mark

A sign, traced on paper or parchment, which stands in the place of a signature; usually made by persons who cannot write. It is most often the sign of the cross, made in a little space left between the Christian name and surname. 2 Bl. Comm. 305; 2 Curt. 324; Moody & M. 516; 12 Pet. (U. S.) 150; 7 Bing. 457; 2 Ves. Sr. 455; 1 Ves. & B. 362; 1 Ves. Jr. 11. A mark is now held to be a good signature, though the party was able to write. 8 Adol. & E. 94; 3 Nev. & P. 228; 3 Curt. 752; 5 Johns. (N. Y.) 144; 2 Bradf. Sur. (N. Y.) 385; 24 Pa. St. 602; 29 Pa. St. 221; 19 Mo. 609; 21 Mo. 17; 18 Ga. S96; 16 R Mon. (Ky.) 102; 1 MARKET (Lat. mens, merchandise; anciently, mercat). A public place and appointed time for buying and selling. A public place appointed by public authority, where all sorts of things necessary for the subsistence or for the convenience of life are sold. 14 N. Y. 356. All fairs are markets, but not vice versa. Bracton, lib. 2, c. 24; Co. Litt. 22; 2 Inst. 401; 4 Inst. 272. Markets are generally regulated by local laws. The franchise by which a town holds a market, which can only be by royal grant or immemorial usage. 21 Barb. (N. Y.) 296, 2 Bl. Comm. 37. By the term "market" is also understood the demand there is for any particular article; as, the cotton market in Europe is dull. See 15 Viner, Abr. 42; Comyn, Dig.

A sign, traced on paper or parchment, which stands in tbe place of a signature; usually made by persons who cannot write. The use of the mark In ancient times was not 'confined to illiterate persons; among the Saxons the mark of the cross, as an attestation of the good faith of the person signing, was required to be attached to the signature of those who'* could write, as well as to stand in the place of the signature of those who could not write. It was the symbol of an oath. It is most often the sign of the cross, made in a little space left between the Christian name and surname; 2 Bla. Com. 305; Zacharie v. Franklin, 12 Pet. (U. S.) 161, 9 L. Ed. 1035; 2 Ves. Sen. 455; 1 V. A B. 362. Before the reign of Stephen, the cross was used, even by the king, in formal documents, and was even considered more sacred than a seal. 2 Poll. & Maitl. 223. The word hia is usually written above the mark, and the word m<irk below it; Schoul. Wills 303, 305. But it is not essential that these words shall be attached to the mark made or adopted by a person unable to write, in the execution of a deed, as it is Buiiicient if it appears that he in fact made the mark or adopted it; Sellers v. Sellers, 98 N. 0. 13, 3 S. E. 917. A mark is a signature; Zacharie v. Franklin, 12 Pet. (U.. S.) Foye V. Patch, 182 Mass. 105. And It may be proved as handwriting: by one who has seen the person make his mark; Strong’s Ex’rs V. Brewer, 17 Ala. 706; ITogg v. Dennis, 3 Humph, (Tenn.) 47; Jackson v. Van Dusen, 5 Johns. (N. Y.) 144, 4 Am. Dec. 330; contra, Shlnkle v. Crock, 17 Pa.:^59. A mark is now held to be a good signature though the p:irty was able to write; 8 Ad. & E. 94; 3 Curt. 752; Jackson v. Van Dusen, 5 Johns. (N. Y.) 144, 4 Am. Dec. 330; In re Flannery’s Will, 24 Pa. 502; St. Louis Hospital Ass’n v. William’s Adm’r, 19 Mo. 609; Horton v. Johnson, 18 Ga. 396; Upchurch v. Upchurch, 16 B. Monr. (Ky.) 102. The signature of a subscribing witness to a deed may be made by u cross mark; Devereux v. Mc Mahon, 1,02 N. C. 284, 9*8. E. 635. It is not necessary that the person executing, if unable to write, touch the pen while the person authorized signs his name; Kennedy V. Graham, 9 Ind. App. 624, 35 N. E. 925, 37 N. E. 25, See Sionatuke. It is considered settled that the fact that a person can write does not invalidate a signature by mark, or where the signer holds the ixjn while it is guided by another; In re Pope’s Will, 139 N. C. 484, 52 S. E. 235, 7 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1193, 111 Am. St. Rep. 813, 4 Ann, Cas. 635; Main v. Ryder, 84 Pa. 217; Stevens v. Vancleave, 4 Wash. C. C. 262, Fed. Cas, No. 13,412; 8 Ad. & El. 94; though a few cases seem to hold otherwise; 6 Notes of Cases 15; but this case is of course disiwsed of by the later decisions under subsequent statutes. Nor is such a signature invalidated by the absence of attestation, though the proof of execution might be thereby made more diiticult; Bickley v. Keenan, 60 Ala. 295; Truman v. Loro’s Lessee, 14 Ohio 8t 144; Frost v. Deering, 21 Me. 156; Tonnele v. Hall, 4 N. Y. 145. As to signature by mark, generally, see 22

1. A character, usually in the form of a cross, made as a substitute for his signature by a person who cannot write, in executing a conveyance or other legal document. It is commonly made as follows: A third person writes the name of the marksman, leaving a blank space between the Christian name and surname; in this space the latter traces the mark or crossed lines, and abave the mark Is written "his," (or "her,") and below it, "mark."
2. The sign, writing, or ticket put upon manufactured goods to distinguish them from others, appearing thus in the compound, "trade-mark."
3. A token, evidence, or proof; as in the phrase "a mark of fraud."
4. A weight used in several parts of Europe, and for several commodities, especially gold and silver. When gold and silver are sold by the mark, it Is divided into twenty-four carats.
5. A money of accounts in England, and In some other countries a coin. The English mark is two-thirds of a pound sterling, or 13s. 4d.; and the Scotch mark Is of equal value in Scotch money of acoounti Enc. Amer.
6.

In early Teutonic and English law. A species of village community, being the lowest unit in the political system; one of the forms of the gens or clan, variously known as the "mark," "gemeinde," "commune," or "parish." Also the land held In common by such a community. The union of several such village communities and their marks, or common lands, forms the next higher political union, the hundred. Freem. Compar. Politics, 116, 117.
7. The word is sometimes used as another form of "marque," a license of reprisals.

— Demi-mark. Half a mark ; a sum of money which was anciently required to be tendered in a writ of right, the effect of such tender being to put the demandant, in the first instance, upon proof of the seisin as stated in his count; that is, to prove that the seisin was in the king's reign there stated. Rose. Real Act. 216.

— High and low water-mark. See Watermark.

— Mark banco. See Marc Banco.

n., or MARC. The name of an ancient coin; also, a weight used in some parts of Europe, more particularly fopweighing the precious metals.

This term has several acceptations. 1. It is a sign traced on paper or parchment, which stands in the place of a signature, usually made by persons who cannot write. —2. It is the sign, writing or ticket put upon manufactured goods to distinguish them from others.—3. Mark or marc, denotes a weight used in several parts of Europe, and for several commodities, especially gold and silver. When gold and silver are sold by the mark, it is divided into twenty-four carats.—4. Mark is also in England, a money of accounts, and in some other countries acoin. The English mark is two-thirds of a pound sterling, or equal value in Scotch money of ace count. Encyc. Amer. h. t.