Betty J. and Edwin A. Camin copiled a bood named North Carolina Bastardy Bonds. The book does not include any bonds from Bladen, Sampson or Duplin County. I thought that you might like to read the Introduction. NORTH CAROLINA BASTARDY BONDS The "Bastardy Bonds" of North Carolina are just as the title states -bonds posted because of the birth or impending birth of a bastard child. These bonds were intended to protect the county or parish from the expense of raising the child. It is asked that in reading this material the reader do so with love and understanding of the problems of these men and women. When the pregnancy of a woman or birth of a child was brought to the attention of the court, a warrant was issued and the woman brought into court. She was examined (questioned) under oath and asked to declare the name of the child's father. The reputed father was then served a warrant and required to post bond. If the woman refused to name the father, she, her father or some other interested party would post the bond. In some cases it was found that the mother and reputed father together posted the bond. If the woman refused to post bond or declare the father, she was often sent to jail. Occasionally it will be found that a womans name appears in the records several times. Refer to the Court Minutes to determine if this is for one or more cases of bastardy. This collection was started several years ago when the author was a resident of Raleigh where the extant bonds are located. These records came from either the actual bonds or bond books. For a more complete listing of the Bastardy Bonds of a particular county, it is suggested you read the county court minutes. Those bonds that have survived are only a very small percentage of the number recorded in the County Court and County Superior Court. The time period covered by this book is from the formation of a county to about 1878. It was felt that publishing anything more recent might be disturbing to some of our senior citizens. Only a handful of the North Carolina counties are covered in this book. The publishing of this material will provide one more full name index (22,000 names) to North Carolina. This will also help make people more aware of the information in the bonds and the possibility of locating linage through the use of this material. The author hopes that someone will record and publish the information from the remaining counties. The original material is in the state archives and due to the fact that the material has not been microfilmed, the work must be done in Raleigh. If you wish to have a copy of the original bond or bond book entry, it is suggested that you go to the North Carolina State Archives or hire a researcher to locate the paper. The North Carolina State Archives cannot do such research for you. Microfilm of the court records is available for a fee and this can usually be read in your local library and possibly donated to them when you finish with the film. As Margaret Hofmann once said in a class, "You haven't finished researching a county until you have read every piece of paper available and then read the adjacent counties". Reading the court minutes would be a good start in following her advice. Our grateful appreciation to James Van Comer for his work collecting the Bastardy Bond material from the Moore County Court Minutes. Every little bit of information is so important when you are dealing with a county with missing records. Margie