Carolyn N Gibbons

Cumberland County NC Bastards, Guardians and Other Genealogical Abstracts Carolyn N Gibbons

The minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions in the early 1800s are filled with so many interesting items, much more than one would at first think of being in the court records. If a man wanted to build a mill, sell liquor by the drink, build or discontinue a ferry or a bridge he had to go to court. If an unmarried woman became pregnant, she came to court to charge the father for maintenance of the child. If a child was not being provided for, either because of losing one or both parents or from parental neglect, he or she was brought into court and bound out until the age of 18 for a girl or 21 for a boy. These are just a few examples - practically anything you can think of was addressed somewhere, sometime in the courthouse. This book abstracts all mentions of the unmarried women and their children, the binding out of orphans or neglected children, guardians appointed for children or insane, and all mentions of named slaves in addition to other items of genealogical interest.