Notary History Timeline
Our Colorado Notary Blog includes a growing collection and reference library of articles on the history of writing, seals, scribes, and notary history. Many of our notary history articles are unique, not found anywhere else.
Our notary history timeline collection begins with ancient civilizations of Sumer, Egypt, China, India, Maya, Minoan, Babylon, Phoenicia, Persia, Greece, Rome, and Constantinople.
The notary history journey continues with the Pope, the Church, Justinian, the Crusades, the Knights Templar, Genghis Khan, the Middle Ages, the European Renaissance, and the Spanish Reconquista in the Old World.
The notary history timeline continues in the New World during the Age of Discovery and colonization with Christopher Columbus, Spanish Conquistadors Cortes, Pizarro, Coronado and Onate, French explorer LaSalle, Colonial notaries in New England, New Netherland, New Sweden, fur trappers and traders, marine protests and whaling.
With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and Westward expansion across the Mississippi River, notary history continues with territorial notaries, the Old West, wagon trains, Native Americans, the Republic of Texas, the Kingdom of Hawaii, Colorado Territory, the Civil War, the first black notaries, and Indian Territory in Oklahoma.
Five thousand years on the notary history timeline includes people, places, and their stories and notary records on clay tablets, papyrus, parchment, paper, and other organic material, up to modern-day electronic notaries and remote online notaries using computers and the Internet, live video conferencing with webcams, electronic documents, encryption, and the latest blockchain distributed ledger technology.
To find an article or topic of interest in our notary history collection, use the timeline lookup table below to search by year, time period, article title, or description. Then click on the underlined article title link to read it in our Colorado Notary Blog, or browse the notary history timeline collection at Notary History.
This world map shows the locations where our blog posts on notary history are focused. Some locations do not have significant historic events or there is little information available for research.
We continue to add new articles to our notary history collection and fill in the gaps on the timeline and world map.
We hope you enjoy reading our notary history articles and you will link to your favorite articles from your website, blog, or social media account.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
| Year | Era | Notary History Article Title | Description |
| 3300 | BC | Notaries in Ancient Sumer | Sumerians, clay tablets, cylinder seals, cuneiform, Anunnaki |
| 2750 | BC | Notaries in Ancient Egypt | notaries were part of royal society |
| 2600 | BC | Indus Valley Civilization Writing, Seals |
Indus River, script, scribes, seals |
| 1800 | BC | Minoan Civilization Writing, Seals | Linear A, B scripts, Phaistos Disc, Knossos, Minos, Crete |
| 1754 | BC | Code of Hammurabi, Babylon | early code of recorded laws |
| 1600 | BC | Ancient Chinese Writing, Shang Dynasty | first Chinese writing on oracle bones |
| 1500 | BC | Notaries in Ancient Phoenicia | masters of the sea, trade, exploration, alphabet |
| 550 | BC | Persian Empire Language, Writing, Scribes | Cyrus the Great, Darius, cuneiform, Persia, Persepolis |
| 360 | BC | Notaries in Ancient Greece | Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Egypt, Rhodes |
| 300 | BC | Maya Civilization Writing, Scribes | first writing system, books, and scribes in Mesoamerica |
| 50 | BC | Roman Law Influence on Notaries, Tiro | Tiro, creator of notae shorthand method |
| 50 | BC | Private Seals, Sealed Instruments, Locus Sigilli | seals were used by royalty and private citizens |
| 60 | AD | Saint Mark, Patron Saint of Notaries and Lawyers | writer, record keeper |
| 355 | AD | Feast of the Holy Notaries | Byzantine Empire, Saints Markianos, Martyrios |
| 533 | AD | Code of Justinian | Byzantine Emperor, compiled Roman civil law |
| 800 | AD | Notaries and the Church | Popes appointed papal notaries |
| 930 | AD | History of the Oath | King Athelstan, Anglo-Saxon, English common law |
| 1066 | AD | Law Merchant, Pie Powder Courts | developed commercial law, merchant courts |
| 1119 | AD | Notaries and the Knights Templar | developed banking, notary during Crusades |
| 1204 | AD | Tata-tonga, Scribe of Genghis Khan | scribe, notary for the Mongol Empire |
| 1215 | AD | Magna Carta, England | early version of bill of rights |
| 1228 | AD | Notary School of Bologna, Renaissance Italy | developed notary laws and procedures |
