This document is from Jean Church’s research.

Reading Records

Wilma Jean Reynolds

Handwriting is an individual skill and illegible handwriting is not the only difficulty of a researcher. There are many unfamiliar letter forms of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from today. A good reference book, for both letters and numbers is “The Handwriting of American Records for a period of 300 years” by E. Kay Kirkam.

One of the most often misread letters is y, which had a special usage. One of these other letters P, p with a tall back __, was called thorn, and represented the th sound, after it’s decline, scribes tended to use the letter y, which somewhat resembled the old symbol. Ye ___ was used and pronounced as yt for the word that, or thee, Ym __ for them. The context of the other word must be studied to determine what word the Yt, Ye where used for.

Another letter often use was handwriten f___, this represents the letter s. As in the name Jesse, written Jeffe___, and Jefse, and was used often in names with ss.

The strange letter or symbol is ___, this is the letter C, Sometime thought to be a T, can lead to disastrous results. One example last name Cooke would be read as Tooke or even Jooke.

Other letters are easily confused: i, j, y, u, v, a, o, e, L, T S, m, n. Numerals 1, 7, and 9.

Early letter forms included:
___ = c ___= h ___= M or M ___= T
___= d ___= I ___= r ___= u
___= ds ___= 1 ___= s ___= w

___= e ___= L ___= t ___= W

There are special classes you can take to study old style handwriting, and document reading. You may find a lot of information on the internet on this subject. With a little bit of knowledge and a handy reference book on hand, you can become able to read old style handwriting. It may help the use some modern day copying and enlarging or decreasing of the text to help you. Always use the context of the wording as a clue.

Spelling

Wilma Jean Reynolds

The concept of every word having a single correct spelling was not common until the public schools in the nineteenth century. It was for earlier spellers, their choice of spellings that were used. It was common for clerks and scribes to spell names many different ways in one document, just to show that they knew about many ways to spell a name. It was quite common to add an e or ee on the end of words or drop a double letter. Example wolfee, Beare, foxe of foxee, wee, pudding for pudding, patterns, for patterns. Substituting y for I, as in heyrs for hiers, vyne, vine.

Most clerks wrote down what they heard, and they may have heard a person of different nationality, with a heavy accent speaking, or trying to speak English. For example a German name of Bowlong became Bullen in Rowan Co. NC. Remember that most people did not read or write in early times, and did not know how to spell their names. Phonetic spelling was generally reflected the regional accents, of the population. Even when people were well educated in other languages, such as German or French, it was of little use to them in another language speaking society. Also, you have to take into consideration the speech patterns from different parts of a country.

Capitalization of words varied in old records. May words were capitalized without apparent reason. Proper names were often not capitalized. It is often hard to tell in letter such as c, are in capitol form.

The punctuation used was erratic, some documents or manuscripts managed to be produced without any punctuation, and some with punctuation marks between almost every word. The punctuation placement in legal documents could alter the meaning.

When copying and transcribing of old documents and record, remember to transcribe as it is. Do not make any changes. You may when study the document or record further, try to write out what you think it means, may help you to better understand what is being conveyed in the document or record, and you may have more than one version of this.

Patience and experience with working with old documents and records will help you gain the knowledge you need to be able to understand what is being stated within them, and to use this for genealogical research.

Abbreviations are another cause for a lot confusion in old handwriting. They were formed by omission of letters. This was common practice to save time and reduce the task of those having to compose a document, record, or manuscript. There were common abbreviations for names. Examples: Mr. for Mister; Jos. For Joseph; Thos. or Tho. for Thomas; Jona. For Jonathan; Joh. or Jon. for John; Wm. or William; just to name a few. You will become familiar with these as you see them in use in your Genealogical research. Other abbreviations used that you will need to know are: Exor. For executor; acco. or acct. for account; Anno Dom. Or A. D. for Anno Domini. Sd. or s__ for said; M__ for Mister; p__ for presence; w___ which; w___ with; pr. for part; Pson. For person; Pty for party.

