I found in the court minutes the apprenticing of my Abner Pace as an orphan in 1837, and also a court order that he was to be brought into court to be apprenticed. This was in Guilford County.. The question in my mind is where was he that he had to be brought into court? Can anyone explain where orphans or poor families might have been cared for until the children reached an age that they could be apprenticed out. Abner was 16 when apprenticed, but some of the other Paces were as young as 11, females for housework I would assume though that is not stated in the apprentice bonds. None of these court orders gave the name of the parents and it is possible that only the father was dead. I have noticed in these court papers the assignment of guardians for children of deceased parents, even when one parent is still alive (especially if it is the mother who has survived). Was a guardian always assigned in the case of the children where one or both parents were deceased. It appears to me that the guardian bonds were quite high ($250-500), and that suggests to me that this was done only in the case of wealthy children, or children from wealthy families at least. Of course, I have only read through several years of Guilford court records and it may be pure chance that the ones entered in that period tended to be those for wealthy families. But I have noticed none where the guardian bond was under $250. I might add that I have yet to find guardian bonds for my Abner and the other Paces, but I am still going backward in time on the court minutes. I have yet to find the parents' names of my orphan Paces, and any guidance anyone could give would be appreciated. I do not know whether one or both parents were deceased, although my Abner and the other Paces (siblings or cousins) were called orphans. Betty Pace - Norfolk, VA ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]