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I was curious the youngest someone could be a purchaser on an estate. Specifically if I see someone who purchased multiple items from an estate in North Carolina in 1767 what age minimum would that likely imply, if at all?
In general colonial America used English law...adulthood was 21.
But lawful age for marriage of female was 12 & male was 14.
However, women over 21 were not considered independent adults unless they had been married and then widowed & not re-married. Either their husbands or fathers held the property and assets & made the financial decisions.
I was curious the youngest someone could be a purchaser on an estate. Specifically if I see someone who purchased multiple items from an estate in North Carolina in 1767 what age minimum would that likely imply, if at all?
A minor would have a parent or guardian who controlled any money the minor had, so a purchase in the name of the minor would have been made by the guardian, I suspect.
A minor would have a parent or guardian who controlled any money the minor had, so a purchase in the name of the minor would have been made by the guardian, I suspect.
Maybe you can help me with that too, one entry I can read the other I'm not sure
The first time it mentions him seems to be "one as a" but I must be missing something
The second item seems to be "one chest"
If he's not purchasing land, he may not be 21. A chest probably does not require one to be 21. I'm not sure what the first one says - I think it's probably an item and some of the lettering has faded.
Actually, looking at the other entries, the author is using a certain symbol, I think it might be like an "&" or perhaps supposed to be a comma. At first, because it preceded a number that seems to correlate with the cost on the right, I though it was a money symbol, but it is also used in "a parcel of knifes [symbol] forks" for example. But then it makes more sense as a comma when it precedes the numbers. In any case, this symbol seems to be used in the line in question (the one you're reading as "one as a") but I am not sure how.
On the topic of the money though - the first column is pounds, then shillings, then pence. There were 12 pence in a shilling, and 20 shillings (or 240 pence) in a pound. So for example, the first line says "To Jacob Bethney four Dishes [symbol] 32/" - this is saying 32 shillings, which would be the same as 1 pound, 12 shillings (which is what is in the columns). So in the mystery line, whatever he bought was worth 6 shillings. This is definitely not land - and in my experience, land normally wasn't listed in the estate sales anyway. I definitely would not assume he was 21 from this.
Maybe you can help me with that too, one entry I can read the other I'm not sure
The first time it mentions him seems to be "one as a" but I must be missing something
The second item seems to be "one chest"
I think the first item is "one ax." On the second page Jacob Bethney bought a "broad ax."
I think the "a" is a symbol for "and". Then there is the ellipsis, as if the writer did not know what the second item was.
On the second page there is a reference to "eight sows *symbol* fifty pigs." That would also be "and" I suspect.
As far as his age is concerned, I suspect Isham would not be buying an ax and a chest unless he had his own household.
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