The apprentice bonds of Tyrrell County, NC are available on microfilm for the period
1739 - 1884. They include some misfiled guardian bonds, which are indicated
as such in this extract in the trade column. There are also some post-Civil War warrants for
masters to appear in court and a few petitions to the court by apprentices. The
apprentice bonds are generally filed in date sequence and there are multiple copies
of the apprentice bonds in some cases. Where multiple bonds were encountered,
this transcription represents a compilation of all data available using the first date.
There are very few bonds after the Civil War.
The columns in the extract of apprentice bonds should be self-explanatory. The date of the
bond is followed by the name of the master and then the name of the apprentice(s). Next
are the trade the master is to teach the apprentice(s), the term of service (if listed) and
the name(s) of any bondsman. Sometimes an apprentice's parent or parents and/or ages were
listed in the bond. These are listed with the apprentice's name in the
apprentice column. The term of service can also be used in determining age, based on the
fact that service was terminated at the age of 21 except for white females, whose term of
service was 18 years.
North Carolina law provided for binding out as apprentices all free base born children, all
children under age whose fathers have deserted their families and have been absent for one
year, all orphans whose estates are so small that they will not cover their education and
maintenance, and where application is made to the wardens of the poor. It also provided for
apprenticeship of all free base born children of color and all the children of free negroes
and mulattoes where the parents of such children are not gainfully employed. In fact,
during the last 30 years before the Civil War, the children of free persons of color were
apprenticed en masse.
Since bastardy bonds do not normally list a child's name, apprentice bonds can be used in
conjunction to ascertain that information. For example, my gggrandfather, George Merritt,
was the base born son of Joseph Gibson and Keziah Merritt. This was established through
bastardy bonds and wills. I also noted in bastardy bonds that Keziah's sister had two
base born children, but had never been able to determine their names. It is now possible
to do that through these apprentice bonds. Besides George Merritt, Jeremiah and Asa Merritt
appear herein at the right time frame.
These extracts are the result of one pass through the actual bonds. I did not start recording
bondsmen in the beginning. Therefore, I am making a second pass through the bonds, checking all
data and adding bondsmen where extant. I am finding some records that were missed. Once this
process is completed, these pages will be updated.