The principal diacritical mark was the long accent, -. Placed above of a letter indicated doubling of the letter, example mary with – over the r, became marry. Second meaning co with – above the o, means to add an m or n, and it becomes com. or con. Third meaning it can represent ti or sh sound as in peticon with – over letter c means petition.

Symbols includes special marks as the ampersand written +, & or __ to represent and; &c meant etc. Some were actually derived from abbreviations, such as for monetary symbols __, s, and d. which are from Latin words Libra or pound, the English word shilling, Latin word denarius or penny. An alternate symbol of shilling was __.

People often developed marks and symbols for their own names. This could be as an X or as a sketch of a plowshare for a man named Plowshare, sketch of wolf for the name Wolf or Wolfe.

Clerks often made shortcuts commonly such as “Be it know, etc” for lengthy standard clauses. Ditto marks or the abbreviation do were frequently to avoid writing out repeating words or clauses.

One popular shortcut affecting records was the use of nicknames. Family records and oral history tend to refer to the individual by nicknames. Even the most important records may contain nicknames. Nicknames are formed by omitting letters, changing consonants, changing vowels and adding diminutive endings, or by combining these elements. Example William to Will or Bill, by vowel change James becomes Jim. Changing consonants John becomes Jack. See attached sheet for some common nicknames in the early days.

Language is constantly changing. Word and phrases of common use in the early history of our country are now no longer in use or their meanings have changed. Some obsolete words and terms you may encounter in your research you may need to know. This is a list of some:

• Mistress- can mean married or single woman
• Spinster- can mean married or single woman used interchangeably with mistress.
• Relicts- Widow
• Spouse-living married person
• Dafter- old form of word daughter

Cousin- could mean nephew, niece, grandchild, fellow church member, or soufather-in-law, and often step-father

Brother- could designate fellow church member club member, or a spouse’s brother.

• Cordwainer- cord winder working in leather or shoe making.
• Chirurgeon-surgeon
• Planter- farmer

Esquire- title of a Justice of the Peace government official, man of substance in the community

Obiit- died
Decessit sine prole- died without issue
Dec. deceased, dead
Et uxor or euxoris means wife
Imprimis- in first place
Aetatis suae- of his age
Requiescat in pace- rest in peace

Senior- meant the older person bearing the same name as a younger person, the people may not be related

Junior- younger person bearing the same name as an older person, the people may not be related

A good dictionary and Latin Dictionary are helpful.

Wills

Wills can be a treasure of genealogical information for you, or can tell you very little about the family of the person making the will. The earliest your ancestor’s father could have died is about nine months prior to the birth of your ancestor. An approximate date of the latest he could have died, subtract twenty years from your ancestors date of birth (DOB), to get an approximate date of birth of the father. Next add a life span of seventy years to father’s date of birth (DOB). This will at least put you into a bracket of time in which the father’s will may appear in the records. If you know ancestor lived to an old age of eighty or ninety, you may want to increase your estimate of his father’s life span.

Within each will look for any reference of religious affiliation or the absence of wording such as “in the Name of God” this clause in early wills, may indicate a Quaker ancestor. Look for any ages given in the will of the devisor (person making the will) and devisees (persons receiving from the will). Examples- “Old and Infirm, my minor children, Infants (under 21 years). Look for married names of daughters and sisters, often a will gives husbands full name. Look for phrases such as “all my sons, all my daughters, all my children.” Remember the information given in a will is of the date of the will, not at the death of the devisor.

When a man left his estate to his wife “for life or widowhood,” the estate was not settled until her remarriage or death. Therefore the children or other devisees did not come into possession of their full inheritance until years after the will was probated or proved.

