Many census records used by American genealogists are actually handwritten “cleaned up” copies of the census taker’s field notes. Those copies were the ones that were microfilmed and eventually digitized. There’s always the chance for error.
A copy of will in a will record is a handwritten copy of the will. It’s not the original will itself–even though a record copy is the legal equivalent.
A copy of a deed in a deed record book is usually a handwritten copy of the actual deed–if recorded before photoduplication was an option.
Is that entry for a relative in a marriage register the “original” or is it a transcribed copy of what was in the marriage record? The same thing applies to an entry in a death register. Was it transcribed from the actual death certificate?
Consistent handwriting from one record entry to another (particularly one that are in the same ink and appear to have been written at the same time) and signatures that look like the rest of the record are clues that what you are looking at was potentially transcribed from another document.
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