Sunday, January 29, 2017

CHARTS FOR REFERENCE IN GENEALOGY RESEARCH


GLOSSARY CHART

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 REVOLUTIONU.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.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 un-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 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.
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 WARU.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 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.
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.
VITAL RECORDS — Records of birth, death, marriage or divorce.
VITAL STATISTICS — Data dealing with birth, death, marriage or divorce.
WAR BETWEEN THE STATESU.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.
YEOMAN — A servant, an attendant or subordinate official in a royal household; a subordinate of a sheriff; an independent farmer.

OCCUPATIONS CHART

Accomptant — Accountant
Almoner —Giver of charity to the needy
Amanuensis —Secretary or stenographer
Artificer — A soldier mechanic who does repairs
Bailie — Bailiff
Baxter —Baker
Bluestock — Female writer
Boniface — Keeper of an inn
Brazier — One who works with brass
Brewster — Beer manufacturer
Brightsmith — Metal Worker
Burgonmaster — Mayor
Caulker —One who filled up cracks (in ships or windows) or seems to make them watertight by using tar or oakum-hemp fiber produced by taking old ropes apart
Chaisemaker — Carriage maker
Chandler — Dealer or trader; one who makes or sells candles; retailer of groceries
Chiffonnier — Wig maker
Clark — Clerk
Clerk — Clergyman, cleric
Clicker — The servant of a salesman who stood at the door to invite customers; one who received the matter in the galley from the compositors and arranged it in due form ready for printing;  one who makes eyelet holes in boots using a machine which clicked.
Cohen — Priest
Collier — Coal miner
Colporte — Peddler of books
Cooper — One who makes or repairs vessels made of staves & hoops, such as casks, barrels, tubs, etc.
Cordwainer —   Shoemaker, originally any leather worker using leather from Cordova/Cordoba in Spain
Costermonger — Peddler of fruits and vegetables
Crocker — Potter
Crowner — Coroner
Currier — One who dresses the coat of a horse with a curry comb; one who tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease
Docker — Stevedore, dock worker who loads and unloads cargo
Dowser — One who finds water using a rod or witching stick
Draper — A dealer in dry goods
Drayman — One who drives a long strong cart without fixed sides for carrying heavy loads
Dresser — A surgeon's assistant in a hospital
Drover — One who drives cattle, sheep, etc. to market; a dealer in cattle
Duffer — Peddler
Factor — Agent, commission merchant; one who acts or transacts business for another; Scottish steward or bailiff of an estate
Farrier — A blacksmith, one who shoes horses
Faulkner — Falconer
Fell monge— One who removes hair or wool from hides in preparation for leather making
Fletcher — One who made bows and arrows
Fuller — One who fulls cloth;one who shrinks and thickens woolen cloth by  moistening, heating, and pressing; one who cleans and finishes cloth
Gaoler — A keeper of the goal, a jailer
Glazier — Window glassman
Hacker — Maker of hoes
Hatcheler — One who combed out or carded flax
Haymonger — Dealer in hay
Hayward — Keeper of fences
Higgler — Itinerant peddler
Hillier — Roof tiler
Hind — A farm laborer
Holster — A groom who took care of horses, often at an inn
Hooker — Reaper
Hooper — One who made hoops for casks and barrels
Huckster — Sells small wares
Husbandman — A farmer who cultivated the land
Jagger — Fish peddler
Journeyman — One who had served his apprenticeship and mastered his craft, not bound to serve master, but hired by the day
Joyner/Joiner — A skilled carpenter
Keeler — Bargeman
Kempster — Wool comber
Lardner — Keeper of the cupboard
Lavender — Washer woman
Lederer — Leather maker
Leech — Physician
Longshoreman — Stevedore
Lormer — Maker of horse gear
Malender — Farmer
Maltster — Brewer
Manciple — A steward
Mason — Bricklayer
Mintmaster — One who issued local currency
Monger — Seller of goods (ale, fish)
Muleskinner — Teamster
Neatherder — Herds cows
Ordinary Keeper — Innkeeper with fixed prices
Pattern Maker — A maker of a clog shod with an iron ring. A clog was a wooden pole with a pattern cut into the end
Peregrinator — Itinerant wanderer
Peruker — A wig maker
Pettifogger — A shyster lawyer
Pigman — Crockery dealer
Plumber — One who applied sheet lead for roofing and set lead frames for plain or stained glass windows.
Porter — Door keeper
Puddler — Wrought iron worker
Quarrier — Quarry worker
Rigger — Hoist tackle worker
Ripper — Seller of fish
Roper — Maker of rope or nets
Saddler — One who makes, repairs or sells saddles or other furnishings for horses
Sawbones — Physician
Sawyer — One who saws; carpenter
Schumacke — Shoemaker
Scribler — A minor or worthless author
Scrivener — Professional or public copyist or writer; notary public
Scrutiner — Election judge
Shrieve — Sheriff
Slater — Roofer
Slopseller — Seller of ready-made clothes in a slop shop
Snobscat/Snob — One who repaired shoes
Sorter — Tailor
Spinster — A woman who spins or an unmarried woman
Spurrer — Maker of spurs
Squire — Country gentleman; farm owner; justice of peace
Stuff gown/Stuff gownsman — Junior barrister
Supercargo — Officer on merchant ship who is in charge of cargo and the commercial concerns of the ship
Tanner — One who tans (cures) animal hides into leather
Tapley — One who puts the tap in an ale cask
Tasker — Reaper
Teamster — One who drives a team for hauling
Thatcher — Roofer
Tide waiter — Customs inspector
Tinker — Am itinerant tin pot and pan seller and repairman
Tipstaff — Policeman
Travers — Toll bridge collection
Tucker — Cleaner of cloth goods
Turner — A person who turns wood on a lathe into spindles
Victualer — A tavern keeper, or one who provides an army, navy, or ship with food supplies
Vulcan — Blacksmith
Wagoner — Teamster not for hire
Wainwright — Wagon maker
Waiter — Customs officer or tide waiter; one who waited on the tide to collect duty on goods brought in
Waterman — Boatman who plies for hire
Webster — Operator of looms
Wharfinger — Owner of a wharf
Wheelwright — One who made or repaired wheels; wheeled carriages, etc.
Whitesmith — Tinsmith; worker of iron who finishes or polishes the work
Whitewing — Street sweeper
Whitster — Bleach of cloth
Wright — Workman, especially a construction worker
Yeoman — Farmer who owns his own land

