At 12:00 AM 10/18/02 -0400, you wrote: >Could a child around 1800 be referred still be referred to as an "orphan" of >a named individual, if that individual was a court appointed guardian, >because both of the child's natural parents were deceased? I don't know, but I will offer that I have a case around then that describes a child as an "orphan" because "his father has run away". So I wonder if orphan meant something slightly different then - like "child in need of protection or guardianship". So in your case "orphan of X" might have meant "the orphan for whom X was responsible for". All speculation, of course. --Holly To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html