Genealogy Gold by Ancestral Findings4 Syys

Using Bastardy Bonds in Family Research

A missing father can stop a family line very quickly. You may know the mother, where she lived, and what happened to the child later in life, yet still have no record that names the father.

There may be no birth certificate. The parents may never have married. The child may appear in early records under the mother's surname and later use another surname.

Before deciding that the father's name was never written down, check the county court.

For many years, local officials wanted to know who would support a child born to unmarried parents. Counties did not want the cost of caring for the child to fall on public funds if a father could be made responsible. This created a group of records often referred to as bastardy bonds or bastardy records.

The words sound harsh today. "Bastard" and "bastardy" were legal terms used in older records. They are not words we would use today to describe a person. You may still need to use them when searching an archive or courthouse catalog because that is how the records were named.

These files can be very useful. They may name the mother, the man said to be the father, the people who signed the bond, and sometimes the child. You may also find court orders, statements, warrants, and records of support payments.

The important thing is to read the whole case carefully. A man's name in one court paper is evidence, but it is not always proof that he was the biological father...

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