Useful Terminology beginning with the letter D

Daughter-in-Law – Wife of one’s son.
Death Certificate – Documentation of one’s death.
Deceased – Dead.
Decedent – A deceased person.
Declaration of Intention – First paper, sworn to and filed in court, by an alien stating that he wants to be come a citizen.
Deed – A document by which title and ownership in real property is transferred from one party to another.
Deposition – A testifying or testimony taken down in writing under oath of affirmation in reply to interrogatories, before a competent officer to replace to oral testimony of a witness.
Descendant – A person who descends from another given person.
Descendant Chart – Report or chart that shows a person and all of their descendants in a graphical format. As opposed to the Modified Register which is more of a narrative report.
Devise – To give property in a will.
Devisee – One to whom property is devised in a will.
Devisor – One who devises property in a will.
Dissenter – One who did not belong to the established church, (particularly the Church of England).
District Land Office Plat Book – Books or rather maps which show the location of the land patentee.
District Land Office Tract Book – Books which list individual entries by range and township.
Double Dating – A system of double dating used in England and America from 1582-1752 because it was not clear as to whether the year commenced January 1 or March 25
Dower – Legal right or share which a wife acquired by marriage in the real estate of her husband, allotted to her after his death for her lifetime (laws regulating dower rights are dependant upon the year and place: under common law it was 1/3).