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RECORD OF INDENTURED SERVANTS AND APPRENTICESHIPS
OF
GREEN CREEK TWP., SANDUSKY CO., OHIO.
The adoption of the
Ordinance of 1787 by the federal government provided for the legal establishment
of the first governmental unit in Ohio, the township. When Ohio became a state
in 1803, the township became a political subdivision of state government. Its
powers were granted by the state legislature, and its functions were directed by
the state of Ohio. One of its powers, granted in 1804, was overseeing the care
of the "poor." Ohio's poor laws included establishing contracts for indentured
servants and apprenticeships for children under the age of 18. Township trustees
also were empowered to contract out the care of residents who were unable to
provide for themselves. Under Ohio law, care of the poor was assigned to the
lowest bidder. The laws were modeled after those of eastern states. In turn,
states formed from the Northwest Territory based their poor laws on those of
Ohio. In 1850, Ohio passed statutes directing that orphans be removed from
almshouses and placed in institutions specifically dedicated to their
care.
Many of these records
have failed to survive, but the agreements regarding apprenticeships and
indentured servants for Green Creek
Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, were recorded in a single volume. The
ledger contains a chronological record of 28 contracts entered into by township
officials between the years 1834 and 1876. Abstracts
of these contracts appear in the description of this collection of
records. |