At 07:36 PM 5/29/2002 -0400, you wrote: >Who actually drafted deeds? Did the seller draft the deed and sign it >or did a clerk draft the deed and the seller simply sign (or place his >mark) as the seller? >I have several deeds for Pendleton Dist SC for the 1790s and two deeds >for Hall Co GA in 1825 and it appears to my untrained eye that the >handwriting that drafted the body of the deed(s) is the same handwriting >of the seller's signature. I would have expected this when the seller >signed with a mark but in these cases the seller actually signed with a >signature. With many of the deeds and such that I've found, the document at the courthouse isn't actually the original. This has seemed to be especially true with items found in the deed books (or will books, for that matter). Instead, it's a copy of the original, probably written by a clerk, that was kept on file. I can only imagine how thrilled some of the clerks would be today with the miracle of the photocopier -- just think, as many copies as you want with the press of a button, instead of writing it over and over and over.... Angie

Thank you for the info Angie. Eldon -----Original Message----- From: Angie Rayfield [mailto:carolinaroots@angiesplace.behosting.com] Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2002 2:47 PM To: SC-Genealogy-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [SC] Who drafted that deed? At 07:36 PM 5/29/2002 -0400, you wrote: >Who actually drafted deeds? Did the seller draft the deed and sign it >or did a clerk draft the deed and the seller simply sign (or place his >mark) as the seller? >I have several deeds for Pendleton Dist SC for the 1790s and two deeds >for Hall Co GA in 1825 and it appears to my untrained eye that the >handwriting that drafted the body of the deed(s) is the same handwriting >of the seller's signature. I would have expected this when the seller >signed with a mark but in these cases the seller actually signed with a >signature. With many of the deeds and such that I've found, the document at the courthouse isn't actually the original. This has seemed to be especially true with items found in the deed books (or will books, for that matter). Instead, it's a copy of the original, probably written by a clerk, that was kept on file. I can only imagine how thrilled some of the clerks would be today with the miracle of the photocopier -- just think, as many copies as you want with the press of a button, instead of writing it over and over and over.... Angie ==== SC-Genealogy Mailing List ==== To contact the list maintainer SC-Genealogy-admin@rootsweb.com