Sometimes it is easy to see when something is missing. Other times there may be no obvious clue that information has been from a genealogical record or document. Atypical entries in handwritten records are particularly easy to overlook, especially for the untrained eye. When viewing a handwritten record in a series of entries in a record book, look at others to make certain that there’s nothing missing in the one in which you are interested. Does the record of interest appear similar to others in the same series? What’s missing in a record is not always as obvious as it is in this picture. Check out the Genealogy Tip of the Daybook.
Knowing what you are looking at is key to any level of genealogical analysis. Making the most out of any record and not becoming confused depends on understanding the material in front of you. That’s why this is not the signature of John and Milly Sledd. It’s the clerk’s transcription of their signature because this deed book contains word-for-word transcriptions of deeds that were brought to the county office for recording. The purchaser of the property kept the original deed. That is the record that had the actual signatures on it. That was the original signed document. John and Milly’s signatures may have looked nothing at all like what is pictured in the deed record book. John and Milly signed the original deed, but their hands did not […]
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