CHAP.
XXXIX.
by the Interest
of their
Estate, without
Diminution
of the
Principal.
Which if too
small, the Orphans
shall
be bound Apprentices
by
the County
Court, till the
Age of 21,
unless their
Education,
&c. be undertaken
by
some
Kinsman,
&c.
Children of a
Protestant
may be taken
from a Papist
Mother, &c.
Cattle, &c.
to be returned
to Orphans
in Kind.
Money, Plate,
&c. to be
paid in Specie,
Houshold
Stuff, &c. to
be appraised,
and paid in
Money or
Tobacco.
Male Orphans
to be of
Age at 21.
Infant Executors,
are capable
of that
Trust at the
Age of 17. |
Intestate, or against the Filial Portion of any Child committed to
any Guardian,
or other Persons, intrusted by the County Court: But the said orphan
shall be maintained and educated by the Interest of their Estate, and the
Increase
of their Stocks, so far forth as their said Interest and Increase will
extend
unto. But if the Estate be so small that the Interest or Increase
thereof
will not extend to a free Education and Maintainance of such Orphans, then
such Orphans shall be bound Apprentices to Mariners, or some Handycraft
Trade, or other Person, at the Discretion of the County Courts, until they
arrive to the Age of Twenty-One Years; except some kinsman or Relation,
or some other charitable person will maintain and educate them for the
Increase
of the small Estate they have, without any Diminution of the Principal,
which shall always be delivered to the Orphans at the Years hereafter in
this
Act limited and appointed; then such Kinsman, Relation, or other charitable
Person, is thereby obliged to perform what is by this Law before enjoined,
and to be ascertained by the County Courts.
X. Provided always,
That where any Person, being
a Protestant, shall
die, and leave a Widow and Children, and such Widow shall intermarry with
any person o the Romish Communion, or be herself of that Opinion
and
Profession, it shall and may be lawful for his Majesty's * Governor and
Council, within this Province, upon Application to them made, to remove
such Child or Children out of the
Custody of such Parents, and place them
where they may be securely educated in the Protestant Religion; and to
order
such reasonable Maintainance for such Child or Children so removed, out
of
the Estate or Estates belonging to such Child or Children, in whose Hands
soever; having Respect that only the Yearly Profits and increase thereof
be
applied thereto, and such Children's Estates be not diminished thereby.
* By the Act of 1729, ch. 24, §,
12 and 13, the County Court may, on Application, remove
such Children out of the Mother's Custody, and place them under protestant
Trustees, and allow
the Interest of their Estates, or such part thereof as may be necessary,
for their Support, so
as not to diminish the principal Estate. But an Appeal shall lie
in the Premises from the County
Court to the Governor and Council. And the like Care shall be taken,
that the Children of
all Protestants of the Church of England, shall be brought up in
the Principles of that Church.
XI. Third,
That all Cattle, Horses and Sheep
shall be returned in Kind
by the Guardians, or other Persons
intrusted with Orphans Estates, (That is
to say,) so many Cattle, Horses and Sheep, as were delivered to the
Guardians
or Trustees of the Orphans, and as near as can be, of like Value.
XII.
Fourth, That
all Money, Plate, Rings and Jewels, be preserved,
and not used by the Guardians or Trustees, and delivered to the Orphans
when the come to age. And that all Houshold Stuff and Lumber be appraised
in Money, and not otherwise, and the Value thereof paid to the Orphans
as aforesaid, either in Money according to the Appraisement, of in Tobacco
at the then Price Current. And in case any Difference shall arise
what
shall be Price Current at the Day of Payment limited in the Bond taken,
the
Justices of the County Court, where the Orphan's Estate doth lie, shall
then
determine what shall be the Price Current.
XIII. Fifth,
That every Male Orphan shall
be of full Age, to receive
his Estate from his Guardian, at the Age of Twenty-one Years, and not before.
But in case any Person, by his Last Will and Testament, doth appoint
any Person to be his Executor or Executrix, that is full Seventeen Years
of
Age; that Person, so appointed, shall be adjudged to be of sufficient ge
to
be Executor or Executrix: And if such Executor or Executrix be under
the
Age of Seventeen Years, the Administration shall then be committed to such
proper Person as the Judge for Probate of Wills and granting Administrations
shall legally approve of, durante
Minoritate, to the Profit, use and Behoof
of the Infant Executor or Executrix, and not otherwise, nor in any other
Manner. |
