The Art of Deciphering Historical Handwriting

Inventory of Mary Morris Pasquotank County, North Carolina
April 5th 1746

Cursive writing......for most historians, we can read and write it.   But before too long, there might be a generation of historians who will not understand or know how to read cursive handwriting.   I hope it does not become an lost art among historians and or the general public.

My first experience reading historical cursive writing was probably when I began helping my parents do genealogy research and looking at census records. (Yeah, I am nerd.)   Then off to college and began my journey in the Historic Preservation field where our "Intro to Local and Public History" aka HST 200 with Mr. Bob White.  This class weeded out those who would continue in the program.  We had to complete 3 projects that semester.  The one that sticks out the most was "find your dead person" in historical records.  So basically we were given a name of a resident in Cape Girardeau County prior to 1860 and we had to find all the primary historical records we could about him/her and then write a tour script for their "historical house."  This was way before the digital age, so we had to go to the courthouse and look up probate, wills, land transfer and estate records and then look on microfilm any census records.  Needless too say, I learned my mad research skills from that class.  Thanks Mr. White!!!!!!!

Deciphering historical cursive handwriting can be a challenge and even more so when the handwriting looks like chicken scratch and there are holes and tears in the paper such like the example of the one shown below.

Inventory of the estate of Elizabeth Winslow,  Pasquotank County, North Carolina
1750

There is also an art to deciphering what is been listed in the inventories.  Sometimes the administrator of the estate would write phonetically the articles of the inventory such as shows = shoes; jackgert/jackcoat = jacket; bunnet/bonett= bonnet; calyco = calico; pear= pair; sail=sale, fols = false, chex/chequex/check'd/check't = check; hude/hud = hood; shuebuckels = shoe buckles; cloke/cloake = cloak; linning = linen and etc.

Also terminology of clothing helps us understand what we are looking for:

18th century spelling/terminology = modern equivalent

Gound = gown
coats/pettecoats/pettycoats/petitcote = petticoats
pair of boddies/bodyes = stays
smocks = shift
sack & coat = French style gown and matching petticoat
quilts/ quilt coat = quilted petticoat

Rebecca Eborn sale of estate 1758
Hyde County, North Carolina

1 Garlick Shift
1 checked apron
1 checkered Bonit & Jacket
1 Calleco Gound
1 payr blue stockings
1 striped pettey coute
1 striped gound
1 chamber pott
1 ladel wooding
1 red clock
1 payr cambrick pinnors
1 blue silk bunit

So we decipher that there is:
1 garlix shift
1 check apron
1 check bonnet & jacket
1 calico gown
1 pair of blue stockings
1 striped petticoat
1 striped gown
1 chamber pot
1 wood ladle
1 red cloak
1 pr cambrick pinners
1 blue silk bonnet

What I like about Rebecca Eborn's inventory - she has both a blue silk bonnet and a check'd bonnet.  She is the first to have a check'd bonnet listed but it is not the only one that I find.  There is a calico bonnet listed earlier in 1753.  However, it does fall in line with other linen bonnets and or check'd bonnet.  I plan to go into more detail about bonnets in North Carolina for a future article.

Hannah Hay inventory: Carteret County, NC 1777

Hannah Hay's inventory shows us that in many cases they mix in other items amongst the clothing. So you have to pay attention because you think you have everything and then they throw an item towards the bottom.  Her inventory listed the following:

5 gowns, 4 silk handkerchiefs, 2 linen, 1 cotton ditto, 3 pettycoats, 2 jackets, 4 aprons, 3 hoods, 17 caps (yep, you read that right 17 caps!); 11 ribbons, 2 yds of white linen, 3 mantles, 1 iron trammel, 1 pr of pot hooks, 1 earthen porringer, some wool, 1 shoe hammer, 3 spoons, 2 gold rings, 3 sugar boxes, 1 looking glass, 3 hats, 2 bonnets, 1 glass salt seler[?], half bunch of tape, 1 silver buckle, 3 shifts, a few saddle nails and buckles, 3 prs of silver sleeve buttons, 43 rows of pins, 8 awls, 4 [unknown] half scaine of white thread, 3 stomachers.

 As you can see just from these two examples, sometimes they list the type of material/textile of the garment, sometimes they don't.  It doesn't deter or lessen the information.  It still provides us a number of garments or other items such as shoes, stockings, shifts and etc., that the woman owned.

I began a spreadsheet to breakout what I have found among women's inventories/wills and estate sales.  Here is my list of items:

gowns
short gowns
bed gowns
petticoats
jackets
Suite of clothes
wrappers/night rales
shifts
pr of stays
pr of stockings
pr of shoes
pr of gloves
bonnets
hats
handkerchiefs
cloaks
mantles
capuchin
hoods
aprons
prs of ruffles
caps
prs of pockets
stomachers
sleeve buttons
ribbons
gold rings/jewelry
garters
laces
shoe buckles
mitts

Again, I am still new to this blogging thing.  So if there is anything special you want to know more about (ie., types of bonnets, textiles, gowns, shoes, stockings and etc.) let me know.

Down the Rabbit Hole of Research

Ann Eborn 1769 Hyde County, North Carolina

When I began researching for women's inventories, I came across the estate of Ann Eborn from Hyde County, North Carolina.  She was one of hundreds that I found with her estate listing only a few clothing items.   Her estate sale was held on the 20th Day of April 1770. 

 
2 bonets[sic] - sold at 2s 4d
 To hollon [Holland] a remment 5s 4d
1 handkicef [sic] } sold for 5s
1 par of ruffles 
1 apron - sold for 5s 4d




Honestly I was like.....that's all?  No will?  No complete inventory of her estate? Just a record of the sale of her estate and very little in the way of clothing.....ugh.   I gave up on any more information.

Well, here recently I began looking for wills and sales records  of women estates in the various counties in NC.  It would seem that some counties kept a register of wills, inventories and sales in a different volume. While scrolling through "Wills, Inventories and Sales of Hyde County Volume 1 part 1-2 1765-1794" - I found Ann Eborn's will and her true inventory along with some other women.  I did a little happy dance when I found this information. 

Will of Ann Eborn
Hyde County, NC 20th Day of December 1769 - January 1770 Term
" Hyde County Wills, Inventories, Sales Volume 1, Part 1-2", page 32

Close up of the bequeath of clothing

"I give and bequeath to Tina Slade one Quilt paired item, I give Luorase Fortque one Quilt item, I give to Mathew Taylor one Stript Cotten Gound [sic] and pare of Leather Gloves.  I give Dorcas Bell one black Gound [sic], I give Prudens Slade one Worsted Gown [sic].

So one can only imagine what the striped cotton gown looked like.  I would love to know what the black gown was made of and what color the worsted gown was.......The quilts are they bed quilts or quilted petticoats?  Well, the inventory of her estate explains a little more.

"An Inventory of the Goods and Chattles of Ann Eborn late Deceas'd taken by Mr. Edward McSwain December 28th 1769"

2 Quilts [quilted petticoats?]
3 gowns, 1 Scarlet Cloke [sic]
1 Satten hat
1 pair of leather gloves
2 caps
1 handkerchief
2 white aprons
2 callico bonnets
2 remnents of Cambrick

2nd column

1 quarter yard of holland
1 pair of ruffles 2 chunk bottles
1 check apron 2 earthen cups

Needless to say - this inventory along her will explains what types of textiles were used for the gowns and bonnets.   Calico bonnets.  Are they printed calico, white calico ?  They fall in line with other bonnets that I have found in women's estates in coastal counties in NC of the era.  That is for another blog article.  

So, never give up.  Always keep searching and you never know what you may find.