The older the documents we locate, the more challenging they can be to read and decipher. While this can be frustrating to most researchers, it also can be downright off-putting. Your research will undoubtedly uncover some of these documents at some point, and some understanding of paleography is required. Even old American census records, church records, and deeds can be difficult to read. Visit the Genlinks site for some examples of the factors that can contribute to this challenge.
What is paleography? Paleography, according to the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary, is the study of ancient writings and inscriptions. If you are studying old English documents, you will encounter not only the Old English script but, going further back in time, ecclesiastical records written in Latin. German genealogical researchers must learn to read and interpret Fraktur in addition to learning the current and old German language. Similar examples of old writing styles and language usage will be challenging in many older records in many geographical locations.
Don't give up on your attempts to decipher these older documents! In "Along Those Lines . . ." this week, I want to share a variety of resources with you that can help you learn and understand the older writing styles, characters, and languages.
Old English Handwriting
The Old English script you may have seen may be difficult to read. Usually the first odd character you might notice is the "long s" that is not to be confused with an "f" character. You will find this in both printed and handwritten materials. The long "s" is sometimes found alone in the center of a word, such as presence. It can also be found as the first of a double "s" as in such words as dismiss or Congress. Other variations also exist in the way handwritten letters are formed. An "a" and a "d" may appear similar with the top stems curving to the left, for example.
Remember that may of our ancestors were less literate than we are and may have misspelled their words. Additionally, some public officials and clerks altered their writing of the English language by making it more stilted in spelling. A very common example of this is the addition of a final "e" to a word.
One confounding Old English word is the "ye," which was derived from a runic letter called a "thorn." It was a character used in printing and also in handwriting that looked like the letter "p" except that the stem extends above the loop of the letter. The thorn represents the sound for "th" in Latin, Etruscan, English, and other languages. In English, however, whenever you see a phrase such as "Ye merry men," it really would be spoken as "The merry men."
Another characteristic of English writing is the use of superscript characters and/or abbreviations to help maximize the amount of writing that could fitted on a sheet of paper which was, at the time, very expensive. Examples might include Wm. or Wm as shortened forms of the name of William, or fm as an example of the word "from."
There are a number of websites and resources that can help you with understanding the older English and Latin handwriting.
In addition, Hilary Marshall has written an excellent book, Palaeography for Family and Local Historians, published by Phillimore & Co., Ltd. in 2004 in Chichester, West Sussex England. The book is available through the publisher, Amazon, and special order at many bookstores.
Denis Stuart has written an excellent book, Latin for Local and Family Historians: A Beginner's Guide, also published by Phillimore & Co., Ltd. in 1995 and reprinted in 2000. It remains a standard reference and tutorial, and it is available through the same channels as Hilary Marshall's book.
German Fraktur
German Fraktur actually consists of multiple type fonts. The Fraktur alphabet is a little complicated. The upper case consists of twenty-six letters, plus three umlauts: Ä, Ö, and Ü, plus a few other special characters. An umlaut is characterized by the presence of a diacritical mark, in this case two dots, over a vowel that changes its way its sound is articulated.
The lower case Fraktur also consists of twenty-six letters, the three umlaut vowels in lower case, and a few other special letters or characters. These include variations of characters for the letter ‘s' and paired letter combinations called ligatures.
There are a variety of websites that explore Fraktur and can help you interpret the different appearances of the characters you are likely to encounter. These include:
- German Ways website contains a wealth of German language and handwriting samples.
- German True Type Fonts site which includes examples of many font types, each of which displays the printed and hand-written fonts. Each font is contained in a compressed ZIP file that you can download and then open with an UNZIP program such as WIN-ZIP.
- Fraktur German True Type Fonts
Early American Handwriting
Just as America is an amalgam of immigrants from different countries and cultures, American language is a combination of many derivative words and influences. Early American handwriting, though, tends to be more regional in nature. It is generally based on the language and learned handwriting (and script style) of the local residents. Immigrant Germans in Pennsylvania often used Fraktur; English immigrants in Virginia and the Scotch-Irish in North Carolina, for example, used the English script; and many of the French immigrants in Louisiana used the florid French style of handwriting. The handwriting style, as well as the vernacular and slang, are embodied in the written (and printed) word. Abbreviations, contractions, and acronyms were very much a part of the language.
There are two excellent books, both written by Kip Sperry that can help you with deciphering and reading old American documents. The first is Reading Early American Handwriting, first published by Genealogical Publishing, Inc., in 1998 and since reprinted. The other is Abbreviations and Acronyms: A Guide for Family Historians, published by MyFamily.com/Ancestry.com in 2003. Both books are excellent references you won't want to do without.
It's an Eyeful!
Deciphering and reading old handwriting involves a great deal of visual comparison of the handwriting you are studying with samples from the geographical area and the era when it was written. Some knowledge of the history of the area is beneficial too. Sometimes, too, it can beneficial to use tracing paper and form the letters and words yourself. Your tactile sense of writing may give you hints and clues, or may actually translate the text for you.
I think the references for just the three areas I've listed here will provide you with lots of information about strategies for reading the old documents and many visual examples. Your job is to locate a magnifying glass and use these resources and suggestions to start making sense of these old documents.
Happy Deciphering!
George
George is president and a proud member of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors, a director of the Genealogical Speakers Guild, and a director of the Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa).
Visit the Federation of Genealogical Societies website for details about and registration for their upcoming conference on 7-9 September 2005.
Visit the Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) website for details about and registration for their upcoming conference on 17 September 2005.
Visit George's website at for information about speaking engagements.
Copyright 2005, MyFamily.com. All rights reserved.
"Along Those Lines"
