Ancestral signatures can be helpful in comparing two people of the same name or just to have something a little more personal from a relative. Packets of court papers (either for estate settlements or other types of court action) may contain actual documents signed by a relative. Signed receipts for money received from an estate are one good place to get a signature of your relative. The illustration comes from disbursements made in a partition suit in Illinois in 1907.

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  1. It’s also nice to know that our ancestors could read and write! I’m a collector of ancestor signatures. My most treasured document is that of the original deed, with signatures, when my G-grandmother’s many siblings sold her land after the death of their father in 1889.

    • I’ve actually been surprised how many of mine could apparently read and write. I’m still working on translating letters my uncle wrote from Germany in the 1870s.

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