Honea-Worley Family History Award for Scholarship

V. Glossary of Basic Genealogical Terms

Abstract: summary of essential facts of a document.

Ahnentafel Number: a numbering system of ancestors in which the initial individual is given the No. 1, the father becomes twice the child's number; the mother, twice the child's number plus one. Consequently, after No. 1 which can be either female or male, all males will have an even number and all females an odd number

Ancestor: person from whom one is descended in a direct line, that is, parent, grandparent, great-grandparent: sometimes called blood line.

Ancestor Chart: an outline form of a person's direct ancestral line giving parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. The chart generally contains four or five generations. Also called Pedigree charts.

Civil records: created by a government agency.

Collateral line: persons descended from a common ancestor, but not in the direct line, that is aunt, uncle, cousin.

Descendant: one who is descended from an ancestor.

Documentation: citation or reference to source of information.

Dower: right of a widow to a life estate from a portion of her deceased husband's real property.

Emigrant: one who leaves his country for another, with intention not to return.

Estate papers: see Probate.

Evidence: facts that indicate whether or not something is true (generally provided from an original or official record).

Family Group Sheet: page(s) listing a family unit: father, mother and children of their union, with the dates and places of birth, death, burial for each individual. Additional information may be given.

Genealogy: study of family history and descent.

Generation: each full family group is one generation. You count as the first generation; your parent's, the second generation; their parents (you grandparents), the third generation, etc.

Genetics: the biology of heredity.

Grantee: person to whom property is conveyed: buyer.

Grantor: person who conveys property: seller.

Heredity: the genetic transmission of characteristics from parents to offspring.

Holographic will:  will written in the handwriting of the testator.

Immigrant: one who leaves a country to permanently settle in another.

Intestate: one who dies without having made a valid will.

Pedigree: recorded ancestry or line of descent.

Pedigree Chart: see Ancestor Chart.

Primary Source: record created at the time (or shortly thereafter) the event happened. Personal knowledge or testimony of a person involved in the event. Sometimes called original source.

Primogenitor: the earliest ancestor or forefather.

Probate: the legal process by which the property of a deceased is distributed to the heirs, possibly including: wills, inventories, guardianships, and other records that pertain to the settlement of an estate. Also referred to as estate papers.

Published source: Book, periodical, newspaper, or other type of material that is made available to the public: most always secondary sources.

Secondary source: source that is not original or primary, but is copied from other sources or from memory.

Surname: family name or last name. Generally the name passed from the father to his children.

Testate: one who dies leaving a valid will.

Transcript: verbatim copy, exact.

Vital Records: records of birth, death, marriage, and divorce.

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