Marks on New Netherland Documents Our ancestors, when signing documents, used symbols or initials, as well as signatures. The clerk would often write the person's name next to the corresponding mark. In a time when the illiteracy rate was very high, marks were used often and were as legally binding as a signature. Keep in mind that sometimes literate people used marks and sometimes illiterate people knew how to write their names and nothing else.What are marks?
Examples of Marks
These are copies (not the originals) of marks found in New Netherland documents:Source: Versteeg, Dingman (trans.), New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Kingston Papers, original translation 1899. (Hans Jansen's mark comes from: Van Laer, A.J.F., New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Vol. II.
Cornelis Vernooy
Jan Gerritsen
Lambert Huybertsen
Hendrick Cornelissen Lyndraeyer
Mattys Roeloffsen
Michiel Mot
Thomas Matthys
Toomas Tonnesen Quick
HI Hans Jansen For more examples from New Netherland, see the CarPark's Handwriting Marks.
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Michelle's Main Page New Netherland Family History Names Page To contact me: michelle@boydhouse.com
Last updated 21 Oct 2003.
© Michelle Boyd, 2003.
