[Ads-l] "Half brother" in the 19-century U.S.

[Stephen Goranson]

One book to consult, available at hathitrust.org, might be
Systems of consanguinity and affinity of the human family /
By Lewis H. Morgan
Main AuthorMorgan, Lewis Henry, 1818-1881.
<https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?lookfor=%22Morgan%2C+Lewis+Henry+1818-1881.%22&type=author&inst=>
Language(s)English
Published[Washington] : [Smithsonian institution], [1870] [google books has
1871]
NoteSmithsonian institution publication 218.
Physical Descriptionxii, 590 p. xiv pl. ; 32 1/2 cm.


Stephen Goranson

On Sun, Feb 22, 2026 at 4:39 PM Michael Eldridge <me2 at humboldt.edu> wrote:

> Hello ADS Folk:
>
> I'm not a linguist by training, so a linguist colleague has helped me frame
> the following query.
>
> I’m looking for attested nineteenth-century U.S. colloquial usage of "half
> brother." Specifically: are there examples where “half brother” clearly
> refers to what we’d now call a stepbrother (adopted sibling/no shared
> biological parent), or is “half brother,” when specified, consistently
> reserved for “one shared parent”? I’d love citations
> (newspapers/letters/books), especially contrastive phrasings (half brother
> vs step-brother) and any evidence of change across 1800–1900.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Michael Eldridge
> Professor Emeritus, English <https://www.humboldt.edu/english/> and
> International
> Studies
> Founders Hall 168
> Cal Poly Humboldt
> Arcata CA 95521
> 707.826.5906 (ph) | 707.826.5939 (fx)
> _____________________________
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