Nov.26, 1808, Acts 33rd G.A. 1st sitting, ch. XXXI, p.112-113.
Sec. 1. Be IT ENACTED, by the council and general assembly of this state, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That it shall be the duty of the trustees or overseers of the poor in the different townships of this state, upon application to them made, to bind out the children of slaves, born after the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and four, and abandoned by the owner or owners of such slaves, according to the provisions of the third section of the act to which this is a supplement, if a male, until the age of twenty-five years, and if a female until the age of twenty-one years, agreeably to the existing laws of this state, directing the manner of binding out poor children : Provided always, that it shall be the duty of the said trustees or overseers to give the preference to the owner or owners of the parent or parents of such abandoned children, if the said owner or owners shall see fit to retain or keep such abandoned children as are in their possession.
2. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the trustees or overseers aforesaid, whenever in their opinion, any such abandoned child or children may be bound out, or upon application to them, or any of them, made by any person or persons, who may be willing to take any such child or children, without any premium, immediately to call upon the owner or owners of the parent or parents of such child or children, or other persons in whose possession the same may be, to deliver up to them such child or children, for the purposes of binding them out agreeably to the provisions of this act, and if the owner or owners of the parent or parents of such child or children, or other persons in whose; possession such child or children may be, after demand being made as aforesaid, shall neglect or refuse to deliver up such child or children, then it shall be taken and deemed that the person or persons so neglecting or refusing to deliver up, do elect to keep such child or children without any further fee or reward, and it shall be the duty of the said trustees or overseers immediately to bind such child or children tp the person or persons so electing to kee such child or children.
3. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the trustees or overseers aforesaid, of the different ' townships in this state, within the month of April in every year to publish in at least one of the public newspapers in the Western, and one in the Eastern parts of this state, for the space of four weeks, a correct statement (as near as may be) of the number, age and sex of abandoned children, within the bounds of their respective townships, and which at the time of such publication remain to be bound out, agreeably to the provisions of this act, in order that persons living in this state, and who may be willing to take such children, may know where to apply for the same, and the said trustees or overseers, shall be allowed a reasonable compensation for the performance of the duties required of them by this act, to be paid by the treasurer of this state, on a certificate to be signed by any three of the township committee of the proper township.
4. And be it enacted, That if any trustee or overseer of the poor in any township of this state wherein any abandoned child may remain unbound, shall neglect or refuse ,to perform any of the duties enjoined by this act, he shall forfeit and pay for each offence the sum of thirty dollars to be recovered by any person who may sue for the same in any court having cognizance of the same.
A. Passed at Trenton, Nov. 36,1808.