Early American Handwriting

During this semester I’ve learned a great deal about reading historic documents. I’ve learned how to deciphering records, extracting, abstracting, transcribing documents, and how to read Italic, Secretary Hand, Copperplate-Round Hand, Spencerian and Palmer cursive scripts. Gaining this knowledge has empowered me to continue pursing my love of family history work. The following is new information I have learned.
Reading earlier eras of documents can be a challenge. You have to start by learning about Paleography. The author of “Early American Handwriting,” Kip Sperry defines it well, “Paleography, the study of early handwriting, or the rules of reading old handwriting, is an essential element in genealogical and historical research. The experienced researcher not only needs to be able to read old documents, but also requires the ability to interpret the value and significance of the content of records.” Through the study of old handwriting we are able to understand the documents that are filled with valuable information.

You need to take the time and read everything slowly. In the process, you might come upon a word you can’t read, if so, then skip over it and come back to decipher it. If you still struggle with the word, try comparing letters to other letters on the document. In fact, if you still find words that are unfamiliar in the documents, you should search for the meaning to understand what the document is saying. You can also search up the abbreviations that were used for words and names during that time. Keep in mind that the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation was generally not