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| SC, 1807One of two signatures for an individual with the exact same name Copyright 2013, Diane L Richard |
MS, 1824
Second of two signatures for an individual with the exact same name
Same person or not?
Copyright 2013, Diane L Richard
Given that some families loved to
use the same names generation to generation and across generations (e.g. it
seems that every cousin, uncle and great-uncle has the same name), how do we
tell them apart? Do recognize that even
for names that seem highly unique (e.g. Hezekiah Farrow) and/or where a middle
initial is used (e.g. Wm S McKoy), there can and often is more than one person
with that name. It wasn’t just the
Smiths and Jones who liked to use a common forename surname combination in
their family tree!
Sometimes we can
connect them definitively to wives and children through records or to land via
other records or to in-laws and associates through yet other documents and
sometimes we just cannot seem to make those linkages through documents.
What else can we
do? It might be time to look at their
signatures. Remember, that though many
documents were written by others, our ancestors did sign them. Sometimes that signature was a an “X,” sometimes
it was a “mark” and sometimes it was a “signature” (as we think of today, first
and last name). Be very, very careful to
determine whether you are looking at a copy of a document or an original
document (e.g. a will book versus an original will, a deed book versus an original
deed, court minutes versus loose court papers, etc). Otherwise, the signature that you “save” may
be that of the court clerk and not of your ancestor.
Know, for your area
and time period, which types of documents were typically “signed” by a
person. Some examples include:
- One’s will or as witness to the
will of another
- Administrator or executor of an
estate
- Bonds – estate-related,
marriage, court (e.g. appearance), etc
- Land grants (e.g. in NC,
Granville grants bear original signatures of the grantee)
- Original deeds
- Petitions
- etc
Collect as many
signatures as possible through time.
Remember, that our signatures don’t remain the same. And, as a person was dying, they may have
“signed” with a signature their whole life and just use an “X” on their will as
they are too enfeebled.
Sometimes, it can
be hard to tell – see the McCoy/McKoy signatures pictured above – the same or
different? My colleagues and I think
they are “different” though the differences except for the C/K change (most
people don’t change “how” they spell their name and can we guarantee they didn’t?)
are subtle – the curve of a letter, the use of tails or not, loops, and more
...
Read the following
for more about this topic:
- Kimberly Powell’s (About.com
Genealogy) post Signatures & Handwriting Analysis: Is it the Same Man?
- ReelTributes blog Ancestral Signatures in Genealogy
- FamilyTreeCircles post Comparing signatures to establish links – Abraham JACKA
Have you used signatures to separate out like-named
individuals?
What are other 19th and earlier century sources
for original signatures?
What resources on this topic have you found particularly
helpful?
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