It has been my experience that if a will is a loose sheet of paper it is
likely original. If it is in a book, it is a copy made by the Clerk.
Mickey
-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Nel Hatcher
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 2:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: a question on old handwriting
Website: Hatcher Families Resource Center
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~nhatcher
List Admin: Hatcher email list
Researching: Cook, Hall, Hatcher, Kuhns, Miller, Shepherd, Timberman
HATCHER DNA Project http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~nhatcher/hatDNA.htm
"Genealogy Without Documentation is Nothing" - Paul Drake
Kathleen wrote:
<<Unless you have proof that William signed this will, I'd suspect that
the will is a copy and the signature was written by the court clerk.
Very few original wills from that era were preserved; most of what we
have is the official copies made by the clerk.>>
This is, in my opinion, the original. The main text of the will is in one
handwriting with the name, William Hatcher, very clearly spelled out.
The witnesses, John Pleasant and Henry Gee, signed their own names under the
writing "Signed and sealed..." which was written in the same style as the
main text. We know Wm and John Pleasant were neighbors at one time or
another and we have marital connections to the Gee family. So no surprises
with these witnesses.
Will Hatcher signed his name to the right followed by the words "seald with
red wax." This signature was distinctly unique compared to the rest of the
document and I believe someone described it as old Elizabethan.
H B Gill working only with the signature believed this person was born early
17C...William was born c1613...so right on the money. The will was signed
1680.
And although it is often referred to as Wm's "will", there are those who
feel this was not really a will but a gift of deed from William to his gson,
Thomas Burton.......but that's another story.
Nel Hatcher
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