Answers

Question: How many great-great-great-great-grandparents did you have?

You had 64 great-great-great-great-grandparents.

Question: How are you related to the great-grandchildren of your grand-uncle?

The great-grandchildren of your grand-uncle are your "second cousins once removed ." (Why? Your grand-uncle is sibling of one of your grandparents. One of your parents is first cousin to your grand-uncle's children. You are second cousin to your grand-uncle's grandchildren. Your granduncle's great-grandchildren are a generation later than you, when compared to the first common ancestors -- your great-grandparents/their great-great-grandparents.)

Question: You discover that one of your co-workers has one set of great-great-grandparents the same as yours, but you have different great-grandparents. What is your relationship to this co-worker?

Your co-worker with the same great-great-grandparents as you is your "third cousin."

Question: Why do genealogists insist on using black and white film to copy photographs, instead of color film?

Unfortunately, color film is not yet permanent. Notice how much the early color photographs have already faded. Some refer to us as "the invisible generation." Photographs of earlier generations are much more stable because they were made on black and white film.

Question: What is a "cooper?"

Seen in old census records, the term "cooper" means barrel maker .

Question: Why can't I find my ancestor's town when I look at today's maps of his county?

There are two possible correct answers. (1) The town may no longer exist, or (2) your ancestor's county may have been sub-divided into more than one county .

Question: When 2 siblings marry 2 siblings, the offspring of those 2 marriages are double-first cousins. Are double-first cousins as related as siblings?

No -- not unless the 2 sets of siblings are identical twins.

Question: Why are Native American records sometimes difficult to find?

Because many Native American tribes had a cultural tradition of oral records , instead of written records.

Question: What do the letters "G.A.R." mean on a grave stone?

G.A.R. means Grand Army of the Republic , which was a fraternal organization of veterans of the Union Army during the U. S. Civil War. The G.A.R. was active from 1866 to about 1920. Members had to prove that they had served in the Union federal military during the Civil War.

Question: Then what do these letters mean: "D.A.R." and "S.A.R." ?

D.A.R. stands for " Daughters of the American Revolution ," and S.A.R. stands for " Sons of the American Revolution ." These are people who can document that they descend directly from an American Revolutionary War Soldier.

Question: What is the problem with looking for my family's coat of arms?

Coat of Arms were usually given to individuals , not to families.

Question: What is patronymics?

Patronymics is the custom of assigning last names based on the first name of the person's father . For example, if Donald Albertson has a son named Jake, Jake's full name would be Jake Donaldson.

Question: What is a pedigree?

A pedigree chart shows a person's direct ancestry , such as parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. The pedigree chart does not include other relatives, such as siblings, cousins, uncles or aunts.

Question: What is the difference between a primary source and a secondary source of genealogical information?

Primary and Secondary sources differ by time . A primary source was created at the time of a genealogical event, whereas a secondary source documents an event later on. So, a birth certificate would be a primary source to document a birthdate, but an obituary giving a birthdate of the deceased would be a secondary source for birthdate -- because it's given after the fact.

Question: I saw the term "relict" in an old record. What is a relict?

A relict was an old term for widow , or, less frequently, widower .

Question: What is "bounty land?"

Bounty land is land offered to individuals by the government, in exchange for military service .

Question: A record said that my ancestor died "intestate." What does intestate mean?

Intestate refers to a person dying without having a will . Knowing this prevents you from wasting time looking for a will that doesn't exist.

Conversely, "testate" means that a person died with a valid will in place. In some old records, a man leaving a will is called a "testator," and a woman leaving a will is called a "testatrix."

Question: Why do we need to know where someone was buried?

Any of the following answers are true:

• The cemetery marker may provide information about names, birthdate, and deathdate. And, although the information is not always perfectly accurate, the information for cemetery markers was often provided by someone who personally knew the deceased.
  
  
• The cemetery marker may have images that give hints about the individual's or the family's values or beliefs, military service, or marital status.
  
  
• Nearby graves are sometimes the graves of the individual's relatives.
  
  
• Some cemeteries maintain records about people buried in the cemetery.
  
  
• The type of cemetery may provide clues about your ancestor. For example, is this a military cemetery, a church cemetery or a pauper's cemetery?

Question: What is an indentured servant?

