I feel a special thrill seeing
signatures of my ancestors. Yesterday I saw a document that has
signatures of two ancestors of different generations of my Kentucky
family.
My great grandfather, Moses Eckles
Nichols, was just twenty-one when his father, Charles Nichols, died
in 1862. He was the oldest child in the family and thus the only one
of adult age. That must be why he was appointed administrator of his
father's estate. His father died aged forty-five leaving no will.
Moses was required to post an administrator bond. That document from
the Scott County court contains his signature along with that of his
sole surety, his maternal grandfather Charles Eckles, my 3rd great
grandfather.1
Charles was then seventy-four and the
signature looks a bit wobbly, but quite legible. He spelled his
surname Eckels as it appears in two signatures I have found of his
father, Robert Eckles. Moses Eckles Nichols had it as his middle
name, but spelled it the way I am used to it: Eckles. In that
spelling it was passed down to his grandson as a middle name. That
was my father so the name was always familiar.
1.
”Kentucky Probate Records, 1727-1990,” FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GP9G-Y8W?i=83&cc=1875188&cat=137670
: viewed 25 June 2018), digital film 004816099, image 84, Scott
County Administrator Bonds, 1856-1874 (unpaginated), estate of
Charles Nichols, 1862.
