Likely a simple omission by some clerk who transcribed the document.  The expression in such as this surety "...heirs and successors...."   
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Lee Anne Center 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2004 11:06 PM
  Subject: question about superscript o with dot under it


  Can anyone tell me what an o in the superscript position with a dot directly
  under and close to it means in an 1817 document? It looks something like
  what follows (but is, as I said, on one line):

  o
  .

  or

  c
  .

  In case context will help, here's a transcription I made of the line that
  has the above-mentioned character:

  "To the payment whereof will & truly to be made we bind ourselves our heirs
  &
  o firmly by these presents witness our hands & seals this 4th day of March
  1817."

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