A bondsman on an executor’s or administrator’s bond is guaranteeing that if the executor or administrator of the estate runs off with the estate’s property without paying the bills of the estate that the court can come after the individuals who signed the executor’s or administrator’s bond. Generally speaking, if someone signed the bond your ancestor posted as an estate administrator, that bondsman trusted your ancestor enough to know that he wouldn’t run off leaving unpaid bills of the estate.
And the judge knew that the bondsmen were “worth enough” to cover the value of the estate if the administrator defrauded the estate.
The value of the bond represented what the bondsmen “were worth” to cover the estate–usually a multiple of the value of the estate. It was not cash they put up at the time. 
3 Responses
Many people (especially beginning genealogists) don’t understand about the bonds. I’ve heard comments such as “My g-grandfather had to pay $200. to marry my grandmother.”
I hear that quite a bit too. People think it’s a fee, which as we know, it’s not.
That’s a good idea for a tip-we’ve mentioned it before, but it does not hurt repeating.