Reason for guardianship
In Full text search I found a Thomas Shields in Alexandria who received a guardian, Joshua C. Laws on 24 Mar 1807 after his apprenticeship was dismissed by a court. Later that day Mary Ann Gee also received the same guardian. She was 18 years old. 2 April 1807 the two "orphans" were married with the guardian's permission. I am stumped on these two people and am trying to find out why they needed guardians.
For more background. Thomas was bound as an apprentice 8 May 1802 by his mother Ann Tyler (formerly Shields, wife of William Shields) and her husband William Tyler. Thomas went to court in March 1807 with a complaint against his master and got released.
I believe Mary Ann was born in Pennsylvania to Ralph Gee and Jane (Saul) Gee. I have her baptism at 2nd Presbyterian Church. Ralph died in 1790 and somehow Mary Ann ended up in Alexandria. I can find nothing more about her mother other than she was likely a milliner. Unfortunately the church records are not available at home, or local library and I can't get to a stake library. The baptism I found on ancestry.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might have been going on?
Answers
-
You didn't say which Alexandria you meant, so I can't look this up, but what was the age of full majority there in 1807? It could be as high as 24 years (though it was often lower for women).
1 -
Alexandria, Virginia or District of Columbia
0 -
I believe 21 was age if majority but the question is how do I find out why they needed guardians? I understand land or property must be involved. Thomas was taking care of himself. So maybe the guardian was to keep an eye on him and his business. I can't find his parents dying.
0 -
Can you give us the URL to the guardianship paperwork you found by Full-Text Search? Often, such a guardianship is not to take care of the minor, but to safeguard any inheritance a child may have.
0 -
For those that would want to take a look at the referenced record for the Thomas Shields mentioned, here's a link [assuming it 'works']
Just in case that doesn't work here's a portion of the record…
Know all Men by these presents that the Joshua C Laws and Edward Lee an held and firmly bound to George Gilpin esquire Judge of the Orphans Court for the County of Alexandria in the district of Columbia and his successor in office in the sum of two hundred dollars to the payment whereof will and truly to be made we bind ourselves our Heirs , executors and administrators jointly and severally firmly by these presents sealed with our seals and dated this 24th day of March 1807 . The condition of the above obligation is such that if the above bound Joshua C Lawes Guardian of Thomas Shields his executors and administrators do and shall well and truly pay unto the said Orphan all such Estate and estate as now is he shall come to the hands and possession of the said Guardian when the said Orphan shall attain lawful age or when thereto required by the said Court....'
0 -
Just a little tweak to the URL to repair the %3A problem:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P4-NX1S?view=fullText0 -
This is my tree.
0 -
Based on what you wrote in your original post, the father of Thomas Shields was already deceased in 1802, when he was bound as an apprentice by his mother and stepfather. Mary Ann's father was likewise deceased, so they were both, in fact, orphans.
Rescued link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P4-NX1S?i=446.
I can't make enough sense of the old legalese to figure out if there's any indication of why that guardian, and not, say, Thomas's stepfather, but it mentions a bond in the sum of $200, which was a lot of money back then, so I think the answer is very likely financial: few men could've afforded those kinds of sums. (Various online inflation calculators are saying anything from about $2000 to over $4000 in today's dollars.)
Both appointments just say stuff about payment of estate when the orphan attains his or her majority, so other than "some kind of property", we can't tell from these documents exactly what was the reason for the guardian.
0 -
If the bond was $200, that was likely an estimated percentage of the value of the estate. As I mentioned before , a guardianship was usually a safeguard of the value of the estate, not to care for the the minor child.
0 -
I haven't been able to find Thomas' father or step-father. Mary Ann's guardianship is just a page or two away from Thomas'. Her father died in 1790 and I don't know what happened to her mother. There is must a delay and from what I can tell her father, Ralph didn't have any property. According to the newspaper everything was sold after his death.
0 -
The inheritance doesn't have to be from her father. There might have been wealth or property from an earlier generation on either side. I've often found an inheritance distribution to a grandchild whose parent(s) died before the grandparent.
"my distributive share in the estate of said deceased, I being the only child of Susan A Hale, now deceased, who was a daughter of said William Hale, deceased.
0 -
Unfortunately I can't get past these two children except with possible parents. Little to no information about the possible parents.
0