Well, at least in NC and I think in most states, the legal age was 21.
Children were listed as "infants" until that age, even if they were married. I
have been researching my family for 30 years, and researching for others for 5
years, and have seen many records where the "infant" was married yet still
had a guardian. Sometimes the mother was appointed guardian, but most often
it was a male of some affluence and influence in the community. You are
right, a child was an "orphan" if the father was deceased. The children did
not
necessarily live with the guardian, whose function was primarily to protect
the children's financial interest and well-being. Most often, if the mother
was not living and/or the child had no one or no means to take care of him, he
would be "bound out" to a member of the community to raise him. My own gg
grandfather was "bound out" at age 5 to a man who was ordered to teach him to
"read and write and figures to the mastery of three." At the time he "came
of
age", he was to be given 2 good suits of clothes (new), a saddle, and a
Bible. He was also to be taught a trade, which in his case turned out to be
shoemaking. (We are very lucky that he was bound out to a very fine man, who in
turn raised him to be a fine fellow and a respected citizen in the community.
It could have been, and sometimes was, very different!)
A widow had a right to one-third interest in the estate, called her "dower
right". I have seen a some cases in which the widow has remarried and she and
her new husband have applied for her dower right in the estate. Another
interesting document generated is the appointment of usually 3 - 5 "good men"
to
go to the residence of the widow and "lay off a year's support" for the
widow (and her family, if there were minor children.) The list of what she is
given varies, but is always interesting to read. It is usually all the crops,
so much meat, etc., existing at the time. If there is not enough to support
her for a year, the "insufficiency" is often made up out of the estate
settlement in the form of cash or proceeds from land sale, etc. I have many
documents that show the widow buying back some of her own household goods at an
estate sale. And I often see a debit against the settlement for "whiskey" (or
"liquor") for the sale or to "help the sale."
One other note here: "junior" did not necessarily mean "son of." The
terms
junior and senior were used to denote that there were two men of the same
name, the older being sr. and the younger being jr., in the community. Often
they were father and son, but just as often uncle and nephew, and sometimes not
even related!
I hope this helps and doesn't confuse everyone!
Dee
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