Since one rarely finds reference to these except for notations in wills 
that a child has already received his/her share or in family letters or 
papers, the body of evidence is limited. However, it has been my 
experience, during the colonial period at least, that settlements on 
children at marriage essentially consisted of financial assets---real 
property, slaves, livestock, or actual money provided to the couple by 
both parents. In most families, especially those of moderate means, such 
a settlement was usually charged against the child's inheritance. A 
dowry usually consisted of household (a bed and its furniture or other 
items) and personal goods that a female brought with her to the marriage.

Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS
PO Box 1273
Orange, VA 22960

540-832-3473
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CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used
under license by board-certified genealogists after periodic evaluation; the board name is
registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.

On 12/21/2014 9:33 PM, Martha Katz-Hyman wrote:
> I'm coming to the list with a question from a museum colleague that I hope
> one or more of the list members can answer (he is not a member of this
> list). I will forward the answers to him.
>
> His question is :
>
> "Is anyone familiar enough with mid 18th C laws and/or marital customs in
> England or in the British colonies of North America to know if there was
> a significant and consistent distinction, legally or colloquially,
> between what a bride might have received from her family as a "dowry" or
> as a "marriage settlement?" I find the two terms appearing almost
> interchangeably in period documents, but I sense that a dowry might more
> often have involved physical property rather than financial assets, and
> that the opposite may have been the case with marriage settlements.
>
> "Any clarification would be welcome."
>
> Thank you.
>
> Martha Katz-Hyman
> Curator
> Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
> Williamsburg, VA
>
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