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Date Original
1816 September 23
Description
These two documents are bonds of guardianship for the penal sum of seven hundred dollars for William Harris to be guardian of Nat Harris and Abner Harris. Each price would only have to be paid if William Harris failed to discharge the duties of a guardian according to law.
Biographical/Historical Note
For a genealogist, guardianship papers are a rare treat. When parents died on the frontier between the rate of illiteracy and difficulty in traveling to county seats, children were often adopted or given into the care of relatives without any legal paperwork involved. This was particularly true amongst poorer families who had few, if any, substantive assets. In this case however, Nat and Abner Harries were official assigned a new guardian. William Harris was likely a relative, perhaps an uncle, older brother, or cousin.
Transcription
[Page 1]
Know all men by thrse[sic] pnsents[sic] that we William
Harris Lewis de Mun and John P Maxwell
are held and firmly bound unto William Clark the governor
of the Territory of Missouri and his successor in office in the
penal sum of seven hundred ________ dollars ahich
payment well and truly to be made we bind ourselves
our heirs executors and administrators firmly by these
presents __ Witnss[sic] our hands and seals this 23rd day
of September 1816
The Condition of this obligation is such that
whereas the above bounden William Harris
has been appointed by the circuit court court[sic] of __
the county aforesaid Guardian of Nat Harris
___ a minor of the ----- Now
if the said William Harris shall well and
truly discharge the dulus[duties] of Guardian to the said
Nat Harris _______ according to law . Then
this obligation to be void and of no effect otherwise to
remain in full force and Virtue
William Harris
Lewis de Mun
John P Maxwell
In prcnce[presence] of____
Lewis de Mun Clk[clerk]
(page 2)
Know all men by these presents that we William
Harris Lewis de Mun and John P Maxwell
are held and firmly bound unto William Clark the Governor
of the Territory of Missouri and his successors in office in
the penal sum of Seven hundred ____ dollars which
payment well and truly to be made we bind ourselves
our hiers and firmly by these presents __ Witness our
hands and seals this 23rd day of September 1816
The condition of this obligation is such that whereas the above bounden William Harris has been
appointed by this circuit court of the county of Lawrence
Guardian of Abner Harris _________ a minor
of the age of years Now if the said
William Harris shall well and faithfully
discharge the duties of Guardian of the said
Abner Harris ________according to law then this
Obligation to be void and of no effect otherwise to
remain in full force and virtue
William Harris
Lewis de Mun
John P Maxwell
In presence of Lewis de Mun Clk[clerk]
Physical Description
Document, 12" x 7.5"
Subjects
Guardian and ward; Frontier and pioneer life; Children; Child rearing; Orphans; Law; Probate law and practice
Contributor
William Harris
Geographical Area
Lawrence County (Ark.)
Language
English
Identifier
MSNE.0054, Box 12, Folder 881
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Lawrence County (Ark.) probate records, MSNE.0054
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives
Recommended Citation
Probate, Guardianship of Nat and Abner Harris, Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives, Powhatan, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
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