Thanks to John and everyone else who replied. Now knowing that the reference to "friend" in my ancestor's Will does not mean that they were NOT cousins is a big help. Bruce At 12:20 PM 8/21/2008, you wrote: >"Bruce L. Nicholson" <brucen@maine.edu> wrote: > > Now, I gather from this discussion that my William Nicholson's > "friend" James Nicholson indeed could have been his "cousin" James > Nicholson. Is this a correct interpretation of this current > discussion of the use of the term "friend" in colonial times? > >Bruce, and other friends, Romans and countrymen (or, as one of our >incipient Presidential candidates says in about every other >sentence, "My friends"): I can only repeat that "friend" is a very >busy word, into which anyone can be stuffed, as needed. So the >answer to your question is "He could have been a cousin, yes. But >definitely? You need more data." > >As far as the Quaker possibility goes in the original inquiry, not >at all likely. The general sense from all records is that when the >term Friend, meaning Quaker, shows up, there's usually immediate >contextual evidence to validate it. > >I can add here, not to introduce new confusions, that the word >"cousin" actually once served a similar sort of general purpose, >beyond kinship. As the OED says, one of its meanings was "as a >friendly or familiar term of address or designation". It also >served legally once upon a time as equivalent to "next of kin", when >applied to anyone more distantly related than parents or children. > >The more one knows, the less certain anything gets. > >John >*************************************** >QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? >Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: >http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word >'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Bruce L. Nicholson Professor Emeritus Departmentof Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Universityof Maine Orono, Maine Retired and living in Gold Canyon, Arizona