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"Along Those Lines ..."
by George G. Morgan
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| Guardianship Records -- July 24, 1998 |
I recently ran across a case where one of my ancestors' brothers was appointed guardian of three girls. Locating these records caused me to do some research that I'd like to share with you this week in "Along Those Lines ...". Background On 11 February 1828 in the Pendleton District of South Carolina, William Swords was named the guardian of Elizabeth West, Nancy Ann West and Sarah West, minor children of Jonathan West. It seems that Jonathan West died and left a widow, Priscilla, and three daughters. The three girls were, according to the court, "each under 14 years of age" and therefore required a guardian to look after their needs until such time as they reached the age of majority. The children were referred to as orphans, even though their mother was still living. What Is A Guardian? A guardian is a person appointed by a court to manage the property ownership of an individual who is either a minor (younger than the legal age of majority as defined by the state under which the court lies) or who is mentally or physically incompetent by reason of age or other circumstance to manage his or her own affairs. Certainly guardians are appointed for other reasons as well. The guardian's role is usually to supervise the financial affairs of the person in question. In the case of the West children, Jonathan West died leaving a widow and children. Nowhere in the court records is there any indication that the children were not to live with their mother. You could infer that, in 1828, Priscilla West was possibly illiterate and unable to take charge of the finances for her children. In fact, another court record from later in the same month appoints a bank as trustee for the estate of Jonathan West and acting in the interests of Priscilla West. The guardian is responsible to the court to act responsibly in the interests of the person(s) in his charge until such time as they reach the age of majority or until there is another change in their condition, i.e., marriage or death. The guardian must submit an annual accounting to the court of his or her actions and any expenditures made on his charges' behalf. When the person(s) for whom he is responsible have a change in status, the guardian must also make a report to the court of that alteration in circumstance and present an accounting to close out his role on that person's behalf. That means that there may be additional records in the county courthouse that could help you trace the guardian or the person(s) for whom he was responsible. Orphans and the Appointment of the Guardian An orphan, in the eyes of the court, is an individual without one or both parents. Usually, a court refers to a child whose father is dead as an orphan for legal purposes. In another circumstance, the court might declare a child an "orphan" if its mother owned property and left it to the child, specifically excluding the child's father from inheriting any interest in it. The so-called "orphan" becomes a separate entity requiring the benefit of an administrator of his or her interests. There are usually two court processes involved: 1) the declaration that a person is incompetent to handle his or her affairs, and In the first court process, the age of the child is ascertained. This a very important point. The age of 14 years (as shown in the illustration above) is critical. If you find the appointment of a guardian, it usually indicates that the child was under the age of 14. Children of the age of 14 years and above could usually make their own legal decision of who they wished to act in their behalf. (There are certainly exceptions to this rule.) The guardian usually acted on behalf of his charge(s) until he/she/they reached the age of 21 years unless, as discussed above, there is a change in status -- such as death or marriage. In the second court process, the guardian is legally appointed and the name(s) of his charge(s) are listed. It is not uncommon for there to be multiple guardians appointed to act for different children in the same family. It may not have been practical for one person to act as guardian for an entire family of children. Also, if some children were a product of one marriage and others from a previous marriage, it may have been desirable to appoint guardians from the families of the different spouses to act on behalf of their blood kin. One or both of these processes may be separate from the process of probate, in which the estate of the deceased parent is registered, proved and administered. Certainly, some estates took a long period to be probated and distributed. In the meantime, the needs of the children had to be attended to. Therefore, sometimes temporary guardians were appointed strictly for the probate period and/or until arrangements could be made to place the child or children with relatives. Alternatives to Guardianships In some cases, parents couldn't support their children and the county took on the responsibility to support them. They were often sent to places referred to as orphan homes, orphan asylums, almshouses, workhouses or poor houses. You will often find records of county-operated institutions on the county tax rolls. Names of individuals housed at these places are usually included because there is a price associated with the maintenance of each one. Depending on the time frame, census records, too, may provide information about the residents. Church-supported institutions may be more difficult to find or to access. Non-government operated institutions' records may no longer exist or may be impossible to locate. They may reside in a county office or in a state archive, in a county or local historical society's collection, in a local library's vertical files, or in a private collection. Quite often, unfortunately, the records simply disappeared after the institution closed its doors. Sometimes a child was apprenticed to learn a trade. A poor family that could not provide for all its children might choose to bind a child to a master via an indenture. A poor father might also make such arrangements and include directions in his will for a child to learn a trade. The master who accepted an apprentice takes responsibility as his guardian. He is usually responsible to feed and clothe the apprentice in addition to teaching him the trade. He might also be required by the local or county government to insure that the apprentice attended school. Indentures for apprenticeships can often be found in county records. What Does It All Mean? As you can see, there were a variety of ways in which an underage minor child's interests could be protected. There are also public records that documented the processes and the accounting. I learned that the records of William Swords acting as guardian of the West children are detailed and tell the story of a portion of the West family's life. I also learned that there are other types of guardians and there are other records that document those situations. If you have male ancestors who died leaving young children, there's a possibility that there may be records of guardianship or other arrangements. While there may be a will that went through probate, there may be other records too. Don't overlook these other records. They may hold clues to names, ages, dates of birth and other information that you've been seeking. Happy hunting! George Click Here for George Morgan's Archive
Copyright 1998 George G. Morgan All Rights reserved "Along Those Lines ..." is a weekly feature of the Genealogy Forum on America Online (Keyword: ROOTS). This column originally appeared in the Genealogy Forum on America Online. You may send E-mail alonglines@aol.com. George Morgan would like
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