While analyzing a document to determine if I had the right person, the comparison of signatures became a crucial part of my analysis. I had several copies of the person’s signature from other documents I had located on him.
As I worked on my analysis, I remembered that I had seen his signature somewhere else. Fortunately I also remembered where that signature was at: as a witness on an affidavit his cousin made in her 1880-era homestead application. Now to decide if it’s worth the time to include signature references in “file” on an ancestor so I can find them easily if needed. Signatures on their own records are easy to find. It’s when they appear in the records of others that they can be overlooked.
3 Responses
so many of them just made an “X”
I am reading this with one arm in a cast. Remember our ancestors sometimes suffered injuries to hands, wrists or fingers and in old age may have had arthritis and stiff joints too. I am right handed, but have had my right wrist, the thumb and two fingers on that hand broken and used my left hand periodically< not pretty and barely legible. Have you tried writing with the old fashioned dip pen? Some points/nibs take more practice or skill to use successfully. And consider the kind of paper being written on. There may be valid reasons that signatures will not match overtime.
Good points, but even with these issues the general “flow” of the signature should be the same even if one signature is more labored than another for one reason than another. And one’s judgement of whether signatures are “matching signatures” or not would be impacted if one signature clearly was written with a less steady hand. If two signatures are both written in a flowing manner significant differences are likely due to different people being involved.