abstract: a summary of the most important information from a deed or will. Sometimes you may use abstracts instead of original documents when you do your research. You may also create them yourself from original documents.

ancestor: one from whom a person is descended

ancestry: a line of people from whom one is descended. You are descended from your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so forth.

deceased: dead; a dead person

deed: a record of the legal transfer of real property (land or building) from one person to another

document: an official certificate relied on as proof of something. A birth, marriage, or death certificate is a document. To document is to provide official sources from which information has been taken.

emigrant: one who leaves a country to live in another

estate: the property and debt belonging to a person that is left at death

family group sheet: a record listing the father, mother, and children of a family

generation: individuals making up a step in the line of descent from an ancestor. In a five-generation pedigree chart, you and your siblings would appear as first generation, your parents as second generation, your grandparents as third generation, your great-grandparents as fourth generation, and your great-great-grandparents as fifth generation.

immigrant: one who moves to a country to live permanently

maternal: related through one’s mother. Your maternal grandfather is your mother’s father.

namesake: a person named after another person

occupation: a person’s career or work

orphan: one who has lost one or both parents by death

paternal: related through one’s father. Your paternal grandfather is your father’s father.

pedigree chart: a chart listing an individual’s direct ancestors (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so forth). Does not include siblings or other family members.

probate record or will record: a legal record used to dispose of an individual’s property after his or her death

sibling: a brother or sister

spouse: a husband or wife

surname: last name

vital record: a record of birth, marriage, divorce, or death

will: a legal declaration of how a person wants his or her property disposed of after death