There was no official minimum age for signing as a witness. I've found a couple of cases where I think children as young as nine or ten signed in Pennsylvania or North Carolina. Stewart Baldwin has made a convincing case that it was the custom in Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century for relatives of the married couple to sign in the column below the newlyweds' signatures. It's not clear whether that held true in other areas, or whether it changed over time. There's also the complication that in some monthly meetings, like New Garden, North Carolina, the recorder of marriage certificates copied the names of only twelve of the witnesses into the marriage book. Thus, unless you have the original certificate, there's always room for questioning whether the copy is arranged exactly as the original. Tom Hamm >I know that all (or some?) of the guests or witnesses at a Quaker >wedding would sign as witnesses. Is it possible to deduce ANYTHING >about the age of a witness? I believe the witness did not have to be >an adult, but may I assume he/she was over some minimum age? six? >ten? twelve? Did it vary with time or location? My problem is in >Virginia around 1740 to 1760. > >Any advice? Charles > > >==== QUAKER-ROOTS Mailing List ==== > HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS LIST: Send an email to: > QUAKER-ROOTS-L-REQUEST@RootsWeb.com > The ONLY word in your message should be UNSUBSCRIBE.