Comparison of wills with all other data collected on the devisor and the devisees. There may have been other children born to devisor after his will was made. His wife may have changed, and she may have children by the devisor. You must compare wills that convey real estate with deeds, does the amounts of land devised agree with the amounts devisor owned at the time of death. Also, compare with tax records, look for increases and decreases in acreage taxed. Check locations of land.

Bequests to one or more children are money, in the amounts of same value of land bequests to other children, consider the possibility that those receiving money may have left the county or state.

Bequest of five shillings, one dollar or other trifling sums do not indicate that a child was cut off from an inheritance, unless it is so stated in the will. It is more than likely that the devisor feels he has already provided for that child by conveying land to them, or a dowry to a daughter at the time of her marriage.

Do not assume the plantation went to the oldest or youngest son. Examine all available data collected on the family to try and understand what may have been in the mind of the divisor.

Compare wills of father and his children and grandchildren to establish a chain of inheritance. Note the appearance of given names through the succeeding generations and compare with the names of your ancestor’s children. Remember it is possible that not all the people of a given surname, in the same local area are related. By comparing it may help in identifying your family members from the others with the same surname.

Compare wills with the estate records and check both records for the testator and his or her spouse. Children not named in will often appear in the devisor’s estate records, or those of his spouse. Estate records often give the names and residences of heirs, and other information not found in the will.

A few things you need to know about estate papers (bonds, inventories, bills, receipts, divisions) in reference to wills. All original estate papers prior to 1900 (and a few after that date) are in the NC State Archives. The majority are in boxes of county records, a few are in records of Dist. Superior Courts. These estate papers should be looked for even if no will is found.

When looking at Bonds be sure to record the name of the executor, administrator, guardian, and the type of bond. Date of bond is an approximate date of death, if the true DOD is not known. The amount of bond can indicate the size of estate of the deceased or orphan. Also, note the names of securities or bondsman. The term orphan means only the father of that minor child, is deceased. His mother might still be living. Infant means child under age of 21 (legal age). An orphan could choose his own guardian at the age of 14. Prior to that age a guardian might be appointed by the court, especially if the estate was of any size. If an orphan had little or no estate, they were apprenticed by the court to learn a useful trade.

Estate divisions record the date of the division and the authority under which it was made, names of heirs and settlements made to each heir. Acreage, locations, and descriptions of property, names or number of slaves, amounts of money, including a total amount of the value of the estate. Be sure to record the total that was divided, not the gross total. And the names and circumstances of anyone other than an heir, receiving a portion of the estate. Example heirs of an heir that was deceased, guardian of, attorney for, in right of, etc.

Inventories of estates indicate the value of estate, life style, occupation and information that often leads you to additional records for you to search for further information on your ancestor. Note anything such as books, Bibles, silver, furniture, or anything which might appear later in wills or other estate records.

Estate sales receipts may yield names of widow, children, son-in-laws, neighbors, business partner, to help further identify your family.

Widow Petition for Dower or for a year’s provisions, you should look for date and reason of her husband’s death, names of children and possible ages. Other important information may appear, state of health, location of residence.

Original estate records may contain numerous bits and scraps of paper, each should be given careful examination, the bits and scraps may be financial records of debts owed by and to the estate. Bills for court appearance of executor or administrator, bills for moving widow, furniture, slaves out of the state, receipts for casket, burial plots, giving location of grave, receipts for clothing, schooling, dancing lessons for minor children, which provide names and ages, travel expenses of heirs may give locations of their residence.

If a person died testate (leaving a will) check the estates records and compare them to the will for names of daughters who married between the making of the will and the settlement of the e state. Names or indications of children born or died during this time, guardians appointed, remarriage of widow, or the second marriage of a daughter or sister. Names of legatees mentioned but not named in the will. Check for legatees living outside of county or state. Names, ages, sex and value of slaves. A slave stated as infirm, was an indication of age.

