This signature is from John Lake, written in 1855 when he was completing his preemption claim in Chariton County, Missouri. John died in the mid-1860s and this document is one of the few I have that provides his signature. Really kind of neat as the family has no pictures of this Kentucky native.
John is my wife's great-great-grandfather. I'm working on a column on John's federal land file for an upcoming "Casefile Clues" column for Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.
Google searches for John are always difficult, considering the nature of his last name.
