In early
Arkansas, penal bonds were commonly posted for a variety of court-related
functions. County officials, for example, had to post bonds swearing to uphold
their office or forfeit the specified amount of money. Likewise, citizens who were
fulfilling court obligations like the administrators of an estate also had to
post a bond. These bonds were sworn to the Governor of Arkansas starting in
1819 with establishment of the Arkansas Territory. The practice continued once
Arkansas reached statehood on June 15, 1836.
While it was
rare, occasionally legal action was taken to make the individuals who posted a
penal bond forfeit their payment. To do so, someone would have to allege that
the bonded person did not fulfill the duties of the bond.
One such case
occurred with the estate of Isaac Knighten in 1846. His heirs contested that
the administrators failed in their duties, which prompted a lawsuit from the
Governor of Arkansas against the administrators. In this case, a lawyer on
behalf of Gov. Thomas Drew alleged that the administrators failed to adequately execute the
estate on behalf of the minor heirs (children under the age of 21). Because of
their failure, Gov. Drew demanded the administrators pay the full penal sum of
$1600.
The case goes
on to distribute the Knighten estate appropriately. In what may seem an
ordinary document, the early history of Arkansas is captured and saved for
Arkansans to discover 182 years later.
