You know, I have seen records when a family of my ancestors, HARWELL or HARVELL (I've seen it spelled both ways)in Warren & Halifax Counties, NC, were bound out all under 3 years old in 1798 -1802. Now, I say to myself, what kind of work did they think those young children could do, they were babies. The mother was a free woman of color, the children illegitimate, so I know the law required the children to be bound out, even for just one of those circumstances, but come on now, it must have required the children to be taken care of by someone else, probably another slave, and I would have thought that would be more of a burden to the person who the children were bound out to. It really makes me sad when I see those records of those young children being sent to live with strangers, it must have been a very traumatic experience for them. I can't even imagine what I would do if someone took away my children at any age, and my heart cries out for those women who suffered through this kind of thing.

Deloris