DISEASE CHART

Ablepsy — Blindness
Ague — Malarial Fever
American plague — Yellow fever
Anasarca — Generalized massive edema
Aphonia — Laryngitis
Aphtha — The infant disease "thrush"
Apoplexy — Paralysis due to stroke
Asphycsia/Asphicsia — Cyanotic and lack of oxygen
Atrophy — Wasting away or diminishing in size.
Bad Blood — Syphilis
Bilious fever — Typhoid, malaria, hepatitis or elevated temperature and bile emesis
Biliousness — Jaundice associated with liver disease
Black plague or death — Bubonic plague
Black fever — Acute infection with high temperature and dark red skin lesions and high mortality rate
Black pox — Black Small pox
Black vomit — Vomiting old black blood due to ulcers or yellow fever
Blackwater fever — Dark urine associated with high temperature
Bladder in throat — Diphtheria (Seen on death certificates)
Blood poisoning — Bacterial infection; septicemia
Bloody flux — Bloody stools
Bloody sweat — Sweating sickness
Bone shave — Sciatica
Brain fever — Meningitis
Breakbone — Dengue fever
Bright's disease — Chronic inflammatory disease of kidneys
Bronze John — Yellow fever
Bule — Boil, tumor or swelling
Cachexy —  Malnutrition
Cacogastric — Upset stomach
Cacospysy — Irregular pulse
Caduceus  — Subject to falling sickness or epilepsy
Camp fever — Typhus; aka Camp diarrhea
Canine madness — Rabies, hydrophobia
Canker — Ulceration of mouth or lips or herpes simplex
Catalepsy — Seizures / trances
Catarrhal — Nose and throat discharge from cold or allergy
Cerebritis — Inflammation of cerebrum or lead poisoning
Chilblain — Swelling of extremities caused by exposure to cold
Child bed fever — Infection following birth of a child
Chin cough — Whooping cough
Chlorosis — Iron deficiency anemia
Cholera — Acute severe contagious diarrhea with intestinal lining sloughing
Cholera morbus — Characterized by nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, elevated temperature, etc.  Could be appendicitis
Cholecystitus — Inflammation of the gall bladder
Cholelithiasis — Gall stones
Chorea — Disease characterized by convulsions, contortions and dancing
Cold plague — Ague which is characterized by chills
Colic — An abdominal pain and cramping
Congestive chills — Malaria
Consumption — Tuberculosis
Congestion — Any collection of fluid in an organ, like the lungs
Congestive chills — Malaria with diarrhea
Congestive fever — Malaria
Corruption — Infection
Coryza — A cold
Costiveness — Constipation
Cramp colic — Appendicitis
Crop sickness — Overextended stomach
Croup — Laryngitis, diphtheria, or strep throat
Cyanosis — Dark skin color from lack of oxygen in blood
Cynanche — Diseases of throat
Cystitis — Inflammation of the bladder
Day fever — Fever lasting one day; sweating sickness
Debility — Lack of movement or staying in bed
Decrepitude — Feebleness due to old age
Delirium tremens — Hallucinations due to alcoholism
Dengue — Infectious fever endemic to East Africa
Dentition — Cutting of teeth
Deplumation — Tumor of the eyelids which causes hair loss
Devil's Grip — Pleurisy / bronchitis
Diary fever — A fever that lasts one day
Diptheria — Contagious disease of the throat
Distemper — Usually animal disease with malaise, discharge from nose and throat, anorexia
Dock fever — Yellow fever
Dropsy — Edema (swelling), often caused by kidney or heart disease
Dropsy of the Brain — Encephalitis
Dry Bellyache — Lead poisoning
Dyscrasy — An abnormal body condition
Dysentery — Inflammation of colon with frequent passage of mucous and blood
Dysorexy — Reduced appetite
Dyspepsia — Indigestion and heartburn.  Heart attack symptoms
Dysury — Difficulty in urination
