Could someone help answer a question, please. How was the dollar amount set for bond for letters of administration of an estate determined? Was it determined as a representative fraction percentage of the projected worth of an estate? Or was it determined as a figure a certain number of times greater than the anticipated value of an estate? I hope I am wording those questions clearly enough for everyone to understand. I did not realize I am so ignorant about this matter until now. I am working on a case in which a son applied for Letters of Administration in Sep. 1864 in Arkansas (a Confederate State). He named three persons as security for a $30,000 Bond. The family was well-off but $30,000 bond seems extraordinarily high. I have never seen a bond given for that kind of amount in any probate I have worked. I have land records and have seen the 1857 and 1861 tax rolls, and the 1865 tax roll of the estate. The deceased owned 600 acres. There were no more than six slaves from 1830-1860, as far as I can determine. The 1865 tax roll of the estate indicates three slaves. The 1860 Slave Schedule shows six, so perhaps three had already been sold by the time the estate was assessed. (When would the assessments have been made on the 1865 tax roll?) The 1860 census shows real estate valued at $4000 and personal at $7895. So why such a steep bond? A daughter-in-law of the deceased filed for guardianship of her nine children in Dec. 1864 in which she stated that each child was expected to inherit $400 from the grandfather’s estate. The widow’s widowed mother-in-law (widow of the above deceased) was named as one of the securities for the guardianship. Settlement of the estate was complicated by the ending of the war in 1865 and the son had to re-file for letters of administration in July 1866 as the new government did not recognize the former “so-called Confederacy.” The estate inventory was approved in August 1866 but I did not find that inventory. However, a report of the settlement of the estate was filed in Jan. 1868 in which it was stated that an appraisement made on the first and second days of November 1864 was $8532.70, excluding the slaves which were sold by order of the Court of Probate and that the sale there amounted to $4594.47. Debts paid out of the estate amounted to $1509.43. Debts collected by the estate were $3435.00. An additional interest of $297.25 was collected. The administrator son concludes the report by saying that he “returns herewith the confederate and other worthless treasury notes charged to him in Inventory first made of said estate on 8th Octr 1864 of $235.” Certainly all of these were substantial amounts in 1864 but, again, why the $30,000 bond for administration? Whether made in Confederate or U.S. currency, the amount seems out of relation to the worth of the estate. I looked at other nearby entries for letters of administration and bonds and one was just over $8000 and one for $1150, I think it was. So, back to my question, how was the amount of a bond determined? Many thanks for insight on this. Best, Thea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am a genealogist. I collect people. Thea Walden Baker, M.A. Full House Genealogy Boston University Certificate in Genealogical Research Member, Association of Professional Genealogists Co-editor, Arkansas Family Historian, a publication of the Arkansas Genealogical Society 501-230-3603

There may be specific laws, but I have never looked for them. Jo White Linn in "Tips for Genealogists" _Rowan County Register_, Vol. 1, No. 2, May 1986, p. 57 stated: "The administrator's bond was commonly twice the estimated value of the decedent's estate." In my years of research, I have found that to be a close estimate. Your listing of the appraisement and sale of slaves is little over $13,100. When you add in the debts collected vs. debts paid, there is an additional $1900, making roughly $15,000, so an original bond of $30,000 would be a close estimate of twice the estimated value, before they did the appraisement and sale of slaves. The purpose of making the administration bond twice the estimated value is I assume to discourage fraud, or the administrator keeping the whole estate for themselves. As long as they carry out the administration, then the amount of the bond is just a number. Only if they fail to administrate the estate would the bond come into play. Rick Saunders -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thea Baker via Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 11:24 AM To: Transitional Genealogists Subject: [TGF] $$$Bond for Probate Letters of Administration Could someone help answer a question, please. How was the dollar amount set for bond for letters of administration of an estate determined? Was it determined as a representative fraction percentage of the projected worth of an estate? Or was it determined as a figure a certain number of times greater than the anticipated value of an estate? I hope I am wording those questions clearly enough for everyone to understand. I did not realize I am so ignorant about this matter until now. I am working on a case in which a son applied for Letters of Administration in Sep. 1864 in Arkansas (a Confederate State). He named three persons as security for a $30,000 Bond. The family was well-off but $30,000 bond seems extraordinarily high. I have never seen a bond given for that kind of amount in any probate I have worked. I have land records and have seen the 1857 and 1861 tax rolls, and the 1865 tax roll of the estate. The deceased owned 600 acres. There were no more than six slaves from 1830-1860, as far as I can determine. The 1865 tax roll of the estate indicates three slaves. The 1860 Slave Schedule shows six, so perhaps three had already been sold by the time the estate was assessed. (When would the assessments have been made on the 1865 tax roll?) The 1860 census shows real estate valued at $4000 and personal at $7895. So why such a steep bond? A daughter-in-law of the deceased filed for guardianship of her nine children in Dec. 1864 in which she stated that each child was expected to inherit $400 from the grandfather's estate. The widow's widowed mother-in-law (widow of the above deceased) was named as one of the securities for the guardianship. Settlement of the estate was complicated by the ending of the war in 1865 and the son had to re-file for letters of administration in July 1866 as the new government did not recognize the former "so-called Confederacy." The estate inventory was approved in August 1866 but I did not find that inventory. However, a report of the settlement of the estate was filed in Jan. 1868 in which it was stated that an appraisement made on the first and second days of November 1864 was $8532.70, excluding the slaves which were sold by order of the Court of Probate and that the sale there amounted to $4594.47. Debts paid out of the estate amounted