Do not be surprised if you see an official document or court record dated New Year’s Day, July Fourth, or Christmas. Those days were not always holidays in the United States. A court record dated 4 July 1842 may have the correct date after all–don’t assume the clerk made an error.
And always transcribe a document the way it is written, even if you think something on the original document is incorrect.
2 Responses
I have been looking through deed records lately and have seen some July 4th dates in the early 1800’s. I thought it was odd. I had never thought about when we started celebrating that day as a holiday.
I’ve seen January 1 dates in old deed records.