Familiar Record Practices: Problems and Terminology: Handwriting.

Perhaps you wonder why handwriting is discussed in an American research text. Most American records are recent enough that the handwriting is not too different from your own. Or is it?

Actually there are enough serious problems, especially in the colonial period, that a brief discussion should prove useful.

Handwriting is always a problem. Even in our own time some of us write so that others of us cannot read it except with great difficulty. (Sometimes we can't even read our own handwriting after it gets cold.) But if your ancestors were in America in the 1600s, and even the 1700s, you will find enough carry-over of Middle English in the records that a study of the simpler Middle English alphabets would prove beneficial.

Many records in early America were not written in English at all but in various European languages; however, that is another problem and I will not deal with it here. Your best action when you meet that situation is to seek the help of an expert.

Sometimes when we examine records from past generations we conclude that the most important qualification for a keeper of public records was that he was able to write so that no one else could read it.

However, there is some early handwriting which is carefully written and very readable. In fact, most of the earlier scripts can be read (often quite easily) when we are aware of a few common record practices.

A. Abbreviations

One of the most commonly confused and unappreciated practices in earlier American documents is the practice of abbreviating—a carry-over from the practice of abbreviating in Latin (the official formal record language of early England).

England passed an act in 1733 forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers, but some Latin and the extensive use of abbreviations persisted after that time.

Many writers also used abbreviations just to shorten the amount of writing they had to do; the quill pen was not an instrument of great writing pleasure.

Most abbreviations are recognizable if you are aware that the writer was using them and you are watching for them. There were very few of what might be called "standard" abbreviations, and most words were abbreviated several ways. However, the following are typical:

•  according - accords

• account or accompt - acco1, ace
• administration - admin1011, admon., admon:

• administrator - admin1'

• administratrix - admin*
• aforesaid - afors'1, fors3, afors:, afsd.

• and-&

• and so forth - &c, etc. (et cetera)

• captain - capt°, capt:

• church - chh

• daughter - dau, dau1'

• deceased - dec'1

• ditto - do, d°

• Esquire - Esq:, Esq1', Esq.

• executor - exec'", ex1', ex", exor:

• executrix - exec1, ex", ex11

• Gentleman - Genti", Gent:, Gent.

• honorable - hon1'1 e, hon:

  Let me point out a few important things from the above example.

  Most of the abbreviations are formed by merely shortening the word, sometimes even as we might abbreviate it today, but then putting the last letter (sometimes even two or three letters) of that word above the line.

  This is called superior letter abbreviation. Another form is that of termination— that is, merely cutting short the word to be abbreviated and putting a period or a colon (:) after it, or by drawing a line (——) through it like this: Tho (for Thomas). In very early periods often only the first letter of the word was used.

• improvement - improvem', improv1

• inventory- invent7, inv:

• Junior - Jun1', J^Jun:

• Messieurs - Messrs, Mess1'8

• namely - viz, viz:, viz* (videlicet)

• paid - p'1

• pair - p1'

• per - p--

• personal - person', p'son'

• probate - prob'

• probate register - p. regisf

• received - rec3, recv3

• receipt - rec1

• record – rec'1
• register - reg1', regisf

• said - s9

• Senior-Sen^S1', Sen:

• testament - testam1, testa:

• the - ye, y (This usage is a carry-over from the ancient Anglo-Saxon

• letter, thorn, which looked similar to a V and had a TH

• sound. Other words beginning with the same sound were

• also thus written: y6", y"6, y15, y"1, etc.)

Most of the abbreviations are formed by merely shortening the word, sometimes even as we might abbreviate it today, but then putting the last letter (sometimes even two or three letters) of that word above the line.

This is called superior letter abbreviation.

Another form is that of termination— that is, merely cutting short the word to be abbreviated and putting a period or a colon (:) after it, or by drawing a line (——) through it like this: Tho (for Thomas). In very early periods often only the first letter of the word was used.

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