Eclampsy — Symptoms of epilepsy, convulsions during labor
Ecstasy — A form of catalepsy characterized by loss of reason
Edema — Nephrosis; swelling of tissues
Edema of lungs — Congestive heart failure, a form of dropsy
Eel thing — Erysipelas
Elephantiasis — A form of leprosy
Encephalitis — Swelling of brain; aka sleeping sickness
Enteric fever — Typhoid fever
Enterocolitis — Inflammation of the intestines
Enteritis — Inflations of the bowels
Epitaxis — Nose bleed
Erysipelas — Contagious skin disease, due to Streptococci with vesicular and bulbous lesions
Extravasted blood — Rupture of a blood vessel
Falling sickness — Epilepsy
Fatty Liver — Cirrhosis of liver
Fits — Sudden attack or seizure of muscle activity
Flux — An excessive flow or discharge of fluid like hemorrhage or diarrhea
Flux of humour — Circulation
French pox — Syphilis
Gathering — A collection of pus
Glandular fever — Mononucleosis
Great pox — Syphilis
Green fever / sickness — Anemia
Grippe/grip — Influenza like symptoms
Grocer's itch — Skin disease caused by mites in sugar or flour
Heart sickness — Condition caused by loss of salt from body
Heat stroke — Body temperature elevates because of surrounding environment temperature and body does not perspire to reduce temperature.  Coma and death result if not reversed
Hectical complaint — Recurrent fever
Hematemesis — Vomiting blood
Hematuria — Bloody urine
Hemiplegy — Paralysis of one side of body
Hip gout — Osteomylitis
Horrors — Delirium tremens
Hydrocephalus — Enlarged head, water on the brain
Hydropericardium — Heart dropsy
Hydrophobia — Rabies
Hydrothroax — Dropsy in chest
Hypertrophic — Enlargement of organ, like the heart
Impetigo — Contagious skin disease characterized by pustules
Inanition — Physical condition resulting from lack of food
Infantile paralysis — Polio
Intestinal colic — Abdominal pain due to improper diet
Jail fever — Typhus
Jaundice — Condition caused by blockage of intestines
King's evil — Tuberculosis of neck and lymph glands
Kruchhusten — Whooping cough
Lagrippe — Influenza
Lockjaw — Tetanus or infectious disease affecting the muscles of the neck and jaw.  Untreated, it is fatal in 8 days
Long sickness — Tuberculosis
Lues disease — Syphilis
Lues venera — Venereal disease
Lumbago — Back pain
Lung fever — Pneumonia
Lung sickness — Tuberculosis
Lying in — Time of delivery of infant
Malignant sore throat — Diphtheria
Mania — Insanity
Marasmus — Progressive wasting away of body, like malnutrition
Membranous Croup — Diphtheria
Meningitis — Inflations of brain or spinal cord
Metritis — Inflammation of uterus or purulent vaginal discharge
Miasma — Poisonous vapors thought to infect the air
Milk fever — Disease from drinking contaminated milk, like undulant fever or brucellosis
Milk leg — Post partum thrombophlebitis
Milk sickness — Disease from milk of cattle which had eaten poisonous weeds
Mormal — Gangrene
Morphew — Scurvy blisters on the body
Mortification — Gangrene of necrotic tissue
Myelitis — Inflammation of the spine
Myocarditis — Inflammation of heart muscles
Necrosis — Mortification of bones or tissue
Nephrosis — Kidney degeneration
Nepritis — Inflammation of kidneys
Nervous prostration — Extreme exhaustion from inability to control physical and mental activities
Neuralgia — Described as discomfort, such as "Headache" was neuralgia in head
Nostalgia — Homesickness
Palsy — Paralysis or uncontrolled movement of controlled muscles. It was listed as "Cause of death"
Paroxysm — Convulsion
Pemphigus — Skin disease of watery blisters
Pericarditis — Inflammation of heart
Peripneumonia — Inflammation of lungs
