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"On Sunday, the eighth instant, there passed to his reward the soul......."?
This phrase came from the beginning of an obituary from the early 20th century, and I've seen many similar obituaries that mention the first instant, the fifth instant, and so on. What are they talking about when they say "instant"? Is it the date of death? I'm not sure where this question belongs, but I thought that genealogists may have some idea.
2 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Yes, when used as above, "instant" means "date" (not day, such as Sunday, but date, such as 1 - 31)
Instant was still being used when I was young...
Source(s): life; genealogical research - Anonymous1 decade ago
It means "of this month", so if he passed on to his reward on the 8th instanst, and the obit appeared in the paper on the 12th of August, 1888, he died 8/8/88.