A Glossary of Genealogical Terms: Difference between revisions

*An individual appointed by a court to settle a deceased individual’s estate if that individual did not leave a will.

===== Admiral  =====

*A list in the 1850 to 1880 censuses that contains information on farms and the names of farmers.

===== agricola  =====

*Finnish word for "low(er), under."

===== Alabama Territory, USA  =====

*A territory established in 1817 that covered all of present-day Alabama.

===== Albarazado  =====

*A term used in Catholic church registers to describe a person from Spanish-speaking Latin America whose ancestry is a mix of Indian and Caucasian. Racial classifications were often based on physical appearance or social status; therefore, they were not always accurate

===== Albino  =====

*A term used in Catholic Church registers to describe a person from Spanish-speaking Latin America whose ancestry is African and Caucasian. Racial classifications were often based on physical appearance or social status; therefore, they were not always accurate.

===== Alcalde Ordinario, New Mexico  =====

*A Spanish term referring to a mayor's court that handled civil and criminal cases in what is now the state of New Mexico between 1598 and 1847.

===== Alderman's court  =====

*A court created in 1851 by the Provisional State of Deseret. No records for this court appear to exist.

===== Alias surname  =====

*A second surname that a person adopts. This was a common practice in Germany. In German records, aliases may be preceded by the word genannt, vulgo, modo, sive, or alias. A few people in France, mostly sailors or soldiers, also took alias surnames. These were preceded by the word dit, meaning so-called.

===== Alien crew list, USA  =====

*A document created during the Report and Registry process that listed all immigrants who reported to a local court to register their arrival in the United States.

===== Allen County Public Library  =====

*A public library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. This library has an excellent collection of materials about the Midwest, Indiana, and the United States. The Allen County Public Library also publishes the PERiodical Source Index (PERSI), an index to genealogical periodicals.

===== Allí te estás  =====

*A term used in Catholic Church registers to describe a person from Spanish-speaking Latin America whose ancestry is a mix of Indian, African, and Caucasian. Racial classifications were often based on physical appearance or social status; therefore, they were not always accurate.

===== Allowance docket  =====

*A list of court-ordered payments.

===== Alsace Emigration Index  =====

*Two regions in modern-day France that are located along the German border. Germany won these two regions in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian war. (The German term for the region is Elsaß-Lothringen.) France regained these two regions in 1919 with the Peace of Versailles.

===== Alsatian  =====

*A person from the Alsace region of France. Since many Alsatians spoke more German than French, they were often called Germans when they emigrated to other countries. Many Alsatians emigrated to Russia between 1763 and World War I. Beginning in 1874 many of these Russian Alsatians moved to the United States, Canada, and South America. In 1722 the Holy Roman emperors and Austro-Hungarian monarchs encouraged Alsatians and Germans to settle in their lands, especially on the border devastated by the Turks. Colonies developed in what became Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia. After World War II, many people of Alsatian descent moved to the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and other nations.

===== Alumni directory  =====

*A list of the names and addresses of people who graduated from a school, university, or other educational facility.

===== American  =====

*A published collection of about 80,000 diverse land claims, such as claims for state, Indian, and militia bounty lands. It does not contain information about land granted to war veterans.

===== Amish  =====