I recently found the signature of a great great great grandfather circa 1840's in Europe. This man is missing from documents other than being named on the record of his daughter's marriage. He was likely born at a time when the records were not taken at that church. However, by paging through as far back as I could get in that same church book that has his daughter's wedding, not trusting the Indexing completely, and knowing the database does not include the names of the parent's parents or witnesses, I found his signature! He was a witness at another marriage. I noticed the signatures of a number of different people in the witness columns - different handwriting from the priest's and other others - so I know this is indeed his signature and not a continuation of the priest's. (And this is the from the original book and not the copy which the larger parish kept.)
Now I know he was alive to that point and that he likely lived in the parish since his daughter's record says she was born and lived there. I cannot find a death record for him.
Handwriting can really be a challenge, especially if you never learned cursive writing yourself.
The best thing you can do when you encounter terrible handwriting is, try copying this writing yourself on a separate piece of paper. Something about getting into the flow of the writing may help you realize the correct spellings.
Another thing to do is look for writing samples, such as in Google images, of different styles of handwriting. Handwriting used to be called penmanship in schools, and conformity and neatness were emphasized. Children were given these examples to imitate. You might be able to find penmanship examples that extend to special letters that are language specific. Now here's the issue. Some of these specific letters fool an indexer, especially if they are American and don't speak the language of the records.
I found a family in which the indexer spelled the name with an l. It was consistent on all the records for that town, and checking the originals, I found that they were being true to what was being written. However, in another town not too far away, that same surname had a t rather than an l. Apparently, there is what looks like an l with a cross through it in Polish language. Were they the same family? Quite possibly. I'll do family groups to see if the ancestors I'm seeking fit into any of those groups. ( I recently met a man who had bicycled through Poland last year who talked to me about this letter, and the pronunciation of it.)
A century ago, writers were dipping a feather or style in the inkwell. In order to dip and write, they often broke up the word. (Which can make looking a word up that has one or more breaks in it difficult.) Sometimes they break up the surname simply because it doesn't fit in the column strait across.
Of course, sometimes you do find another patch of handwriting that is clear and neat and you are so thankful. These neat patches of information - such as how to properly spell a surname - inspire me to try and also have good penmanship, at least when I'm writing notes on my genealogy research!
This post is one of a series on the subject. Click on the tag Surname Help - AWG to get to the posts.
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