It seems to me she's already appeared in court about it ... it wouldn't be a secret... My family roots have been, up to this time, primarily in California, but include some other western states. I've just never heard of such a thing! It's very practical, I suppose. :) We're talking the 1700 and early 1800s then, was there no great social stigma attached to being an unwed mother? deb At 01:41 PM 8/2/01, lynda wilson wrote: >If a woman had a child out of wedlock in NC she was required to name >the father so that he would support the child. If she chose not to (in >court) then she had to name 3 men who would help pay for the >childs needs. Sometimes one of those 3 men might be the father. >A note about the book on NC bonds. It was determined not to >print any bonds less then 70 years old so as not to embarrass the >living. (The book was printed in the early 1900's.) >Different states have different rules. In Tennessee the bastard >records are kept in the general court session records - not separately >like in NC. >Lynda > > >==== NCROOTS Mailing List ==== >NCGenWeb list of NC genealogy links: >http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncgenweb/list.html

> -----Original Message----- > From: deb Christensen [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2001 4:11 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [NCROOTS] Bastardy bonds > > > It seems to me she's already appeared in court about it ... it > wouldn't be a secret... > > My family roots have been, up to this time, primarily in > California, but include some other western states. I've just > never heard of such a thing! > > It's very practical, I suppose. :) > > We're talking the 1700 and early 1800s then, was there no great > social stigma attached to being an unwed mother? > > deb > I speak not from experience, because I am not quite old enough to remember the late 1700's and early 1800's. Unwed mothers existed then as now and probably always will. As I understand the concept of 'Bastardy Bonds", it was a way for the state to see that the child was cared for. I do not believe that it was meant to brand the mother in any way. In researching genealogy in a time when records were sometimes sparce and often destroyed before our time, Bastardy Bonds provide a source of information. While true, they may not name the father, they often would name persons that thought enough about the mother and her child to help guarantee the child's upbringing. Sometimes this could be relatives of the mother. I have seen numerous times where a name would appear that would seem to connect to a name I was researching. The link usually gave no proof of connection, but it was a lead in my continuing research. Just an opinion. Larry Noah - [email protected] Listowner for Rootswebs lists: NCOrange-L, BrickChurchNC-L, BEARSE-L, NOAH-L and BELK-L

I don't think the court cared about social stigma - they just didn't want to have to support the children or the mother in a poor house. Lynda