Lucy Ruffin and anyone else with experience with Bastardy Bonds: I have one of these in my family tree and it is much less direct than the others that I have read along the way.William King lived next door to the Wilsons and was also likely related to the Wilsons at an earlier time, unproven at this time. In Sampson Co, NC May 13, 1794: "Mrs Judith Wilson, [the dau of Elisha Moore Wilson]came into court and offered William King and Elisha Moore Wilson, securities, to keep her child a bastard begotten on her body, free from any expense to the county of Sampson. Ordered therefore that they enter into bond in the sum of 500 pounds to keep said child free from the parish. Bond filed." William King, Sr was a powerful politician on the state level and his son, William Rufus King later became a VP under Franklin Pierce. Could this have had an effect on the way the bastardy bond was written? Wm King Sr. would have been a lot older than Judith Wilson and William Rufus King would have been younger than Judith. Both the Kings and the Wilsons were in Bertie Co at the same time. Elisha Moore Wilson was the grandson of Epaphroditus and Elizabeth Moore of Bertie Co and they lived on the edge of what is today the Hertford - Bertie border near Powellsville. I would like anyone's opinion on who is the father and how I could prove it... Thanks, Marilyn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lucy Ruffin" <LRuffin@macs.net> To: <NCBERTIE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 5:44 AM Subject: [NCBERTIE] Bastardy Bonds > Hi, Everyone, > > This is a follow-up, from Monk, on the above subject. > > "In NC, bastardy cases specified that the women would have to name the > father of the child and the father would have to post a bond for the > maintenance of the child. If the father could not post the bond, he > would ask his friends, neighbors and relatives to help him out. These > people became sureties, co-signers of the bond, and guaranteed that the > upkeep of the child would be paid. If on the other hand, the woman > refused to name the father, she would have to post the bond herself. (No > such thing as welfare in those days.)" > > Lucy Ruffin > > > ==== NCBERTIE Mailing List ==== > Post your materials here: > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=localities.northam.usa.st ates.northcarolina.counties.bertie > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >