The age of majority for males and females was 21. However, a father 
could establish a different age if he so chose.
You cannot assume anything. The court could have allowed the division 
because the married daughter's husband petitioned for her share. The 
share of an underage child would have been placed with the guardian, who 
guarded not the child but the property.
The wife did not have to be named in the will. She automatically 
received her dower portions--one third of any real estate for life and 
at least a child's part of the personal property.

The guardian accounts probably provide the best clue. What was the date 
of the last item in the accounts? Since the guardianship ended when the 
child came of age, this should provide some help in establishing that 
date, unless there were later accounts that do not survive.

Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS
PO Box 1273
Orange, VA 22960

540-832-3473
[log in to unmask]

CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used
under license by board-certified genealogists after periodic evaluation; the board name is
registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.

On 10/9/2014 11:57 AM, Martha Katz-Hyman wrote:
> In connection with research I am doing for the new museum that will replace
> the Yorktown Victory Center, I am investigating the life of Edward Moss,
> one of the members of the very large Moss family of York County.
>
> This Edward Moss (there were many of that name!) was the son of James Moss
> (son of William Moss & Elizabeth Goodwin) and an unknown wife who evidently
> predeceased him (no wife is named in his will). James died in 1762 leaving
> 3 children (John, Edward and Ann/Anna) all under the age of 21. James's
> estate appears not to have been finally settled until December 1772, when
> 16 slaves were divided among the three children (not all of the slaves
> named in the inventory are included in the division). By 1772 John was no
> longer an "orphan" and Ann was married, but I am assuming that this is the
> year that Edward also reached his majority.
>
> My questions:
>
> 1) What was the age of majority in Virginia for both genders in the third
> quarter of the eighteenth century?
> 2) Am I correct in assuming that the slaves were not divided until 1772
> because before that date Edward was still an "orphan"?
> 3) There are records in the York County Guardians Accounts from 1773-1775
> for the expenses Thomas Smith incurred as guardian of Edward Moss. Was
> Edward Moss still an "orphan" or are these accounts (recorded in 1774 &
> 1775) "after the fact" accountings that Thomas Smith presented to the court?
>
> Thanks for your help in figuring this out!!
>
> Martha Katz-Hyman
> Curator
> Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
> Williamsburg, VA
>
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