A Note on Dates and Abbreviations
Dates
Genealogical dates can be confusing!
The Julian Calendar: Early colonists used the Julian calendar, which was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. The Julian calendar had a slight problem, which was that a small inaccuracy in it caused the calendar to "drift" over centuries and literally lose days. By 1582 CE, the Julian calendar had drifted 10 days relative to the seasons, which was shifting Easter off its "seasonally appropriate" date. The Catholic Church became concerned and decided to fix the calendar.
The Gregorian Calendar: Pope Gregorius XIII introduced a calendar reform in 1582 CE and so the new calendar is named after him. To correct for the lost 10 days, the Church declared that Thursday, October 4, 1582 would be followed by Friday, October 15, 1582. Voila, fixed! This is the Gregorian calendar that we use today.
So why were New England colonists still using the Julian calendar?
Because England was a Protestant country and had no interest in adopting a Catholic calendar improvement. Great Britain and her colonies used the Julian calendar until 1751. Talk about stubborn…
Why does this matter?
It matters because historical and genealogical accuracy is important. BUT there is a glitch. Over time, historians, genealogists, and writers, even though striving for accuracy misread, misunderstood, and/or misstated dates. People also mixed and matched the calendars, improperly using say, April 1, 1620 (Julian) interchangeably with April 1, 1620 (Gregorian) when they should be ten days off. That makes striving for accuracy today even more difficult.
What's the solution for a genealogist?
Striving for accuracy is important. That said, and with apologies to historians everywhere, my writing likely has dating mistakes. Whenever possible, I try to recognize that the source of my information may have been using a different calendar, and I try to correct for that. I also want to engage my readers and having a lot of date technicality seems like a sure turn-off if I'm not writing for academics. So, I try to balance accuracy with accessibility.
More Info:
If you'd like more information on the topic, check out this blog post by Tamura Jones: https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2020/07/mayflower-myths-2020/
Glitch Number Two:
As if fixing drift weren't enough of a headache, the Gregorian calendar also started on January 1st. Yet again, England figured that if the Catholic Church was for it, England would stand firm against it. The English continued to use March 25th as the first day of the new year. March was called the first month. In dating events, anything occurring before March 25th had a double year. So, any date between January 1st and March 25th would say, for example, 1 January 1647/8 and 24 March 1647/48. Only on March 25th would you write 25 March 1648.
But it gets worse! Sometimes people would date something as "the 5th day of the 11th month". This meant February 5, 1647.
Our historical records are filled with wonky dates such as these.
How does this affect our family history?
A perfect example concerns the death dates of John Dwight and his second wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth threw herself down a well, committing the unforgiveable sin of suicide. This had contemporary New England in a tizzy, and it presents a peculiar conundrum for us because it's hard to tell if she did this before or after John died. The difference is stark. If she did it after he died, well, we can imagine she was a distraught widow and feel sympathy toward her. If she did it before, we're left with the question of "why" to which there are no easy answers. Complicating things, John's will treated her a wee bit harshly. Hmmm, happy marriage? Methinks not!
Abbreviations
Commonly used genealogical abbreviations:
~ about
b. born
bp. baptized
bro. brother
bur. buried
c. circa
d. died
dau. daughter
fa. father
m. married
mo. Mother
NFR no further record
rem. removed (moved to)
sis. Sister
unk. unknown
unm. Unmarried
Colony abbreviations:
CC Connecticut Colony
MD Maryland Colony
L.I. Long Island (disputed between the Dutch and the English colonies)
MBC Massachusetts Bay Colony
NHC New Haven Colony
NJC New Jersey Colony
NY New York Colony
Penn. Col. Pennsylvania Colony
PC Plymouth Colony
RI Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
VC Virginia Colony
WC Wessagusett Colony