The bail bond was a means to protect the sheriff from responsibility for payment of the debt if the defendant failed to appear. (See Swan, Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law in Ohio, 1:154–157, 161, 164.  

Swan, Joseph R. The Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, in Ohio, and Precedents in Pleading, with Practical Notes; together with the Forms of Process and Clerks’ Entries. 2 vols. Columbus: Isaac N. Whiting, 1845.

Introduction to Documents, Volume 5: October 1835–January 1838; Historical Introduction to Minutes, 6 Nov. 1837; see also JSP, D5:503n297.  

JSP, D5 / Rogers, Brent M., Elizabeth A. Kuehn, Christian K. Heimburger, Max H Parkin, Alexander L. Baugh, and Steven C. Harper, eds. Documents, Volume 5: October 1835–January 1838. Vol. 5 of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Ronald K. Esplin, Matthew J. Grow, and Matthew C. Godfrey. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2017.

For a discussion of this type of pleading, see Historical Introduction to Declaration to the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, 7 May 1838, in JSP, D6:137; Swan, Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, 1:216–217, 217nA; and Hammond, Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of Ohio, 307.  

JSP, D6 / Ashurst-McGee, Mark, David W. Grua, Elizabeth Kuehn, Alexander L. Baugh, and Brenden W. Rensink, eds. Documents, Volume 6: February 1838–August 1839. Vol. 6 of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Ronald K. Esplin, Matthew J. Grow, and Matthew C. Godfrey. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2017.

Swan, Joseph R. The Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, in Ohio, and Precedents in Pleading, with Practical Notes; together with the Forms of Process and Clerks’ Entries. 2 vols. Columbus: Isaac N. Whiting, 1845.

Hammond, Charles. Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of Ohio, in Bank, at December Terms, 1833, 1834. Vol. 6. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke, 1872.

Transcript of Proceedings, circa 3 April 1838 [Wright v. Rigdon et al.].