Sandi, Thanks for sharing this! A similar circumstance occurred with my great great grandfather, Elzia Arterburn (1801-1881, Monroe County), in that an "X-his mark" appears in the middle of his name on his Will. But there are plenty of other occasions--Deeds, court receipts--where his signature occurs or was recorded without an "X," including Deed recordings where the clerk bothered to more formally illustrate the intent of the seal with squiggly lines and the word, "seals." Some clerks evidently paid more attention to this kind of detail than others. Using only an "X-his/her mark" would have been simpler and faster, though, when a clerk or his assistant was faced with the laborious task of recording documents by hand. In Elzia's case, I suspect he may have been ill or on his deathbed when the Will was drafted, which would also explain the "X" on his Will. Thanks, Charles R. Arterburn >>>>>>>>>>>>> My puzzler for this past week was: If a person in the earlier times signed with an (X) did this mean that the individual could write, could not write or either. Our first response would be "they can't write!" Well, not necessarily. Sometimes people signed with an (X) for several reasons, one of which you might not have thought of. First of course, would be a physical handicap that kept them from signing; Health - too weak, a deathbed will (always requiring witnesses), even blindness. But there was another obscure reason that goes back to "olden times". Remembering back in your history classes; what was always required to accompany a royal proclamation or order from the king or ruling authority? It wasn't legal until the SEAL was placed on the document. Anyone could have falsely signed a document, but if the seal was on it, it was considered legit. Now in early America and in Kentucky, few people had their own rings to place a seal on a document to make it authentic. But ....... they used what they had. The signature wasn't as important as the seal so to mimic a seal, they put an (X) on the line. This was rare but did happen. I found one of our family who was a direct descendant of an English family of some note and I KNEW the individual could write; I'd seen his signature - beautiful handwriting and it was his writing, not a clerk's. But on a transfer of land it was signed with an (X) "his mark". He wanted it to be official. So, though normally when we see an (X) instead of a signature; it does mean they couldn't write. But not always!!!! Have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow with a post on Monroe Co tidbits of news from the past. Sandi ____________________________________________________________________________________ Sponsored Link Rates near 39yr lows. $510,000 Loan for $1698/mo. Calcuate new payment. www.LowerMyBills.com/lre