Peritonotis — Inflammation of abdominal area
Petechial Fever — Fever characterized by skin spotting
Phthiriasis — Lice infestation
Phthisis — Chronic wasting away or a name for tuberculosis
Plague — An acute febrile highly infectious disease with a high fatality rate
Pleurisy — Any pain in the chest area with each breath
Podagra — Gout
Poliomyelitis — Polio
Potter's asthma — Fibroid pthisis
Pott's disease — Tuberculosis of spine
Puerperal exhaustion — Death due to childbirth
Puerperal fever — Elevated temperature after giving birth to an infant
Puking fever — Milk sickness
Putrid fever — Diphtheria.
Quinsy — Tonsillitis.
Remitting fever — Malaria
Rheumatism — Any disorder associated with pain in joints
Rickets — Disease of skeletal system
Rose cold — Hay fever or nasal symptoms of an allergy
Rotanny fever — (Child's disease) ???
Rubeola — German measles
Sanguineous crust — Scab
Scarlatina — Scarlet fever
Scarlet fever — A disease characterized by red rash
Scarlet rash — Roseola
Sciatica — Rheumatism in the hips
Scirrhus — Cancerous tumors
Scotomy — Dizziness, nausea and dimness of sight
Scrivener's palsy — Writer's cramp
Screws — Rheumatism
Scrofula — Tuberculosis of neck lymph glands.  Progresses slowly with
abscesses and  pistulas develop. Young person's disease
Scrumpox — Skin disease, impetigo
Scurvy — Lack of vitamin C.  Symptoms of weakness, spongy gums and hemorrhages under skin
Septicemia — Blood poisoning
Shakes — Delirium tremens
Shaking — Chills, ague
Shingles — Viral disease with skin blisters
Ship fever — Typhus
Siriasis — Inflammation of the brain due to sun exposure
Sloes — Milk sickness
Small pox — Contagious disease with fever and blisters
Softening of brain — Result of stroke or hemorrhage in the brain, with an end result of the tissue softening in that area
Sore throat distemper — Diphtheria or quinsy
Spanish influenza — Epidemic influenza
Spasms — Sudden involuntary contraction of muscle or group of muscles, like a convulsion
Spina bifida — Deformity of spine
Spotted fever — Either typhus or meningitis
Sprue — Tropical disease characterized by intestinal disorders and sore throat
St. Anthony's fire — Also erysipelas, but named so because of affected skin areas are bright red in appearance
St. Vitas dance — Ceaseless occurrence of rapid complex jerking movements performed involuntary
Stomatitis— Inflammation of the mouth
Stranger's fever — Yellow fever
Strangery — Rupture
Sudor anglicus — Sweating sickness
Summer complaint — Diarrhea, usually in infants caused by spoiled milk
Sunstroke — Uncontrolled elevation of body temperature due to environment heat.  Lack of sodium  in the body is a predisposing cause
Swamp sickness — Could be malaria, typhoid or encephalitis
Sweating sickness — Infectious and fatal disease common to UK in 15th century
Tetanus — Infectious fever characterized by high fever, headache and dizziness
Thrombosis — Blood clot inside blood vessel
Thrush — Childhood disease characterized by spots on mouth, lips and throat
Tick fever — Rocky mountain spotted fever
Toxemia of pregnancy — Eclampsia
Trench mouth — Painful ulcers found along gum line, caused by poor nutrition and poor hygiene
Tussis convulsiva — Whooping cough
Typhus — Infectious fever characterized high fever, headache, and dizziness
Variola — Smallpox
Venesection — Bleeding
Viper's dance — St. Vitus Dance
Water on brain — Enlarged head
White swelling — Tuberculosis of the bone
Winter fever — Pneumonia
Womb fever — Infection of the uterus.
Worm fit — Convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated temperature or diarrhea
Yellowjacket — Yellow fever

