. . . Click on this Penmanship Page to enlarge and examine it . . .
The largest Social Network is the entire human race, Heavenly Father's family. You can discover your ancestors and help others do the same by INDEXING. Be a student of their writing.
What are the letters that are easily confused?
ReplyDeleteJ and I; H, K, R, and He; y and z (lowercase); B and R; C and E;
i and e (lowercase); L, S, and T; F and T; W and M; m and nn;
and especially lower-case 'r' and 's'. What lettering is on your list?
What are your secrets for recognizing these differences?
Read enough of the assistant marshall (census taker) writing and
by and by, you will recognize all of their tricks and shortcuts. What
is problematic, is the sloppy penmanship of 1920 vs 1855, 1870, etc.
It is said the document you are looking at is the best teacher.
Your first clue is to ponder and pray after you study the doc.
Here are some tips you can learn; what are your secrets?
The 'F' has a small vertical bar on the right to distinguish from 'T'.
The 'M' ends down, and the 'W' ends up.
The 'S' stays curled under on the left; the 'L' goes low to the right.
'J' can be the descender and 'I' not; but not always. Look around.
And our favorite, the classical 'H' most often might look like 'He'. .!.
If you are still puzzled, put '?' or '*' as you know to do, but remember
to pray, ponder, and pray . . . but don't take forever. Also, remember
that the writing is evolving and may appear like it would be today.
Use some common sense and inspiration and treat ancestors kindly.
Here are some tips in interpreting the lowercase writing.
Hopefully, the intentions are clearly written and/or become clear to you.
Examine the 'profession' and other fields to see if writer dots the 'i'.
See how far over the 'r' tips and how they look compared to 's'.
One rule we like is that if the 's' comes under and touches, it is an 's'
but if it does not it may be the lower-case 'r'. Note context.
btw, watch for 'Daniel' vs 'David' which can be easily deceptive.
Do you want to know what Jno abbreviates? It's Jonathan. But, as you
know, you always write what they write, like Wm. Learn how to
recognize embellishments, like cap-beginnings and name endings.
Expect some short-cut combinations, like 'Th' and raising 'm' of Wm.
One of our favorites is the vertical 'e' like a little 'E', but the same
writer can mix three different ways of writing the lowercase 'e'.
OK, that is enough for now; consider it "your turn"!
If you want to put in snapshot examples of cursive writing, make a POST.