In the class of mechanics who were serving terms under the provisions of formal indentures, there must be included the numerous orphans and indigent children who were bound out to acquire proficiency in crafts.
In 1656, it was provided that all orphans whose estates were not sufficient to meet the expense of their free education, or whose kinsmen or friends were unable to furnish them support, should be instructed in the mysteries of manual pursuits until they reached their majority. Sixteen years later, the county courts were empowered to apprentice the sons of poor men to tradesmen up to the age of twenty-one, and to bind the daughters over to employment suited to their sex until their eighteenth year. The church wardens of the different parishes were directed to present the names of the children who were thus to be placed with a view to their training in some manual art.[1]
There are many instances in the county records to show that the provisions of these laws were carried into practice. In 1681, Samuel Bond was apprenticed to Benjamin Brock of York, a skilful carpenter, with a view to acquiring a knowledge of the trade of a wheelwright and turner. His term was to continue for five years. The mutual obligations assumed are worthy of enumeration. Bond agreed to keep inviolate the secrets of his master; to obey him with strictness and cheerfulness; to inflict upon him no injury, and to warn him of impending harm if observed; to commit no waste in using his property, and to refrain from lending any portion of it to other persons. Bond
- ↑ Hening’s Statutes, vol. I, p. 416; vol. II, p. 298.
County original vol. 1698-1713, p. 130). In his will, Thomas Wythe of Elizabeth City County directed that his “negro Tom doe tann as many hides yearlely as shall be needfull for both familys, that is, my mother’s and mine.” See Records of Elizabeth City County, vol. 1684-1699, p. 35, Va. State Library.