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

HELP!  Anyone seen me? I am lost and need to find a way home!!  My 6th Great grand daughter is frantically looking for me!

My 5th great grandfather Benjamin Fernald from Kittery, Maine, married Sarah Beaver about 1767.  All we know about Sarah is that she was born in Boston in 28 Feb 1744 to John and Sarah per the Massachusetts Town and Vita Records 1620-1988.  Simple huh?

Now here’s the rub – Family Search confirms (and 2 other sources as well) that John Beaver married Sarah (Hawkins) in Baltimore County, Maryland, 1749. If these are her parents – she was 5 years old when they married?? Cannot find any trace of John and Sarah in Boston except on Sarah’s birth record.

AND as it turns out, there are more Beavers in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York then in the Boston area in that time frame or before.  They could build several dams across the Mississippi with all the Beavers!  I have found that in the 1600s 3 men with the surname of Beaver immigrated into Maryland – Frances, Charles and Richard.  Only 1 into Boston, a “Mr. Beaver” in 1766.

What’s a girl to do???


Does ANYONE have Beavers in their tree?  Any answers you can provide will be extremely helpful. 

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Edward Spalding of Virginia and Massachusetts Bay

The Spalding name is just about as old an English name as can be had. It means “the tribe that lived at the shoulder of marsh land” based on the ancient Saxon town of Spalding, Lincolnshire. This area was inhabited by early Spalding tribes. The Spalding name was found in a royal charter as early as 716 AD. In William the Conqueror’s Doomsday book Spalding Manor is recorded. By the time Edward Spalding set sail for the Colonies, this name could be traced back over 600 years in England.


