Posts in October 9, 2024

A 1914 petition in an Illinois court case appears to have been signed by the three complainants in the case and their solicitor. The four signatures look similar. It’s because they likely were written by the same person (probably the attorney). The “By” in front of the solicitor’s signature suggests that it was signed by him for them. The signature for Heipke Dirks on the 1914 petition does not appear to match her known signature from an April 1913 document in her husband’s probate file. I’ll need to see if I can find signatures of the other two and make comparisons as well. What you think is your ancestor’s signature may not be. Think about the record, its creation, and other contextual clues in determining whether you’ve got […]