious societies.
• Furlong – 1000 links of chain or 660 feet.
• Genealogy – A history of the family lines of decent.
• Gazetteer – A Dictionary of Geography.
• Given Name – The first or middle name of the person not the Surname.
• Glebe or Parish Land – Land belonging to a church.
• Heir – A person or persons entitled by law or last will to inherit an estate.
• Holographic Will – A hand written will by the testator.
• Indenture – A deed involving two or more persons with obligations to each other.
• Indentured Servant – A person that was bound for a specific time of service.

• Infant – Any person not of majority or full legal age.
• Intestate – A person dying without the benefit of leaving a will.
• Inventory – An accounting by an executor of the estate of a deceased person.
• Issue – Offspring, legitimate children of a descendant or ancestor.
• Legacy – A gift of money or property given by last will and testament.
• Lineage – Direct descent or ancestry from an individual.
• Link – A measurement of 7.92 inches of a chain. Used as a measure of land.
• Letters of Administration – A court administration of an intestate person.
• Loyalist – An American Colonist who supported the British. (A Tory)
• Marriage Bond – A license for marriage with a financial obligation of the groom.
• Maternal – Related thru the line of one’s mother.
• Militia – Private citizens available for military service in an emergency.
• Mortality Schedules – Schedule of persons that died in the year prior to the Census.
• Namesake – A person named after another person.
• Nuncupative Will – A will based on the oral declared will of the deceased.
• Orphan – A child that has lost one or more parents.
• Orphan’s Court – Special courts to oversee the needs of wards of the state.
• Patent – A land grant from the government to an individual.
• Paternal – A relation thru the line of ones father.
• Pension – Money paid to an individual as a reward for military service.
• Pole – A unit of measure of 16.5 feet for measuring land.
• Posterity – Descendants or those who come after.
• Power of Attorney – A person appointed to act in the interest of others. Probate – The proving or administration of a last will and testament.
• Progenitor – A direct line ancestor.
• Proved Will – A will certified as legitimate by a court.
• Provost – A person appointed to supervise others.
• Quitclaim Deed – A deed releasing all claims and interests to real property.
• Right of First Born – A custom where the father’s estate went to the first born male.
• Rector – A clergyman.
• Relict – The widow or surviving spouse this could be male or female.
• Rod – A unit of measure for surveying land equaling 5 ½ Yards.
• Rood – A unit of measure around 6-8 yards for the surveying of land.
• Surety – A bond posted to ensure a specific performance of a duty or obligation.
• Surname – Family name or last name.
• Tenant – Refers to a person holding land by any right or title.
• Testate – A person that dies leaving a valid will.
• Testator – A person that leaves a valid will.
• Tithable – Usually refers to a male attaining the age of sixteen that pays taxes.
• Tithe – Money collected for the support of clergy or the church.
• Tory – A Loyalist that supported the British.
• TO WIT – Naming a specific item.
• Tract – A portion of land.
• Tract Book – Entries of property by range or township.
• Tradition – Passing down beliefs, legends, customs etc. usually to each generation.
• Transcribe – To make a written copy.
• Trust Deed – A type of mortgage.
• Vital Records – A record of births, deaths, marriages and divorce.
• Vital Statistics – The data pertaining to births, deaths, marriages and divorce.
• Ward – City divisions for voting purposes.
• Warranty Deed – A deed where the grantor guarantee’s the title.
• Will – A written expression of a persons last intentions or wishes.
• Witness – A person called to testify about an event or transaction.