An indentured servent is a person who is under an agreement to work for someone else for a certain period of time . For example, immigrants from Europe to America during the 1700's and 1800's sometimes paid for their ocean passage by agreeing to work for their sponsor for 7 years. Parents also indentured their children so that the children would learn marketable work skills.

Question: My great-great-great-grandfather's cemetery marker says, "consort of Margaret." What is a consort?

A consort is a husband, wife or partner .

Question: What is the difference between a holographic will and a nuncupative will?

A holographic (or olographic) will is handwritten and signed by the person leaving a will , while a nuncupative will is spoken by a terminally ill person in front of witnesses who later write down the terms of the will.

Question: How can I prepare a scrap book to display my family's photographs, documents and newspaper clippings without damaging them?

The most important thing you can do to preserve the photographs, documents and newspaper clippings that you want to put into a display scrapbook is to use acid-free materials , such as archival-quality acid-free plastic sleeves in which to insert these treasures.

Other precautions would include minimize how much these materials are exposed to light and make black and white photograph copies of the items (using black and white film and processing) , just to be safe.

Question: What is a Daguerretype photograph?

Daguerretype photographs, similar to tintype photographs, are made with silver over copper , and were used as early as the mid-1800's.

Question: When interviewing an older relative to make an oral history, what should I document besides the person's stories?

Besides the stories, you should document source information, such as who you are interviewing, who you are, your relationship to the person, the date of the interview, the location of the interview .

Question: I saw a double date in an old document that read "13 March 1584/5." Does this mean that we know the date was March 13, but we are sure whether the year was 1584 or 1585?

No. The double date in the old document (e.g. "13 March 1584/5") reflects the change from the Julian calendar to today's Gregorian calendar, and the fact that not all cultures switched to the new calendar at the same time. Pope Gregory XIII ordered the change in 1582, but the change was not made by England and the American Colonies until 1752. Predominently Catholic countries made the change much sooner.

Question: What does bundling of an engaged couple mean?

In early New England, bundling refers to engaged couples often sleeping fully-clothed in the same bed.

Question: What is the difference between ancestors and collateral relatives?

Ancestors are people from whom you descend in a direct line, such as parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. collateral relatives are other relatives , from whom you do not directly descend, such as uncles, great-aunts, third cousins, etc.

Question: What does consanguinity mean?

Blood (or, genetic) relationship.

Question: One of my ancestors died of consumption. Does that mean she was alcoholic?

No. consumption refers to Tuberculosis. (Similarly, Galloping Consumption refers specifically to Pulmonary Tuberculosis).

Question: One of my ancestors died of horrors. Does that mean he had paranoia?

Oops! You have an alcoholic ancestor, after all! Horrors refers to delirium tremens.

Question: Oh, my word! I just read that one of my ancestors died of corruption. Does that mean he was immoral?

No. corruption in old records can refer to infection.

Question: How long is a fortnight?

A fortnight is 2 weeks or 14 days .

Question: An old record showed that a person died of french pox That sounds exotic. Is it?

No. French pox (or, great pox, or, pox) was a term meaning syphilis .

Question: Is Hibernia in the old Soviet Union?

No. Hibernia referred to Ireland .

Question: What is heraldry?

Heraldry is a system of making and awarding armoral insignia, such as coats of arms .

Question: Has the title, "Mrs.," always meant married woman?

No. Mrs. referred to an aristocratic woman , whether or not she was married.

Question: Who were the Palatinates who immigrated to America in large numbers?

The Palatinates were people from an area that is now part of western Germany, west of the Rhine River . This area is also called Rhineland Palatinate.

Question: When immigrants arrived in America, they sometimes had to give an "Oath of Abjuration." What's that?

An Oath of Abjuration is a sworn statement that renounces any and all former allegiances , such as to a European King.

Question: In inheritances, what is the difference between primogeniture and per stirpes?

Primogeniture meant the right of the first born son (or, sometimes daughter) to inherit the entire estate of the parents , while per stirpes is a plan wherein all of the parents' children act as a group in claiming the parents' estate .

Question: Who were the Tories during the American Revolution?

A Tory was an American colonist who was loyal to England during the Revolutionary War .

Question: What is a Gedcom file?

