Daily AncestorPosthumous child
A posthumous child was born after the father's death; the law treated such a child as already born when the father died.
A posthumous son or daughter was born after the father died. Webster's 1828 dictionary also lists a child taken from the dead body of the mother.
In inheritance law such a child was treated as if born at the father's death, so a posthumous child could share in an estate with the other children. So a guardianship or estate record may name a posthumous child as an heir alongside older brothers and sisters.
As seen in a recordGuardianship petition, 1840s
Lemuel Hargrove, a posthumous child, born Apr. 2, three months after his father's death
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Posthumous child." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/relationships/posthumous-child. Last checked 2026-10-12.