Last week when working on a presentation about resources for
school-attending ancestors, I discovered I had the signatures of a set of my
maternal great-grandparents. These were from the report card of my grandfather’s
sister, Beryl Johnston.
Home sources are likely to be the best place to locate
signatures of our ancestors. Many of the signatures we see in governmental
records are clerk-recorded signatures. To be sure, check the handwriting of the
signature against the other writing from the clerk. If it looks similar, likely
the clerk wrote it.
Chances for real signatures might be in probate case files
of loose papers, actual deeds (not those recorded in deed ledgers), passport
applications, and naturalization certificates. My marriage certificate has the
signatures of my husband and me, as well as his brother and my sister, who were
our witnesses.
It is wonderful to have the handwriting of my ancestors. It makes me feel connected to them.
My parents:
William J. Hork
Lea N. Hork
My maternal grandparents:
Tom J. Johnston
Pansy L. Johnston
My maternal great-grandparents:
Thomas N Johnston
Nell Johnston
My paternal grandparents:
Anne Hork
William C Hork
Thanks to Linda Stufflebean for giving me this idea. See her post: “Collecting Signatures of My Ancestors – A Start.”
#52 Ancestors-Week 28: Character--A Collection of Ancestor Signatures
This is my fifth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week on one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.
I got motivated by my own post and set up an ahnentafel. I'm back to the 5X greats and either crop a signature, crop their (X) or noted that a clerk copied the deed, but the ancestor signed. Now I want to document my earliest signature, which I am sure will be in Massachusetts in the 1600s.
ReplyDeleteThat's great!
DeleteYou and Linda are inspiring me to look for signatures! I know I have some, but how many?
ReplyDeleteGo for it. I would love to see them. I need to do the same for my husband's side.
DeleteJana Last inspired me to do this several years ago. I collected several, but have let it slip by the wayside. I need to see what others I have to add to my collection now. I created a landing page on my blog for the signatures. Thanks for the nudge.
ReplyDeleteI am using ancestor signatures in lieu of photos in Family Tree Maker in older instances when either photography was not yet invented or I do not have a photo of the subject. I'm also using them to help distinguish different people with the same name - got a bunch of those!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea!
Delete