Edward of Virginia

In 1619, at age 23 Edward, and his brother Edmund set sail from London to the Virginia Colony. They were accompanied by Sir George Yeardley, the first appointed Colonial Governor of the Colony. Yeardley was not new to sailing to Virginia - 10 years previously he was in the shipwreck of the Sea Venture in Bermuda which was blown off course while heading to Jamestown with supplies for the starving colonists.

When they arrived, Edward went to James City as Jamestown was called and Edmund to Elizabeth City. The new arrivals found that only 1 in 20 settlers were alive. The colonists had suffered with disease, weather conditions, Indian attacks and starvation. The cash crop, tobacco, was growing strong. It was able to keep the colony financially stable. However, life was full of disease and Indian attacks. Powhatan, a friend to the settlers died. By 1622, his brother took over the confederacy and decided all Englishmen should be exterminated.

Since the brothers were under contract as indentured servants for their passage fee, they had to spend the required 7 years repaying or working off the debt. But in 1627, the contract had ended and they were free to move on. Since the conditions in the Virginia Colony were undesirable, having heard much about the better conditions in other colonies, they headed north. Again they separated: Edward appeared on the public records in Massachusetts Bay by 1630. Edmund went to Maryland under Lord Baltimore becoming the head of the “Maryland branch” of the Spalding family.

An unsubstantiated theory says that perhaps Edward went north because he lost two families by this time. If this is true he would have been married 4 times – 2 marriages in Virginia and 2 in Massachusetts. This might have some truth to it. The Virginia Colony records show Edward, his wife and 2 children in James Citie Feb 16, 1623. 


By the time he decided to move on he had been in Virginia for approximately 11 years, certainly enough time to have been married and started a family possibly twice.



Edward of Massachusetts Bay

The Mill Stream in Chelmsford by Richardson
When Edward appears in Braintree it seems he is single. If John born in 1633 was his first child from the marriage to Margaret Elliot, it is most probable that he and Margaret married after his arrival in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John was the first Spalding born in the colonies to survive to adulthood and raise children. Margaret Elliot Spalding died in 1640 but not before giving birth to 3 children – Edward, Grace and John. After her death, Edward married again to Rachel Needham. He and Rachel had Benjamin, Joseph, Dinah and Andrew and possibly several more children.

In October of 1645, Edward, along with 19 other settlers were granted 10,000 acres to establish the town of Chelmsford. He served the town as selectman and surveyor various times throughout his life. He died 26 February 1670 and is buried in Chelmsford. His sons John, Joseph, Benjamin, Andrew and Edward and grandson John Jr, went on to establish a portion of what is now Lowell.



Lineage:

Edward Spalding - 1596-1670
Lt. John Spalding - 1633-1721
John Spalding - 1659-1721
Samuel Spalding - 1686-1749
Jedediah Spalding -1709-1776
Ezekiel Spaulding -1734-1813
Zelinda Spaulding -1761-1839
John Oliver Rattleff - 1801-1869
John Nelson Rattleff -1837-1927
Ida Aerial Rattleff Gerrish - 1876-1957

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Yeardley
http://bakerfamilytree.blogspot.com/2006/12/chapter-4-spaulding-family.html
https://archive.org/stream/spaldingmemorial1897spal#page/68/mode/1up

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Deacon John Leavitt of Hingham (ca b.1608-12 – d. 1691)


Do you have Leavitt, Levett, Levit or even Lovet in your family tree?

My 7th Great Grandfather, Deacon John Leavitt of Hingham, son of Percival Levitt, the older brother of Captain Christopher Leavitt is the immigrate ancestor of most all Leavitt descendants today. Deacon John, instrumental in the development of the Old Ship Church in Hingham, was an upright and conscience citizen and family man.

Anderson, in his Great Migration publication indicates John immigrated in to the Massachusetts Bay Colony based on his receiving a land grant in 1634 but there are other theories that indicate he might have arrived earlier and into a different area.

