In transcribing this item for the next issue of Casefile Clues, I realized that there's a chance it was written by the man who witnessed it--Agusta Newman.
I'm not entirely convinced yet. One difficulty is that the black and white nature of the image hides some clues.
Why do I care?
Agusta Newman is my 4th great-grandfather and having a copy of something written in his hand would be a really neat find.
It appears to me that there is enough evidence to prove that Sophia Thomas did NOT write this document since there is a "mark" between her given and surname. As well, generally when someone signed by their mark, the words "signed by their (or his/her) was written either above or below their name and mark. The writing under the name is unreadable except for the word "mark". If we accept this, then it would indicate that the person that wrote this would be Augusta Newman since he was the one to "test" (attest) the document.
ReplyDeleteGranted I am no handwrutting expert but looking at the letter and the signature and comparing the writting I would say that it was written by Agusta.
ReplyDeleteThe 'N' in Nicholas and Newman look the same; The 'g' in given, girl, and Agusta are alike; the 'T' in Test and both Thomas are alike. I have many handwritten documents where the 'x' is in between the first and last name with "her/his" written above the ''x' and "mark" written below the 'x' just as done in this document.
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