to $1509.43. Debts collected by the estate were $3435.00. An additional interest of $297.25 was collected. The administrator son concludes the report by saying that he "returns herewith the confederate and other worthless treasury notes charged to him in Inventory first made of said estate on 8th Octr 1864 of $235." Certainly all of these were substantial amounts in 1864 but, again, why the $30,000 bond for administration? Whether made in Confederate or U.S. currency, the amount seems out of relation to the worth of the estate. I looked at other nearby entries for letters of administration and bonds and one was just over $8000 and one for $1150, I think it was. So, back to my question, how was the amount of a bond determined? Many thanks for insight on this. Best, Thea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am a genealogist. I collect people. Thea Walden Baker, M.A. Full House Genealogy Boston University Certificate in Genealogical Research Member, Association of Professional Genealogists Co-editor, Arkansas Family Historian, a publication of the Arkansas Genealogical Society 501-230-3603

Most of the time, the amount of the time was determined by law. I am not aware of any state that created it as a percentage of any value, though it is possible that this may have occurred in some place at some time. Generally the amount was intentionally an exorbitant amount. The penalty ensured that the duties would be performed. It is similar to contracts today; for example, a nondisclosure agreement may have a million dollar penalty. Michael Hait, CG(sm) [email protected] http://www.haitfamilyresearch.com Author of *Online State Resources for Genealogy* ebook More information at http://haitfamilyresearch.com/onlineStates.htm CG and Certified Genealogist are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic competency evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. -----Original Message----- From: Thea Baker via Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 1:23 PM To: Transitional Genealogists Subject: [TGF] $$$Bond for Probate Letters of Administration Could someone help answer a question, please. How was the dollar amount set for bond for letters of administration of an estate determined? Was it determined as a representative fraction percentage of the projected worth of an estate? Or was it determined as a figure a certain number of times greater than the anticipated value of an estate? I hope I am wording those questions clearly enough for everyone to understand. I did not realize I am so ignorant about this matter until now. I am working on a case in which a son applied for Letters of Administration in Sep. 1864 in Arkansas (a Confederate State). He named three persons as security for a $30,000 Bond. The family was well-off but $30,000 bond seems extraordinarily high. I have never seen a bond given for that kind of amount in any probate I have worked. I have land records and have seen the 1857 and 1861 tax rolls, and the 1865 tax roll of the estate. The deceased owned 600 acres. There were no more than six slaves from 1830-1860, as far as I can determine. The 1865 tax roll of the estate indicates three slaves. The 1860 Slave Schedule shows six, so perhaps three had already been sold by the time the estate was assessed. (When would the assessments have been made on the 1865 tax roll?) The 1860 census shows real estate valued at $4000 and personal at $7895. So why such a steep bond? A daughter-in-law of the deceased filed for guardianship of her nine children in Dec. 1864 in which she stated that each child was expected to inherit $400 from the grandfather’s estate. The widow’s widowed mother-in-law (widow of the above deceased) was named as one of the securities for the guardianship. Settlement of the estate was complicated by the ending of the war in 1865 and the son had to re-file for letters of administration in July 1866 as the new government did not recognize the former “so-called Confederacy.” The estate inventory was approved in August 1866 but I did not find that inventory. However, a report of the settlement of the estate was filed in Jan. 1868 in which it was stated that an appraisement made on the first and second days of November 1864 was $8532.70, excluding the slaves which were sold by order of the Court of Probate and that the sale there amounted to $4594.47. Debts paid out of the estate amounted to $1509.43. Debts collected by the estate were $3435.00. An additional interest of $297.25 was collected. The administrator son concludes the report by saying that he “returns herewith the confederate and other worthless treasury notes charged to him in Inventory first made of said estate on 8th Octr 1864 of $235.” Certainly all of these were substantial amounts in 1864 but, again, why the $30,000 bond for administration? Whether made in Confederate or U.S. currency, the amount seems out of relation to the worth of the estate. I looked at other nearby entries for letters of administration and bonds and one was just over $8000 and one for $1150, I think it was. So, back to my question, how was the amount of a bond determined? Many thanks for insight on this. Best, Thea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am a genealogist. I collect people. Thea Walden Baker, M.A. Full House Genealogy Boston University Certificate in Genealogical Research Member, Association of Professional Genealogists Co-editor, Arkansas Family Historian, a publication of the Arkansas Genealogical Society 501-230-3603 ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thea, I agree with Michael in that I have never seen a bond amount specified in a law. Not that there may not be such, just that I have not seen them. The bonds I have seen appeared to be about 2 times the initial value of the estate. It appears to me that many things like this are according to local or accepted custom. For example, in Texas almost every probate court asks for "two disinterested witnesses" to testify about the decedent in an administration. However, there is no state law specifying any number. This is a frequent discussion on a probate attorney list-serve I am allowed to lurk on. None of 2000+ attorneys, judges, or law professors have ever found a statute, or in some research, even written "practices" within courts. It just is. best regards, d -- Dee Dee King, Certified Genealogist (sm), Certificate 903 Forensic Genealogy Services LLC and Contract Genealogist, US Navy Casualty, POW/MIA Branch Mail address - PO Box 1085, Manvel TX 77578 Telephone/fax 281-595-3090 www.forensicgenealogyservices.com www.facebook.com/forensicgenealogist Certified Genealogist (CG) is a service mark (sm) of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, conferred to associates who consistently meet ethical and competency standards in accord with peer-reviewed evaluations every five years, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.