The census taker came every ten years and often missed people. The tax collector came every year and seldom missed anyone. The Genealogist's Guide to Researching Tax Records will give you the techniques to locate, read, and understand the valuable information in these annual records. Researching tax records, which date from the 1620s to the present day, can help you establish the location, real estate, personal possessions, economic status and perhaps even the occupations and family relationships of your ancestors. Learn how to find tax records, how to read these records and understand the information they provide. Chapters one and two explain techniques that will help you successfully research tax records. Subsequent chapters explain how to apply those techniques in researching head or poll taxes, real estate taxes, personal property taxes, federal taxes, inheritance taxes, and a variety of miscellaneous taxes. Tax records are especially helpful for the period before the first U.S. census in 1790 and for the period between 1880 and 1900. This is the most complete guide to researching tax records in print and includes examples from New England, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Arizona, and more. Appendices, bibliographies, and a subject index add to the value of this work.

The Genealogist’s Guide to Researching Tax Records

Table of Contents

• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Getting Started in Tax Records
• Benefits of Tax Record Research
• Research Can Be Tedious – Until You Succeed
• Tax Process
• Locating Tax Records
• Research Tax Records at Courthouse or Archive
• Tax Records as Substitutes for Census Records
• Verify County Formation Date
• Following the Records Year By Year
• Isolated Records
• Indexes: Never the Final Answer
• A Word About Slaves
• Finding the Right Record in the Wrong Place
• Ready to Begin?
• Chapter 2. Research Techniques
• Types of Taxes
• Tax Records May be Combined
• How to Approach a Tax Record
• Identify Information Being Collected
• Sources for Interpreting Tax Information
• Consider Spelling Variations
• Become Familiar with Notations and Abbreviations
• Research Example: Separate Men with the Same Name in the Same County
• Doing the Math
• Research Example: Estimate Wealth of an Ancestor
• Records That Report Only Assessed Value
• Paying Taxes in the Coin of the Realm
• Calculating with Pounds, Shillings, and Peace
• Research Example: Estimate Wealth of an Ancestor
• Forming a Hypothesis
• Summary of Research Techniques
• Chapter 3. Poll Taxes
• Taxes “By the Poll” Were Earliest American Taxes
• Massachusetts Poll Tax, 1646
• Virginia Tithables
• The Tithables Process
• Poll Books and Voting Rights
• Research Example: Separate Men with the Same Name int eh Same County
• Tracking Changes Through Tax Lists Over Time
• Research Example: Identify Men as They Become Adults
• Finding the Landless Ancestor
• Research example: Research A Landless Ancestor
• Poll Tax Records Can Replace the Census
• Chapter 4. Land Taxes
• Colonial Land Distribution
• Land Taxes After the Revolution
• Land Exemptions Used to Encourage Settlement
• Tax Records Can Identify the Land and Location
• Research Example: Separate Men with the Same Name in the Same County
• Research Example: Use Tax Information to Lead to Other Valuable Records
• Delinquent Land Tax Sales
• Tracking Delinquent Land Tax Sales Records
• Land Tax Records Can Point to a Migration Trail
• Land Holdings May Imply Arrival Date
• Tax Ledgers Arranged by Legal Land Description
• Additional Information Collected in Tax Records
• Information Common to Land Tax Records
• Chapter 5. Personal Property Taxes
• Paying for Government
• Estates Are Taxable
• Research Example: Establish a Year of Death as Estate Becomes Taxable
• Land and Personal Property Tax Lists Combined
• Research Example: Estimate Wealth of tan Ancestor
• Property Tax Lists Expanded Over Time
• State Income Tax Replaces Some Personal Property Taxes
• Homestead Exemptions Enacted
• Personal Property Tax – “Everyman” Tax
• Chapter 6. Federal Taxes
• Direct Tax of 1798
• Tariffs and Import Duties
• Direct Taxes of 1813, 1815, and 1816
• Direct Tax of 1861
• Federal Income Taxes (1962-1872)
• Confederate Taxes
• Tariffs Decline in Significance
• Income Tax Reconsidered
• Tax Protests
• Tax Assessors and Collectors
• Chapter 7. Inheritance and Estate Taxes
• Federal Estate and Inheritance Taxes
• State Estate and Inheritance Taxes
• Research Example: Identify the Heirs of an Estate
• Estate and Inheritance Taxes Can Prove Relationships
• Chapter 8. Miscellaneous Tax Records
• Militia Service
• Road Orders
• Ecclesiastical Taxes
• Faculty Taxes
• Business Licenses
• Liquor Taxes
• School Taxes
• Federal Head Tax on Aliens
• Old Age Assistance Tax
• Chapter 9. Summary
• Summary of Research Techniques
• Appendix A Textural Records of the Direct Tax Commission in the Southern States
• Appendix B Microfilmed Records of the Internal Revenue Assessment Lists, 1862-1874
• Appendix C State Inheritance Tax Laws Through 1913
• Appendix D State Old Age Assistance Laws, as of 1934
• Glossary
• Research Bibliography
• Bibliography of Selected Tax Records
• Index

More Books on Taxes:

• The Beginner's Guide to Using Tax Lists
• Researching English Taxes, Rates & Duties