This "bonding out" of children was the law in some southern states, particularly NC. Since women had no rights, when a father died (or if the mother was unmarried) the mother had to prove in court that she could support her children or they would be "bound out" to strangers to learn a trade. Fortunately, almost all the "orphan" children in my family were "bound" to other family members. I did find a little 3-year-old girl WORKING as a SERVANT in one of my families. What could a 3-year-old WORK at? So sad. dotsicle

I knew bonding was done in those days, but I guess I thought it was so a child could learn a trade their family could not teach them. To be bonded out to a farmer when your parents were farmers sounds totally wrong. I'm glad that has changed. Wava >From: Nancy Jones <[email protected]> >Reply-To: [email protected] >To: [email protected] >Subject: Re: [Jones] Apprenticing Children >Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2005 13:05:52 -0700 (PDT) > >This "bonding out" of children was the law in some >southern states, particularly NC. Since women had no >rights, when a father died (or if the mother was >unmarried) the mother had to prove in court that she >could support her children or they would be "bound >out" to strangers to learn a trade. Fortunately, >almost all the "orphan" children in my family were >"bound" to other family members. >I did find a little 3-year-old girl WORKING as a >SERVANT in one of my families. What could a 3-year-old >WORK at? So sad. > > >dotsicle > > >==== JONES Mailing List ==== >Need to unsubscribe? Just send a message to [email protected] >put the word "unsubscribe" in either the subject line or message body. >