Has anyone searched for the first or earliest usage of the term? Where was it and in what context?

I regularly search though 18th and 19th century government records and have never encountered the term. I work primarily with military and court records.

I only began to hear of the term, or see it written by 20th century people, mentioning it in reference to oral traditions about their ancestry. I've not found to date, a court clerk or government official using that term. So if anyone has found it in a court record or newspaper or document of that type, I would love to see at least one example.