North Carolina Bastardy Bonds

If there's a chance one of your ancestors may have been born out of wedlock in North Carolina, I just found two sources of Bastardy Bonds in North Carolina counties.

The first is a 270 page scan of a published list (1990) of Bastardy Bonds from the following North Carolina Counties:

Alamance                               Cabarrus        Cleveland
Alexander                              Caldwell         Craven
Alleghany                              Camden          Cumberland
Anson                                     Carteret          Granville
Ashe                                       Caswell           Moore
Bertie                                      Catawba         New Hanover
Brunswick                              Chatham         Rowan
Buncomb                               Cherokee         Rutherford
Burke                                      Chowan          Surry
Bute                                        Clay                Wake

As explained by the authors, Betty J and Edwin A Camin:

When the pregnancy of a woman or birth of a child was brought to the attention of the court, a warrant was issued and the woman brought into court. She was examined (questioned) under oath and asked to declare the name of the child's father. The reputed father was then served a warrant and required to post bond. If the woman refused to name the father, she, her father or some other interested party would post the bond. In some cases it was found that the mother and reputed father together posted the bond. If the woman refused to post bond or declare the father, she was often sent to jail.

The 270 page listing covers the period of time from the formation of any given county to about 1878. The complete list can be downloaded as a pdf file here.

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If you're looking for something specific to Guilford County alone, then there are a few Picasa scans of Bastardy Bonds here.