The place of the seal

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
Of cabbages–and kings–
And why the sea is boiling hot–
And whether pigs have wings.”
— Lewis Carroll, “The Walrus and The Carpenter”¹

Anyone who’s been doing genealogy for more than about a nanosecond has seen it.

It’s on so many court documents and land documents and contracts of sale for so many things.

Down at the bottom, next to the signature, whether it’s the original document or the copy recorded by the clerk in a will book or deed book or court minute book.

It’s there in a squiggly circle.

Or maybe it’s just there by itself.

The abbreviation “L.S.” or the word “seal.”

So… Whazzat anyway?

The technical legal term is locus sigilli — the place of the seal. And it’s defined simply as “the place where a seal is to be affixed, or a scroll which stands instead of a seal.”² And, “In many of the states, instead of sealing deeds, writs, and other papers or documents requiring it, a scroll is made in which the letters L. S. are printed or written, which is an abbreviation of Locus Sigilli.”³

And here’s what it was all about:

In the law, a seal affixed to a contract or other legal instrument has had special legal significance at various times in the jurisdictions that recognise it. In the courts of common law jurisdictions, a contract which was sealed (“made under seal”) was treated differently from other written contracts (which were “made under hand”), although this practice gradually fell out of favour in most of these jurisdictions in the 19th and early 20th century. The legal term seal arises from the wax seal used throughout history for authentication (among other purposes).

 

Originally, only a wax seal was accepted as a seal by the courts, but by the 19th century many jurisdictions had relaxed the definition to include an impression in the paper on which the instrument was printed, an embossed paper wafer affixed to an instrument, a scroll made with a pen, or the printed words “Seal” or “L.S.” (standing for the Latin term locus sigilli meaning “place of the seal”).

 

Notwithstanding their reduced significance, seals are still used on contracts, usually in the impression on paper form.⁴

The Wikipedia page goes on to note that, in the United States, “wax seals were never expressly required.” It cites the Restatement (Second) of Contracts:

A seal is a piece of wax, a wafer or other substance, affixed to the paper or other material on which a promise, release or conveyance is written, or a scroll or sign, however made, on such paper or other material, or an impression made thereon; provided that by a recital or by the appearance of the document an intention of the promisor, releasor or grantor is manifested that the substance, scroll, sign or impression shall be a seal.⁵

Now on some older documents you will see an actual wax impression with a raised seal. And on some newer documents you will see a raised seal but without the wax impression (many notarized documents will have the raised seal of the notary and corporate documents often have to have the corporate seal).

But for our poorer ancestors without the sealing-wax and without the signet rings or other fancy stuff…

A squiggly circle and the word seal or the letters L.S. did just fine.

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