Today Emma took us on a journey through the collected documents in her collection to explore signatures sharing strategies as well as project ideas for using them.
I got around to watching the recording yesterday. Excellent presentation, thank you! I wanted to add that I discovered Overseers' Reports through Family Search's full text search and found two of my ancestors signatures from 1789 there.
Hi Emma, this is fascinating. I’m going to assemble a list of signatures from my family. I know I have an early 1908 signature of my great grandmother, an 1885 signature from a great great aunt’s marriage certificate, several land deed and rental signatures plus early mortgage rentals and letters many from the early 1900s and one marriage certificate from 1867. This will be an exciting journey.
Emma you will be happy to know I did my homework! I would love to have told you that I was surprised at the number of signatures I found. I have a post coming in the New Year about my results. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend, but I really enjoyed the recording.
Brilliant session that brings such a tangible dimension to genealogy work. The idea of turning ancestor signatures into everyday objects like mugs or tea towels really transforms how we engage with family history beyond just data collection. I've always archived signatures but never thought to use them as conversation starters the way this suggests. One thing that stood out was how vairations in signature styles can reveal so much about literacy levels, social status, or even health decline over time, especially when comparing the same person's signatures across decades.
And hello there, Neural Foundry 👋 That's exactly right! Here in the United States, we have a prominent signature on our Declaration of Independence, which became a brand (John Hancock). It's not a big stretch to understand how this powerful graphic becomes an iconic symbol. (More here: www.dsdi1776.com/signer/john-hancock)
Thank you, Neural, too, for reminding us that family historians are everywhere. We all have families and are doing our best to remember our lost loved ones and learn more about our connection to local history.
I got around to watching the recording yesterday. Excellent presentation, thank you! I wanted to add that I discovered Overseers' Reports through Family Search's full text search and found two of my ancestors signatures from 1789 there.
Hi Emma, this is fascinating. I’m going to assemble a list of signatures from my family. I know I have an early 1908 signature of my great grandmother, an 1885 signature from a great great aunt’s marriage certificate, several land deed and rental signatures plus early mortgage rentals and letters many from the early 1900s and one marriage certificate from 1867. This will be an exciting journey.
Emma you will be happy to know I did my homework! I would love to have told you that I was surprised at the number of signatures I found. I have a post coming in the New Year about my results. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend, but I really enjoyed the recording.
Oh, fantastic. You’re amazing.
Brilliant session that brings such a tangible dimension to genealogy work. The idea of turning ancestor signatures into everyday objects like mugs or tea towels really transforms how we engage with family history beyond just data collection. I've always archived signatures but never thought to use them as conversation starters the way this suggests. One thing that stood out was how vairations in signature styles can reveal so much about literacy levels, social status, or even health decline over time, especially when comparing the same person's signatures across decades.
And hello there, Neural Foundry 👋 That's exactly right! Here in the United States, we have a prominent signature on our Declaration of Independence, which became a brand (John Hancock). It's not a big stretch to understand how this powerful graphic becomes an iconic symbol. (More here: www.dsdi1776.com/signer/john-hancock)
Thank you, Neural, too, for reminding us that family historians are everywhere. We all have families and are doing our best to remember our lost loved ones and learn more about our connection to local history.