Dan, Not a better explanation just a different one. Today in GA - Deeds are drawn up in several ways. Your lawyer does it (probably typed out from a computer program). You or someone you trust does it - say from a computer program. You can go to a printer or office supply house and buy a printed form and fill in the blanks. In Georgia you are required to sign before a notary with a seal and a separate witness. The deed then goes to the Clerk of Superior Court in the County where the property is lcated. It is stamped recorded. The date recorded, the Book and Page number and the amount of transfer tax collected entered into the stamp. Most Counties then photocopy the deed onto special acid free paper that is punched at the top to fit the Deed Books. Before Computers Somene typed them or filled in the forms. Before photocopy machines the Clerk's Office typed a copy which was inserted into the Deed Books. Before typewriters they were handwritten. Whoever drew the Deed wrote it out by hand.. The Clerk of Superior Court hand copied it into the deed book by hand and hand wrote his certification into the book. There were lawyers. There were law clerks. There were educated people who wrote them for other people - not necessarily because they couldn't read ot write but perhaps because they were unsure of the legal wording involved. I am sure that in really rural areas, school teachers for example may have made money on the side by drawing deeds as well as writing letters. I have a copy of a political ad from 1912 where the Clerk of Superior Court has as part of his pitch that he "never charged extra for writing out a deed for you" I have seen printed deed forms where you filled in the blanks as early as the early 1800's. Book A of Forsyth County Deeds is a large bound book with the odd pages being printed forms assigning draws in the Land Lottery. The backs of these pages were blank and the Clerk recorded Deeds on them. People do not always record deeds when they are made. If you are copying a deed book sometimes you will find 3 or 4 deeds on the same piece of property recorded one behind the other where they had just been passed on with each sale until someone decided to record them. Donna