LESSON TWO
HANDWRITING

This Lesson will cover:

• Techniques for mastering early handwriting
• Common transcription errors
• Unique lettering of the 1600s and 1700s

You should have read Chapter 2 in the newest edition of Digging Deeper before continuing with this on-line lesson. Most of you will be working with 1700 to 1800 paleography, but some of you will go back into the 1600s, particularly in New England and the early colonies.

For those who are very serious about going into genealogy in a determined manner, I would suggest that you obtain Kay Kirkham’s The Handwriting of American Records for a Period of 300 Years. It is available on microfiche at local Family History Centers, fiche #6010036-6010037 which would be a cost of under $1.00. It is found in most libraries with a good genealogy collection. It is recommended as an excellent source for students to use with this lesson. It goes over each letter of the alphabet in just the manner as that letter was written between the sixteen and the eighteen hundreds.

Several other sources are suggested in the bibliography at the end of Chapter 2 if you find yourself dealing with a foreign language as well as an early time period.

Take courage! You CAN learn to read what seems like hopeless scribbles if you practice enough. Don�t limit yourself to just your ancestor�s deed in the deed book. Read many other deeds until you recognize the pattern of the scribe. Most records you will read will not be written by your ancestor anyway. They will be records of the court clerks who have made copies of the original records. Quill pens were not the most comfortable writing instruments, and men became tired of long tedious work days of transcribing documents. They came up with all kinds of abbreviations and other ways to ease their tasks.

Remember to read once through the entire document. Skip what you cannot understand, and then go back over it again. You will be surprised how much you can now pick up. Also apply some of the other suggestions offered in Chapter 2. As you click on the links in this lesson to practice reading the documents, the images are expandable by using the enlarge function in your browser. To return to the lesson from the document pages click the "back" arrow option. Click here for the first document.

This lesson will provide several examples of the types of records you might encounter during various time periods in history. We will begin with examples of common transcription errors:

Click here for the first example.  This first document is an example of a jury list in the town history of a settlement in Connecticut in 1635. Did you notice the use of the colon when the scribe wanted to save time, such as Will: Gibbens for William Gibbens?

The third name down is Thomas Coleman. This is an example of the letter "e" being written like an "o" with a tiny loop at the top. Thomas is also abbreviated Tho: in this example. Do you notice other Thomas and William individuals?

The seventh name on the list is an example of how scribes indicated a capital "F" by writing one lower-case "f" after another. This name is Nathaniel Foot which was written Natha: ffoott.

The eighth name on the list is an example of the letter "d" which scrolls over the top. The name is John Maynerd.

The last name on the list also has an example of this letter "d" as well as a good comparison of the letter "e" and "o" in the name: will: Heydon.

Transcribe the other names and share your findings in the discussion area with other students in the class. Ask them why they differ with you, if they do. What do they see, or think they see, that you do not see? Click here for the document.

Here is another document containing one paragraph with some of the same unique letters as those in the name list. Read through the document and see if you can understand it. Notice the added vowels at the end of words, the super-scripted letter "t" at the end of the word indicating "ment," and the letter "d" almost laying on its left side. As mentioned in your textbook, scribes often drew a straight line over a word to indicate they had left letters out of a word. In the word "appearing" notice that the letter "r" looks like it has been written upside down. Now read through the document and write down your transcription. Notice how the abbreviations are left abbreviated, and words capitalized are capitalized in the transcription, even if they are not proper nouns. When you have read through it, see if your transcription matches what has been provided.