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Hi Beth,
Most "how to" Genealogy books should have a section on the calendar changes. In simplest terms, what you will run into most is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian Calendar. In Britain and in most of her colonies the change took place in 1752.
In the Julian calendar which was used by most of the countries in which the Christian Church (Catholic) held dominance used what is termed an ecclesiastical calendar which dates back to around 325 A.D. in which the year began on March 25th. If you do some math you'll notice that this is 9 months before Christmas and thus celebrates the day when it is believe that the Angel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mary and told her she would be the mother of the Messiah.
Some of the countries other than Britain had already made the calendar switch long before Britain got around to it, with some making the change in the late 1500's.
Because of more than one calendar being in use, in the years prior to the British making the switch officially, you will often see what is commonly termed "Double-dating." For example, you may see the date, "Feb. 20, 1741/42," which in the Julian Calendar would have been Feb. 20, 1741, but in the Gregorian Calendar, the one we used today, the date would be Feb. 20, 1742. As more and more of the world began using the Gregorian Calendar, it became common to see the dates written as "double-dating." Note, you will also see some dates incorrectly written as a "double-date." For example, "May 25, 1745/6" would be incorrect usage as the double-dating should apply only to dates between and including the dates of January 1st to March 24th. For most of the other dates, the year would be the same in either calendar. (Note, at various times there have been "corrections" made to the calendars too, such as adding "leap year.")
Also, you may see double-dating after 1752 as well, but that was probably just folks who had gotten into the habit of using double-dating and continued to do so after it was no longer needed.
If you know a little Latin, you may have noted that the months of September, October, November, and December seem to be rather strangely named since September is Latin for the "7thmonth," October is Latin for the "8th month," November is Latin for the "9th Month" and December is Latin for the "10th month." In the Julian Calendar they were, respectively, the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months, hence the names. <grin>
Also, before 1752 you will need to keep in mind the calendar change when you see the date written something like 7ber or 8ber and you'll need to remember that this does not mean July and August, but September and October.
Also, it should be noted that the Quakers never did accept the ecclesiastical calendar and always began their year on January 1st. Otherwise, they used all the same days and dates as the Julian Calendar, i.e., they had the same names for the months, but they consider January the first month instead of the 11th month. Also, the Dutch Colony in New Netherlands never used the Julian Calendar either, but I'm getting in over my head here <grin>
The main thing that most of us, at least in the area of BRITISH CONTROL in Colonial America - the 13 Original Colonies, need to know, is the year 1752.
You would probably be well advised to check out a better authority than me as there are some exceptions to the rules too. Again, any good basic book on genealogy should tell you what you need to know and I'm sure there are some good sites on the Internet as well.
Jay
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