Cindy, I have an exact transcription of an indenture bond for a 7 year old child who was "bound out" of the same Washington County Poorhouse in NY state where my own g-g-grandmother lived as a child of the same age. It is posted at http://www.poorhousestory.com/INDENTURE_BOND_Explanation.htm on my website (The POORHOUSE STORY). Since this was a legal document (IF a formal indenture process was followed)... you may be able to track the bonds down with county officials. However, occasionally these removals of children from poorhouses was done informally. I thought you might like to see the terms and language used in these indenture bonds for children. Good Luck! Linda Crannell (aka=The Poorhouse Lady) -----Original Message----- From: Cindy Courtier [mailto:CCourtier@russreid.com] Sent: Monday, January 22, 2001 9:58 AM To: OHBELMON-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [OHBELMON-L] "Bound out" children in Belmont Co. I'm looking for the nine children of Josiah Wilson and Phoebe Durnal who were "bound out" to families in Belmont County, most possibly in the Boston and Somerset Township areas in 1856 or 1857. According to a history written by a descendant of one of the children, "His (John Wesley Wilson's) mother died when he was fourteen years old, leaving nine motherless children, of which my father was the oldest but one. All these nine children were 'bound out' after their mother's death; that is they were placed around among the neighbors with such families as would take them and they were bound to service until 21 years of age. Fortunately my father was bound out to a fine old man who lived near Boston (Jimmy Lyne), and he remained with him until the fall of 1861." The father referred to is John Wesley Wilson, b. Sept 1840 who served in the 30th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and married Caroline Virginia Atkinson in Feb 1866. I would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who can tell me more about "bound out" children, where records for them might be located, or anyone who knows of Wilson children born between 1855 and 1838 who were bound out to families in Belmont County. Thanks! Cindy Courtier ccourtier@russreid.com