>Bonds were and remain universally required in guardianships, since in those one person is given charge of the assets of another.  Through such bonds the world was assured that whatever the ward had would be protected.  The court has always had the power and authority to waive that requirement, however in the past courts did not do so as readily as today, since it was so very easy - and not uncommon - for scofflaws to sneak off to the frontier and disappear forever.  

Everyone should realize that, in an age where photographic likenesses were rare and fingerprint identification unheard of, avoiding legal consequences was pretty easy. In the Civil War, for example, "bounty jumpers" would enlist, collect the bounty being offered, then desert at the first opportunity, enlisting again somewhere else. One story I particularly like is of a veteran Midwestern regiment watching as a green replacement unit marched past to the front. One wag among the hardened troops sang out "there goes a thousand dollars and a cow." He was, of course, alluding to the problem of bounty jumpers collecting what were enormous sums of money. Several hundred dollars were often paid enlistees for an army that paid privates $19 a month.

It shouldn't be surprising, then, that courts wanted hard cash or property put up to insure that a guardian would do as he promised.

Bill Cross

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