Daily AncestorOrphan
Orphan in older records often meant a child whose father had died, even if the mother was still living.
Today orphan usually means a child with no living parents. The Shorter Oxford definition covers a child deprived of father or mother, and in some American courts the death of the father was what counted.
Orphans' courts were named on the idea that children of a dead landowner father were orphans. A court appointing a guardian for orphans may still list their living mother in the same record.
As seen in a recordCounty court minutes, 1800s
Ordered that Sarah Lee be appointed guardian to the orphans of Thos. Lee decd., viz. Wm., aged 12, and Ann, aged 9, she giving bond.
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Orphan." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/relationships/orphan. Last checked 2026-10-01.