A gedcom file is a computer file containing a genealogy database, set up so that it can be transferred (on disk or on Internet) between genealogists, even if they don't have the same software program .

Question: What does "D.S.P." mean on a death record?

D.S.P. means died sine prole (died without offspring) .

Question: In genealogy, what is a clan?

Clan usually refers to a group of people with a common ancestor from the Scottish Highlands .

Question: In an estate, what is a codicil?

A codicil is an addendum to a will, which doesn't cancel the will .

Question: Has "in-law" always referred to the relatives of ones' spouse?

No. In colonial America, in-law could refer either to the relatives of one's spouse , or to step relationships. For example, one's father-in-law could either be the father of one's spouse, or one's step-father. (This actually makes logical sense. We refer to the new husband of our sister as "brother-in-law," so it would be following the same rule to call the new husband of one's mother, "father-in-law." But, times change, and today your mother's new husband is "step father" -- unless he adopts you, in which case he is "father.")

Question: What does "archive" mean in genealogy?

Archive refers to the storage of old records , but in genealogy, it usually also implies the safe (preserving) storage of old records, documents, and photographs.

Question: What is the oldest genealogical society in the United States?

New England Historic Genealogy Society

Question: What kinds of records do churches have that would interest a genealogist?

The Society of Friends (Quakers) kept meeting records.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) maintains the International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.), the world's largest genealogy database, with over 250 million names.

Many churches kept records of baptisms, christenings, confirmations, marriages, and deaths.

Question: What are vital records?

Vital records are birth, marriage and death records .

Question: If an ancestor was sent to the Philippines by the Military in 1900, in what War was the ancestor engaged?

The Spanish American War .

Question: What is the term used to describe highly-improbable success that seems to fall into the lap of the genealogist, such as easily finding people, places or facts that should not have been easy to find?

This phenomonon reported by many genealogists is called Serendipity .

Question: What are the pros and cons of hiring a professional genealogical researcher to find information for your family history?

An advantage is that someone already in the vicinity of the information you seek, may find it at a fraction of the cost for your to go to that location and professionals may have skills and experience to find the information more quickly . But, you are at the mercy of the researcher, who probably charges by the hour, to be efficient and honest with you about the time necessary to find your information and, to be adequately cautious and accurate in written documentation . .

Question: Why do genealogists seek middle names of long-gone people?

Any of the following answers are true:

Middle names are another piece of information about a person .

Middle names may help sort individuals when you find multiple people with the same first and last names, in the same place, in the same time era. . (This is especially likely because of the tradition in many places of naming babies after another family member.) .

Many people have used their middle names as first names, for a variety of reasons, even in such documents as census records, marriage records and cemetery markers .

In some groups of people, middle names gave clues about relationships -- such as using the mother's "maiden name" as a middle name for a son .

Question: Are nick names important, too?

For the same reasons genealogists are interested in middle names, you'll want to record any nick names that you learn for a given ancestor -- Your ancestors, Robert and Margaret, using their pet names on their wedding day, didn't realize we'd be searching for their data when they casually told the Justice of the Peace that their names were "Bub and Lambie." .

Question: Why do genealogists look for a person under a variety of spellings for the surname?

Any of the following are true:

Surname spelling may have been determined by the person recording arrivals at a ship port, even though the recorder didn't speak the language of the immigrant, resulting in a variety of spellings of surnames in records within the same family .

Ancestors who were mobile (pioneers, explorers, immigrants, fugitives, etc.) may have had limited or no formal education, and may not have known how other relatives spelled the surname .

Public officials (recording births, marriages, deaths, census, etc.) may have recorded events based on spellings of the surname that they presumed were accurate .

Question: What information is essential for me to provide if I post a query in hopes that someone else can give me information about my ancestor?

Unless you include at least the ancestor's name , the location of a vital event (such as birth, marriage, death, military enrollment, or burial), and the date of an event (or, at least an approximate date), there will be little chance of being sure that you and the other person are talking about the same ancestor.

Also, if you don't include a way for you to be contacted , how will you get the information that someone wants to send you?

Question: If I get a perfect score on this quiz, what will I get?

Send me an E-Mail telling me that you got a perfect (or high) score, and I will lavishly bathe you with praise and deeply-felt adoration in my response to you.