It is believed that John Leavitt was in Salem prior to his immigration to Dorchester. His uncle, Christopher Leavitt was captain of the Porcupine, one of the ships in the Winthrop Fleet. Captain Christopher Leavitt was a bit of a historical figure himself. In 1623, in the employee of Sir Fernando Gorge was hired to explore and survey the coast of New England.

Taking this into consideration, one can add a little credence to the theory that since John Leavitt was in his teens, he didn’t travel without family. He was with his uncle when both he and Christopher met Winthrop in 1630 when the Arabella docked in Salem. However, Captain Leavitt died at sea as he sailed back to England in 1631 leaving John without family.

Emigrate to Dorchester

It is also believed that John was in a group of settlers who followed Rev John White from Salem into Dorchester. They settled in Mattapan, later called Dorchester. John was granted a house lot in 1634. It was required that settlers as they reached the age of 21 take the Freeman’s Oath, swearing loyalty to the Crown and be upstanding righteous citizens. John took his oath in 1635/6 in Dorchester and then again in 1678 in Hingham. The results of the first act changed the course of his life.

It was customary to list the names and locations of the settlers who took the oath in English publications. It seems that John had skipped out on his last 3 years of apprenticeship with a master tailor in England. Around 1634/5, his former master saw the Dorchester list and came looking for him. The master went to Dorchester and claimed John’s house and property for compensation of the missing last 3 years of servitude owed to him. This was legal at that time. In March, 1635 a deed was drawn selling his property to Thomas Makepeace. 

Settles in Hingham


After losing his home, John went to Exeter, NH before taking up permanent residence in Hingham. By 1636 he and his first wife Mary [Lovet?] were married and over a nine year period had 5 children. Mary died 4 July 1646, just a few months after their last child was born. He married again 16 December 1646, not only to have a caretaker for his 5 motherless children, but through the course of their marriage bring 8 more children into the Leavitt household. Sarah Gilman, John’s second wife was only 24 at this time of their marriage.


Sixteen year old Sarah arrived in Boston Harbor with her family in 1638 on the Diligent. They made their way to Hingham to meet up with old friends and relatives who came before. Becoming active in Church and civil affairs, the Gilman family worshiped under Rev. Peter Hobart (Hubbard). By this time, John Leavitt was a leader in the Church and became Deacon. 1647, a year after Sarah and John were married, her father Edward Gilman, removed to Exeter to start a saw mill. John, Mary with Mary’s sister, Lydia and their families were the only ones who remained in Hingham.


The Old Ship

Old Ship Church, 1681,
 
Hingham, Massachusetts
.
John Leavitt, founding deacon
.
By 1681, Hingham had grown and was in need of a new meeting house. Deacon John forcefully argued the need for the building and its constructed. Rev Hobart’s brother, Joshua gave the land and the town appropriated the money for the building. The new meeting house was scheduled to be built. After 44 years of being the town minister, Peter Hobart never got to see it completed.  He died on January 20 1679, the night before construction started on the new building. Deacon John’s dedication to Hingham and the Old Ship is still seen today. His pew that was designated for him as a parishioner is still set aside.



Deacon John’s children – all born in Hingham
1st wife Mary __
1) John – m. Bathsheba Hobart 1664
2) Hannah - m John Lodbell 1659 – Deacon John was ordered to provide for his Granddaughter Hanna’s education after the death of her father.
3) Samuel – m Mary Robinson 1665
4) Elizabeth- m. 1) Samuel Judkins 2) Richard Drake
5) Jeremiah – not mentioned in his father’s will dated 10 Nov 1689
2nd wife Sarah Gilman
1) Israel – m. Lydia Jackson 1676/7
2) Moses - m. Dorothy Dudley 1681
3) Josiah – m. Margaret Johnson 1676
4) Nehemiah –Alice (widow of Daniel Gilman) aft. 25 Nov 1684
5) Sarah - m 1) Nehemiah Clapp 1678; 2) Samuel How(e) 1685
6) Mary - m 1682 Benjamin Bates, New London 1682 
7) Hannah m 1) Joseph Loring 1683; 2) Joseph Esterbrook 1693
8) Abigail m 1) Isaac Lazell 1685/6; 2) Isaac Johnson 1692

