Do you have any idea where I could go to try to find some more information as to particular indentures in Shelby Co ? I have the court record. I would like to try to find out how these agreements worked....was the money earned as part of the indenture paid to the parents? or to the child? Did the children still live with their parents or did they live with the family they were "bound out" to? How would one find out about divorces or marital separations that happened in Shelby Co. KY around 1818? Would there be any church records in the county that go back that far? Any ideas? R Jackson San Antonio, TX -----Original Message----- From: mayoder [mailto:mayoder@davesworld.net] Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 1999 11:51 AM To: rjackson1@satx.rr.com Subject: Re: [KYSHELBY] Children indentured as apprentices in 1818 R. Jackson, Indentures were not so uncommon in this area of Ky for any time period. It was rather common for parents/ etc to bound out their children to learn a trade. The indenture had a period of years that it covered. I have in mind a couple of indentures from Hardin Co- where a Matilda Merrifield was bound out as a poor child of the Co. and a Warren Merrifield was also bound out in Hardin Co. Both by several Justices of the Peace. Both for a specific number of years (usually until of age-whatever that was for the time period). The Matilda Merrifield later married George Lawson Rogers (a minister of Hardin/Bullitt Cos)- with surety Alexander Merrifield on the m record. Why Alexander would bound out a dau?? (in his probates of 1847- she is listed as a descendant- but not necessarily a child-since Alexander was born 1765). Very confusing at best since older researchers place Matilda as a d/o Alexander and Rachel Boone Merrifield. Mary ----- Original Message ----- From: REJ <rjackson1@satx.rr.com> To: <KYSHELBY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 1999 9:51 AM Subject: [KYSHELBY] Children indentured as apprentices in 1818 > I just found something very interesting concerning members of my family in > Shelby county in 1818. Edvin Alexander and Phebe Mullikin Alexander had two > boys: Edvin M. Alexander and James M. Alexander. They were apparently poor > as church mice. Sometime in that year, Edvin and Phebe were separated > according to a court document and were unable to care for the boys....so > they were bound as indentured workers to a man named James Miles that also > lived in Shelby County at the time in order to be taught how to be a > "housejoiner." According to the court document, it almost sounds like the > boys (Edvin was 10 and James was 12 at the time) were actually taken into > the Miles household to not only work there, but live there. The word > "adoption" was not used, but it definitely seemed to be implied. > > What I am trying to understand is this: Edvin Alexander (the father) is > listed in the 1820 census (two years after the indenture) as apparently > having the boys living in his household and not in the Miles household. I > would like to see if there is a way to determine the proximity of Edvin's > home to that of James Miles. Were they next to each other or several miles > apart? Perhaps the Alexanders lived on the Miles property? > > >From what I have been able to read, indenturship such as this was quite > uncommon in KY after 1800. Is there any history written that talks about > this happening in Shelby County at about this time? Is it possible that the > father may have essentially sold his boys into indentureship as a means of > supporting his family after his wife Phebe left? What other reasons might > families have done this? > > What sort of laws were there in the area on separation and divorce at the > time? What sort of rights did the father have as compared to the mother? > Were the children essentially treated as "property" of the father to do with > as he pleased? > > I think some events surrounding and involving this indentureship have had > reprocussions in later generations of my family, so I am trying to find out > as much as I can. Ideas as to who to talk to or where to look are most > certainly welcome. > > R Jackson > San Antonio, TX > >