| 1265 | AD | Siete Partidas, Spanish Notary Laws | law code of King Alfonso X, Reconquista |
| 1300 | AD | Timbuktu, Mali Manuscripts, Libraries | huge collection of historic manuscripts in Timbuktu, Mali |
| 1324 | AD | Marco Polo Travels and Will | notary who wrote Marco Polo’s will |
| 1397 | AD | Russian Notary History | Russian Empire, Soviet Union, Russian Federation |
| 1492 | AD | Notary with Christopher Columbus | Rodrigo Escobedo, royal notary |
| 1519 | AD | Hernan Cortes, Notaries, Aztec Mexico | Cortez, notaries in Aztec Mexico |
| 1532 | AD | Spanish Notaries with Pizarro, Inca Peru | notaries with Pizarro, Inca Peru |
| 1540 | AD | Coronado Expedition, Muster Roll | notary for Cortes (Cortez) and Coronado |
| 1598 | AD | First Thanksgiving, El Paso, TX | Spanish Thanksgiving before Pilgrims |
| 1598 | AD | Notary with Conquistador Onate, New Mexico | royal notary with Conquistador in New Mexico |
| 1607 | AD | English Common Law for Notaries | English common law came to Jamestown Colony, 1607 |
| 1608 | AD | Fur Traders and Notaries | Quebec founded, voyageur contracts |
| 1626 | AD | Dutch Notaries in New Netherland | Dutch were in New York before the English |
| 1638 | AD | New Sweden Colony, Delaware River | little-known Swedish colony, now Wilmington |
| 1639 | AD | Notary Public Day, Nov 7th | colonial notary in New Haven Colony |
| 1639 | AD | First Colonial Notaries in America, 1639-1792 | first colonial notaries, 13 colonies |
| 1644 | AD | Aspinwall Notarial Records, Boston | colonial notary in Boston, rare records |
| 1648 | AD | Marine Protest and Maritime Law | rare records of marine protests |
| 1682 | AD | La Salle Expedition, Louisiana Territory | French notary with La Salle |
| 1706 | AD | Ulibarri Claims Colorado for Spain | royal notary with Spanish explorer |
| 1776 | AD | Declaration of Independence | after the revolution, states and territories passed notary laws |
| 1800 | AD | Notarized Documents of Native Americans, 1800s | Indian chiefs, treaties, signatures, interpreters |
| 1820 | AD | Wagon Trains, Contracts, Law 1820-1880 | Western migration, contracts, depredation |
| 1834 | AD | Indian Territory Notaries, 1834-1907 | U.S. Court appointed notaries, Indian Territory, now Oklahoma |
| 1836 | AD | Notaries in the Republic of Texas | Texas Republic 1836-1846 |
| 1842 | AD | Bent’s Fort, Colorado | one of the first notaries in Colorado |
| 1846 | AD | Hawaiian Kingdom Notary Laws | King Kamehameha III statutes, Hawaii |
| 1850 | AD | Notaries Public Act of 1850 | oath, affirmation or acknowledg-ment same as justice of peace |
| 1852 | AD | Fort Massachusetts, Fort Garland, John M. Francisco | territorial notary, Costilla County, John M. Francisco |
| 1853 | AD | Notary Reference Books | notary reference books date back to colonial and pioneer era |
| 1854 | AD | Four Language Sea Letter | passport for whale or merchant ship from President |
| 1857 | AD | First Black Notaries in the U.S. | first black notaries were appointed before Civil War |
| 1859 | AD | Jefferson Territory | territorial notaries before Colorado Territory |
| 1859 | AD | Colorado Justice of the Peace | justice of the peace |
| 1860 | AD | Pony Express | Pony Express, Julesburg |
| 1861 | AD | Colorado Notary Reference Documents | resource list, Colorado notary laws, information |
| 1861 | AD | Colorado Territory Notary Laws |
Colorado Territory notary laws |
| 1861 | AD | Colorado Territory Notary History | Colorado Territory notary history |
| 1862 | AD | Colorado Territorial Notary, Eugene Weston | territorial notary, Pueblo County, Eugene Weston |
| 1864 | AD | Martial Law in Colorado | martial law declared for Indian wars, labor strikes, flood |
| 1865 | AD | Deposition by Colorado Notary | Sand Creek Massacre, Chivington, Atkins |
| 1872 | AD | Depredation, Horses Stolen by Indians | affidavit, Colorado horses stolen by Arapahoe Indians |
| 1876 | AD | Notaries Public Act of 1876 | notaries can take affidavits, depositions, court testimony |
| 1876 | AD | Colorado Day, Statehood | end of Colorado Territorial notaries |
| 1881 | AD | Emma Gillett, First Female Notary |
first woman notary in US |
| 1881 | AD | Notaries, Bank Officer Oaths | federal authority needed to use notary for oath |
| 1898 | AD | Notarized Testimonial used in Medicine Advertising | miracle cure patent medicine, Pink Pills for Pale People |
| 1898 | AD | Notaries in U.S. Territories | American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands |
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[Last-Modified Date 2023-03-19] added First Colonial Notaries
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