Missouri-L Archives

From: "The Cook's" <>
Subject: [MO] Fw: [CENSUS-CHAT] Re: Census quest
Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 13:05:18 -0700

----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2000 12:41 PM
Subject: [CENSUS-CHAT] Re: Census quest


> Searching through some old files, I found the following info that had been
> post to another List.
>
> >Re: Census quest
>
> The following is paraphrased from the National
> Genealogical Society's "American Genealogy: A Basic Course":
>
> In-Laws: terms like father-in-law, mother-in-law, etc. had the same
meaning
> as they do today, which is a kinship by marriage. However, they may also
> have had different meanings. Father-in-law could refer to a step-father,
> son-in- law to a stepchild, etc.
>
> Cousin: The term "cousin" was once used generally to indicate almost ANY
> DEGREE OF RELATIONSHIP BY BLOOD OR MARRIAGE OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY.
> VERY EARLY IN AMERICAN HISTORY THE TERM WAS USED TO REFER TO NEPHEW OR
NIECE.
> When you see the word cousin used in early records, you will need to do
more
> research to clarify the relationship between the two people.
>
> Nephew: The terms nephew and neice were not in common use in the colonies
> until before the mid-eighteenth century (i.e. 1750's). The term cousin
was
> used to denote this relationship. In rare instances, the term "nephew"
was
> used to mean grandson or granddaughter because the word comes from the
Latin
> term for "grandson" or "nepos." During this early period, "nephew" was
used
> for males and females.
>
> Brother: This term was used very generally and in addition to its obvious
> meaning, could denote a brother-in-law, a husband of a sister-in-law, a
> half-brother, a stepbrother, or even a colleague within the church.
>
> "My now wife." This term is sometimes found in a will and may, as is
often
> assumed, indicate the testator had a former wife, but this is not
necessarily
> so unless he is referring to children by a first wife and children by his
> current or "now" wife. When the term is used WITHOUT reference to
children,
> it more usually means the testator intends the bequest for his current
wife
> and not any subsequent he may have.
>
> Senior and Junior: Terms to denote two men with the same in the same
> community, regardless of any relationship. This could be father and son,
> Uncle and nephew, or two men not related at all. Upon the death of the
> "Senior" the junior could be dropped or if another, younger person had the
> same name, Junior became Senior, etc.
>
> Natural Son or Natural Daughter: indicates a blood relationship as
> distinguished from a relationship by marriage or adoption. Sometimes it
> could denote and illegetimate child, though it was more common to refer to
> such as "my base son" or "my bastard son". In some instances, "my natural
> child" may indicate children by a first wife as opposed to children by a
> current wife.
>
> Aliases: This term could mean one of several things. An orphan may have
> used his stepfather's surname in addition to his own. A married man may
have
> taken the surname of his wealthy father-in-law. One son in a family may
have
> taken his mother's maiden name, especially when inheriting property from
her
> family. One branch of the family may have used an alias to distinguish it
> from other branches in the area where the name was common. A person may
have
> used an alias to distinguish himself from several uncles and cousins with
the
> same name. This problem was not unusual in large families before the use
of
> middle names adopted. In some cases, an alias indicated illegitimacy.
> Because of all the possible reasons for the use of an alias, do not assume
> the reason until you have done further research.
>
> Given Names: Although you cannot count on it, it was common for the two
> eldest sons to be named for their grandfathers and two eldest daughters to
be
> named for their grandmothers. Don't be confused by finding two children
with
> the same given name in the same family. The name of a deceased child may
> have been given to a subsequent child. IN GERMAN ANCESTRY it was common
for
> ALL sons to have the first name Johann and all daughters to have the first
> name Anna or Maria. The children were known by their second names.
>

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• [MO] Fw: [CENSUS-CHAT] Re: Census quest by "The Cook's" <>