Hello! My question was triggered by a genealogy search, but it's really about the culture of North Carolina in 1830.
I learned that my ancestors had 3 children before they were married. I didn't find an actual marriage license or contract. Instead, what I found was a government document where North Carolina agreed to cancel a 500-pound debt my great+ grandfather owed if he married my great+ grandmother.
Here's a copy of the document.
I don't expect anyone to know or research my ancestors. It's pretty clear they weren't legally married, and that mattered to the State, so the State did something to rectify that. My question is, "Why?"
What was going on culturally in 1830 North Carolina that the legal marriage of a couple of nobodies would make it worth the State canceling such a large debt? 500 pounds now is a goodly sum. In 1830, it must have seemed unreachable. That seems an awful lot to cancel for a simple marriage.
Also, why was the amount described in pounds? Google tells me the US adopted the dollar in 1792. And my ancestors were both born in Lincoln Co., North Carolina. That's weird, right?
I know I'm asking for conjecture. I'm not looking for an answer as to why my ancestors were able to make this deal. I just want to understand the culture that could make such an agreement. I hope that's not too broad.
I read the document and was curious also so I went down a google rabbit hole and came up with a a link that should explain it. It's pretty fascinating! Hope it helps! https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2012/01/25/the-ties-that-bond/
ETA, regarding why the document would use Pounds for repayment, All I can assume is they wanted a stable currency as the British Pound was the reserve currency at that time in history. Prior to the National Bank Act in 1863 different state chartered banks and free banks issued their own currencies. https://www.uscurrency.gov/history
This document is... strange. The document doesn't say they owe the state money, it says they owe the governor money. That would mean they owed it to him, not to the state since the governor doesn't subsume the state upon assuming office. It also wasn't normal for a governor to refer to himself as one in a private contract. And the governor at the time (John Owen) is not a signatory, and also wasn't from Lincoln County. You're also right that pounds would be foreign currency in 1830. The printing also doesn't look right for the time period. I can't tell for certain since it's not my specialty, but what's the provenance of the document? Could it be a forgery?