The courthouse at Colonial Williamsburg has a wealth of knowledge in the form of a very informative interpretor. Here are the facts:
* When someone takes an apprentice, he agrees to not only teach the child his trade, but to also make sure he/she goes to church, does not frequent taverns, plus learns to read and write.
* Men under 21 and women under 18 were considered infants and could not be married without parental consent. (Guess what, you couldn’t vote until you were 21 years old either. If you were a woman, of course you could not vote at all.)
* Gossiping women would be dunked into the lake as their punishment. Now that sounds interesting!
* The deputy sheriff was paid directly out of the Sheriff’s pocket.
* The Sheriff was not a paid position, but was compensated with fees from the people for his services.
* Jury was not allowed food, drink, heat or light of candle until an unanimous decision was reached. Talk about speeding up the process!
I am checking in today to see what has happened now! I like the Jury comment. I think I will try that with the boys when they have altercations. No more food or drink until you respect each other and say you’re sorry and mean it! Ha! I make myself laugh.
Dunking in the lake… now that’s old school. We need to bring some of that stuff back.
Old school is cool, and often way more effective! But enough said, I’m preaching to the choir.