If a person died intestate (leaving no will) his estate was apportioned among his legal heirs. This was done according to the laws in effect and customs in practice, at the time of his death. Pre Revolutionary period the law of primogeniture were in effect. Which is the common system of the oldest son being the heir of all real property, with the exclusion of the younger sons. This was in effect in North Carolina until 1784, but was not uniformly observed. The order of dividing intestate estates after 1784 were by the courts as follows:

• Upon her petition, the widow’s dower or a year’s support were set off to her before estate was divided.
• After 1808 all children of dec. received equal portions of the estate A dec. child’s portion was divided between their children, and dec. grand-child’s portion was divided between their children. And so on down through the generations. If a grandchild is dec. without issue their name will not be mentioned in the division. Note children of spouse but not of dec. spouse will not be named even though they were a part of the dec. household at the time of death.
• 3. The estate went to the widow if dec. died without living issue. Prior to the Rev. War the estate was divided between widow and father of dec.
• 4 if no widow or issue living estate went to parents of dec.
• If none of the above applied, the estate was divided among dec. brothers and sisters equally. If a bro. or sis was dec. the portion went to their children, grandchildren, etc.
• An estate division is not the same as the account or settlement of an estate. An account is the administrator’s report to the court for expenses and debts, collection of monies received and resulting totals, for future division. Debts and payments of the estate. Final account will give the sum the administrator had for division among the legal heirs. An estate settlement is the administrator’s report to the court after division, and the debits and credits equal. The estate is closed. In actual practice the two terms Account and Settlement are used interchangeably in some counties. All accounts and settlements may yield information about the dec. or his family: Public offices held, occupation, business connections, ownership of land of business, family connections in other counties and states. And general economic information on dec. family and area. Estate Division may give ages, sex married names and death date brackets of heirs, as well as their degree of relationship to the dec.

Examples of some common Nicknames:
Abigail- Abby
Alexander- Alex Elec, Sandy, Sander
Alice- Allie, Ally
Almedia- Media, Meddie
Almira- Mira, Myra, Mirey
Andrew, Andy
Ann- Nan Nancy Nannie
Barbara Barb, Barbie
Beatrice- Bee
Benjamin, Ben , Bennie
Bethania- Thaina, Thain, Bethany
Caladonia-Callie, Donia
Camalia- Cam
Caroline- Lina, Carrie
Catherine- Kate, Katy
Christina- Tina, Tena
Christopher- Kit, Christy, Chris
Commadore- Com
Cynthia, Syntha, Cindy, Sin
Dakota- Kota
Deborah- Debbie, Deb
Diannah, Dine, Diane Dinner
Dorchus- Dora, Dory
Dorothia- dot Dotty Dorthy
Elizabeth- Eliza, Liz. Lizzy, Beth or Bettie, Bet, Betsy
Ellendar- Ellen, Nellie
Frances- Fannie
Flossie- Floss
Hannah- Hanner, Hanny, Anner
Henry- Harry, Hank
James- Jim, Jem, Jimmy
Jane- Janie, Jincy
John, Jack Johnny
Joseph- Joel, Joe
Laversia- Vecie
Lettice Lettie
Loretta- Lora Lettie
Lydia- Liddy
Margaret-Peggy, Maggie, Meg
Martha- Patsy, Pattie, Marttie Mat
Mary- Polly, Molly
Millissa- Milly
Nancy- Nan, Nannie
Naomi- omi
Narcissa- Cissia, Sissy
Octavia- Octie, Tavia
Olivia- Olly, Olive
Patricia, Pet Patty
Penelope- Penny, Neppie
Rachel- Raie
Rebecca- Beca, Becky
Richard- Rick, Richey Rickey
Robert- Bob, Bert
Samuel, Sam
Sarah-Sally
Tennessee- Tenny, Tenna
Texas- Tex
Theodore- Theo
Thomas- Tom, Tommy
Theresa- Reca, Rissy
Victoria- Victory
Virginia- Jinny Jinnie, Jincy, Vergie
William, Will, Willy, Bill, Billie
Wilford- Will
Welborn- Will