I have seen a few early certificates that do show a note similar to this.
If it does say 'colored', no matter how it's spelled we don't have to
worry
about it. All we have to do is convince ourselves that's what was meant.
The C wasn't in doubt, and I can see a similar r in dec's Turner. Assuming
the last word is a form of colored, I'm inclined to believe the person who
wrote the d had their hand accidently jogged, causing the trailing off of the
tail, not found anywhere else on the certificate. That's the sort of pen
stroke that, if it is a trait, you tend to see more than once. Also, it doesn't
form an abrupt stop, just fades out. So it may not have been a deliberate d,
but perhaps was caused by accident and left as good enough without
correction. The word intended may have been 'coler' or 'color'.
I agree with Barbara that the spot above may easily have been an ink blot,
and not the dot over an i.
And for selfish reaons, I'd like to believe that colored/whatever is the
word following Turner, because it gives a nice and tidy solution to the original
question!
I'm not putting an end to the discussion, but I feel good about this course
of action.
Janice