Thursday, November 10, 2011

Genealogy Term: Daughter's Out


Daughtering Out
Q: I was reading an article and the author mentioned that a line "daughtered out." What does this term mean? -- Louise
A: When a line has only daughters, the line "daughter's out." This does not mean that you cannot claim descent. You descend just as directly from a daughter as you do from a son. The big difference when you descend from a daughter is that usually the surname will change.
When a daughter marries she generally takes the surname of her spouse. What this means is that those that descend from her no longer have the surname of the famous individual. And if she had only daughters, then there would be yet another surname thrown into the picture.
For instance, General William Tecumseh SHERMAN was born 8 Feb 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio. Depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon line you might be on, you may consider him a famous ancestor or a skeleton in your closet if you are basing it on his performance during the American Civil War. However, you cannot have the SHERMAN surname and be directly descended from him. While he had four sons, none of them had offspring. Two of his sons, William and Charles both died young. His son Tom became a Catholic priest. Other son Philemon never married and had apparently no issue. His descent is one of those that daughter's out.

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