Phebe Waterman's Signature

Here it is. The signature of my maternal 4th great-grandmother, Phebe (Barker) Waterman. I wrote about her in a previous post. 

Phebe (Barker) Waterman was the wife of my 4th great-grandfather, Dr. Luther L. Waterman, who served as a surgeon in the Revolutionary War.

I found Phebe's signature at the bottom of Page 3 in her husband Luther's Revolutionary War pension file.¹ She was 82 years old at the time she signed this document.

In this document, dated 8 September 1838, Phebe appeared before an Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Athens County Ohio. It looks like Phebe was unable to appear in court. The bottom paragraph states the following:

Sworn to and subscribed before me on the day & year above written. And I hereby certify that the said Deponent is a credible person, and that she is unable from bodily infirmity to appear in open court.

Geo. Walker, Associate Judge

The purpose of this document was to obtain a widow's pension due to Luther's service in the Revolutionary War. In the document, Phebe gave an account of Luther's service during the war to the best of her ability. She also explained where and when she and Luther were married and that she remained a widow since Luther's death.

I have added Phebe's signature to the My Ancestors' Signatures tab at the top of this blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2025 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 “U.S. Revolutionary War Pensions, 1800-1900," database with images, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 13 January 2013), (W. 4,379 Conn. Continental), pg. 3, headed “U.S., Revolutionary War Pensions, 1800-1900,” entry for Luther Waterman; citing Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775 - ca. 1900, National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication, Record Group 15, NAID: 111514579.^↩

My Ancestors' Signatures

In my previous post, I shared the news that the marriage record of my maternal great-grandparents, Frederick Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro, included their signatures. It's so fun to see the signatures of ancestors on documents. I have already seen Frederick's signature on other documents, but I don't think I've ever seen Esther's signature before. So, her marriage record is not only valuable from the standpoint of the information it contains, but also because it includes her signature.

In my post about their marriage record, I also said that I needed to add Esther's signature to my blog's "My Ancestors' Signatures page. I have now done that. On that page I have signatures of other ancestors including the signature of my 6th great-grandfather, John Waterman. His signature was from his Last Will and Testament dated 3 January 1742/3 when he was about seventy years of age. If you would like to check out the "My Ancestors' Signatures" page on my blog, click HERE, or you can just go to my blog's home page and click on the "My Ancestors' Signatures" tab.

Seeing the signatures of our ancestors on documents is such a treat. Do you collect your ancestors' signatures?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved