"Widows regained the rights of unmarried women during the period of their widowhood" (Baird, 2007).
An unmarried woman or widow in North Carolina enjoyed many of the same rights as their male counterparts. She could not vote or hold office, but she could own, buy, and sell property, enter into legal contracts including creating a will, serve as an executrix of an estate, sue and be sued, and generally make her own financial decisions. (Gormley, 2004) Once widowed, evidence showed that women that remarried wished to legally maintain some of the property they had as widows and be bale to pass them to their children, and they did this through marriage contracts. (Watson, 1981)
Widows, however, did not have legal authority over their children. The children, upon the death of the father and in cases where the widow did not have financial means to support herself, could legally be placed with another male guardian or forced into indenture. (Baird, 2007)
Widows tended not to be widowed for long due to the uneven ration of men to women in North Carolina, especially in the earlier days of the Colonial period.
Widows, however, did not have legal authority over their children. The children, upon the death of the father and in cases where the widow did not have financial means to support herself, could legally be placed with another male guardian or forced into indenture. (Baird, 2007)
Widows tended not to be widowed for long due to the uneven ration of men to women in North Carolina, especially in the earlier days of the Colonial period.