I've been looking at quite a few wills in Surry co. recently and, if I remember correctly, all the marks that men or women used, other than an X, were the first letter of their given name.  I wasn't paying a great deal of attention the this however, as my main focus was the body of the document in question.

Hope this doesn't further confuse the issue.

Anne in Brooklyn

-----Original Message-----
>From: Sunshine49 <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Jan 12, 2007 10:50 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Writing
>
>Sorry I can't help you; the documents I've looked at all have a large
>X and "her mark" if they could not write their name. Have you seen
>this in several places, or might it have been used in a certain
>locality?
>
>Nancy
>
>-------
>I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
>
>--Daniel Boone
>
>
>
>On Jan 12, 2007, at 5:24 AM, Clara Callahan wrote:
>
>> In colonial Virginia was it common for females who could not write
>> to use the first letter of their maiden names as their mark on
>> legal documents?
>>
>>   For example, If a piece of land was sold by a man named Gunther
>> to a man named Jones and if the witnesses were named John Doe and
>> Joseph Doe and if Gunther's wife relinquished dower and made her
>> mark "D," would it be reasonable to think that her maiden name
>> might be Doe?
>>
>>   Clara
>>
>> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the
>> instructions
>> at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html