Hi Paul, Marla, et al, I have an early example from Maryland of "son-in-law" being used for a step-child. In 1690, John Boreing of the Patapsco Neck in eastern Baltimore County died leaving a widow, Anne, and four minor children: a daughter and three sons. Shortly thereafter Anne married their neighbor, John Ferry. Captain Ferry died in 1698 and in his will he directed his friend Charles Merryman to oversee the upbringing of his "sons-in-law John, James, and Thomas Boreing." I found this item while working on an archaeological report I researched and wrote a decade ago but I recall it quite vividly since it was the first time I had ever run across the usage. It is found in Baltimore County, MD Will Book 1; I don't recall the page number, but I can probably track it down if anyone is desperate for the citation :-) Kathy
Thank you, Paul and Kathy! I appreciate your comments, and will look for the relationship in question in a broader sense, as you point out. Marla On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 21:16:32 -0500 "Westview" <westview@brookneal.net> wrote: > Hi Paul, Marla, et al, > > I have an early example from Maryland of "son-in-law" being used for a > step-child. In 1690, John Boreing of the Patapsco Neck in eastern Baltimore > County died leaving a widow, Anne, and four minor children: a daughter and > three sons. Shortly thereafter Anne married their neighbor, John Ferry. > Captain Ferry died in 1698 and in his will he directed his friend Charles > Merryman to oversee the upbringing of his "sons-in-law John, James, and > Thomas Boreing." > > I found this item while working on an archaeological report I researched and > wrote a decade ago but I recall it quite vividly since it was the first time > I had ever run across the usage. It is found in Baltimore County, MD Will > Book 1; I don't recall the page number, but I can probably track it down if > anyone is desperate for the citation :-) > > Kathy > > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives Digital Maps Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/maps/ > > ============================== > Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more. > Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more: >http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx >