Q: When early wills (1600s, 1700s) were recorded by the court, was the record copy transcribed by someone (clerk, etc.) or were they the person's own hand if they were able to write? Also, is the signature in the record copy the individual's signature? If a mark, is it the individual's? This is perplexing me as I have seen some beautiful writing in a hand that resembled the signature.

A: Official (court) record copies of wills (and deeds) from early days to today are transcriptions of the originals. "Signatures" on the wills and deeds in the record books are the clerk's handwriting or his rendering of the mark the individual made. Clerks made facsimile copies of the marks as the original documents showed them. On page 202 of Unpuzzling Your Past, 4th edition, are examples of such marks. The first two are the actual marks of the individuals as found on documents in their probate files; the others are the clerk's copies in the court record. On rare occasions, I've seen actual signatures of jury foremen in court minute books.

These are additional clues that the record copy is a copy. In the record books, you often see "L.S." in a circle beside the individual's name or the word "signed" preceding the name. The "L.S." stands for the Latin "locus sigilli" or "the place of the seal," indicating that the person had signed and sealed (stamped with a wax seal) the document. Also, you often see the word "teste" along with the clerk's name at the bottom of the document copy, certifying that it is a true copy of the original.