Notary

a public officer authorized by law to take affidavits, administer oaths, and to certify to the signatures of documents. The term is from the Latin, originally applied by the Romans to learned Greek slaves they employed to keep the records or notes of their public assemblies. The functions of the notary public vary. The English notary is an officer both of the church and state. In the United States notaries are appointed usually by the governors. Their duties are prescribed by statute. The statutes usually permit acknowledgments to be taken by a justice of the peace, a town clerk, a judge of probate, a county auditor, a clerk of the court, a notary, and sometimes court officers. Ordinarily, however, the statutes require that a deed or contract shall be acknowledged, that is to say, signed, before a notary public before it may be placed on record. In most states women may act as notaries. In France the notary is a person of considerable authority. To be legal, deeds, notifications, and contracts involving a value in excess of thirty dollars must be drawn up by the notary. Longfellow describes a French notary well in the account of the marriage contract drawn between the parents of Evangeline and Gabriel. The settlers of Grand Pre brought French laws and constitutions with them.

Bent, but not broken, by age was the form of the notary public; Shocks of yellow hair, like the silken floss of the maize, hung Over his shoulders; his forehead was high; and glasses with horn bows Sat astride on his nose, with a look of wisdom supernal. . . . From his pocket the notary drew his papers and ink-horn, Wrote with a steady hand the date, and the age of the parties, Naming the dower of the bride in flocks of sheep and in cattle. Orderly all things proceeded, and duly and well were completed, And the great seal of the law was set like a sun on the margin.