My line from Deacon John LeavittSARAH LEAVITT - 1658 - 1726
MARY HOWE -1715 - 1794
EZEKIEL SPAULDING - 1734 - 1813
ZELINDA SPAULDING -1761 - 1839
JOHN OLIVER RATTLEFF - 1801 - 1869
JOHN NELSON RATTLEFF - 1837 - 1927
IDA AERIAL RATTLIFF - 1876 - 1957
BERTRAM LYLE GERRISH SR. -1915 - 1984

Sources – New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635, Anderson; Ancestry.com

Excerpt from the book “From Hingham to Hatley: a Leavitt family chronicle of five generations” by Anne Okerlund Leavitt 

Wikipedia: Old Ship Church; John Leavitt


Saturday, November 19, 2016

Do you have WATERMAN Ancestry?


You might have Mayflower connections!

Robert Waterman born c. 1608 came from Norwich, England with this brothers Thomas and Richard. The brothers landed in Salem, 1636. Richard was sent to New England by the Massachusetts Bay Company to kill venison.  Thomas settled in Roxbury but Richard was a Hutchinson sympathizer and banished to Rhode Island by 1638.
Robert, our immigrant ancestor, migrated from Salem to be found in Plymouth 1638.  Removing to Marshfield, he settled near Green Harbor later in 1638.  He was the 5th and final original founder of that town.  In Marshfield, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Bourne of Marshfield.  He built a house near his brother-in-law Josiah Winslow and father-in-law, Thomas Bourne.  Robert and Elizabeth raised their 4 surviving children there.  Their oldest son Joseph, died young.  Their surviving children, John, Thomas, a second Joseph and Robert were all born in Marshfield, living through to adulthood. 
When Robert died in 1662, he willed his son Joseph, our ancestor, his house and land. As they were underage, Joseph and Robert were assigned neighbor Anthony Snow and their uncle, Josiah Winslow as guardians.  When he became of age, Joseph married Sarah Snow, the daughter Anthony Snow his guardian and Abigail Warren. Both Joseph and Sarah are buried in the Winslow Cemetery in Marshfield.  They brought up their children in this house and it remained in the family for over 6 generations.
Many of Joseph and Sarah’s children were married into Mayflower families. Of his children, Sarah, Joseph, Elizabeth, Anthony, Abigail, Bethiah, Lydia and Robert you will find the other lines of Richard Warren, descendants of John Alden and William Brewster and William Bradford.   See Mayflower Families through Five Generations Vol 18, Part One - Richard Warren for details.
My line of descent is as follows.
Robert Waterman  m Elizabeth Bourne
Joseph Waterman  m Sarah Snow *descent of Richard Warren
Sarah Waterman   m Solomon Hewitt
Joseph Hewett      m Sarah Dingley
Tabitha Hewet       m Kenelm Baker  *descent of Edward Doty
Kenelm Baker       m Susannah Bonney
*Hewet Baker       m Martha C. Stoddard
Rachel Baker         m George W. Gerrish, Jr
Chester Gerrish     m Ida Ratliff
Bertram Gerrish Sr. m Elinor Emery

*Hewet Baker has the largest number of Mayflower passengers of all my Emery / Gerrish lines.  He has through all his paternal and maternal lines – Bradford, Brewster, Doty, Howland and 3 Warren lines! 

Sources: The Pioneers of Masachusetts; GSMD certification; The Compendium of American Genealogy; New England Families Genealogical and Memorial Vol II (Cutter); various sources in "Whose Family it it Anyway? owned by Irene Clough Hahn on Rootsweb.com.