This legal document details the process by which Mary McDowell–an unmarried woman of color–names the father of her child. She was brought before the Justice of the Peace, J. T. Figgat, and asked to name the father of the child. McDowell named William Bowyer. Figgat ordered Bowyer to be arrested and brought into court so as to settle the matter. Figgat ordered Bowyer to pay a sum of "$140 for 7 years in 7 equal payments of $20 each."