Unusual Genealogy Colonial Terms Misunderstood

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Here are some genealogy terms from the colonial period that you may have come across in family history type documentation or legal papers.  Some of the meaning may surprise the novice genealogist.

Ad litem
Means limited to one time.  A person may have been court ordered to do something ad litem, meaning once.

Ad quod damnum
A writ that ordered the assessment of damages from an action, such as when a landowner’s property was damaged as a road was put in, or private land was taken for a public purpose.  In Virginia, after 1734 it was used as the term meaning to convert a fee tail interest into a fee simple interest.  (fee tail – An estate of inheritance which is limited to one particular class of heirs of the person to whom it is granted, fee simple – An estate in land of which the inheritor has unqualified ownership and power of disposition.)

Annexed Will
This is when a Will existed but the executor had died, resigned or was never named.  Can be seen written in the Latin cum testamento annexo, or as administrator de bonis non.

Appurtenance
Something attached as part of something larger, such as buildings on lands as mentioned in land deeds.

Capius
An order to a sheriff to make an arrest of a person or take their property.  This was the term for a first order. In documents you may see terms for a second order, if the first was not carried out, called alias capius.  A third order was termed pluries capius.

Cousin
In colonial times it referred to a nephew or niece.  It was occasionally used to mean a person who was related by blood or otherwise, except in the first-degree (father, mother, son, and daughter)

Ejectment
To legally remove a tenant from leased land.  These types of suits were commonly used to avoid the long process of disputing title to land and usually some of the parties in the suit were completely fictitious.

Et us
“and wife”

Facias
Differentiates writs. Fieri facias means writ of execution, usually to put in force a judgment against a debtor.  Scire facias means an order to appear, as in a judgment case.

Glebe
Parish land, the income of which was usually used to support the local church.

In-law
In colonial times would refer to a relationship create by legal means.  A stepfather as a father-in-law, a stepson a son-in-law, a husband of your daughter was a son-in-law.  A stepdaughter was a daughter-in-law.

Infant
Anyone under 21.

Livery
Delivery of ownership.

Messuage
A house along with any land and any outbuildings.

Orphan
An infant (person under 21) who’s father is dead, regardless if the mother was still alive.

Room
Meant to substitute for, as in “in the room of” meant “in the substitution of.”

Seisin
Sometimes spelled Seizin.  Meant ownership in relation to genealogy.

Uxor
A wife.