Tax Records are Better than Early Census Records

Tax records have three distinct advantages compared with pre-1850 U.S. census records. Many tax records:

1. Are produced annually;
2. Predate the 1790 census; and
3. Possess more than a list of names.

Tax records are often sidelined in our genealogy research because censuses are more widely available and have been popularized because of their availability. Compared to 1850 censuses and later, tax records pale in the richness of their data but excel in their annual availability. Yet prior to 1850 (and even after 1850), tax records have benefits that census records will never provide.

In this blog post, I present the benefits and uses of tax records by exhibiting actual genealogical problems I faced in my own research and show how tax records resolved the mystery. I also discuss how and where you can access tax records.

Benefits of Tax Records
Not all tax lists for all locations are created equal, and not all individuals listed in tax records possess the same depth of information. However, the mere observation that I have so many examples is a testament to its power and utility. The following figure summarizes the role tax records serve in genealogy research.

 

Uses of Tax Records
For each of the benefits found in the above figure, I briefly present several examples to demonstrate the range of genealogical questions resolved by tax records and visualize what early tax records look like.

Timeline Analysis
Where was William Boyd from 1811 to 1829? Do you ever feel like your ancestor knowingly moved during a census year just to make his discovery more difficult for you? In his Revolutionary War pension application, William Boyd indicated he resided in Chester County then removed to Washington County and then back to Chester County, all in the state of Pennsylvania. He provided no years of residence, and unfortunately after the 1810 census, he never appeared in census records again. He died in 1836.

Tax records – not census records – show William Boyd in Chester County from 1811 and 1817 and then in Fallowfield, Washington County from 1822 through 1828, where in 1828 he is crossed out suggesting he left the area (see image below). His son John, however, remained. Poorhouse records back in Chester County next capture William entering the facility in 1829.

 

Vital Statistics
When was William Wilson born? The birth year for William Wilson varied quite extensively in census and death records ranging between 1811 and 1827. However, tax records in Carroll, Washington County, Pennsylvania first capture William in 1848 when he appears on the tax list for single men (see image below). In Pennsylvania, men 21 and older were taxed with married men placed on the main tax list and single men recorded at the back under the singles category. His first appearance in the 1848 tax list and then in subsequent years provided greater support for earlier census records suggesting an 1827 birth.

 

When did James McMasters marry? No marriage record captures exactly when James McMasters married Mary Simpson in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. However, local tax records in Upper Makefield suggest it might have been in 1761 when he is crossed off the singles list on the 1761 tax record (see image below). His first child, Hannah McMasters, was born about 1763 suggesting a 1761 marriage is probable.

 

What are the names and ages of children born prior to 1850? Pennsylvania might be unique in this regard, but an 1809 act by the Pennsylvania Assembly provided free education for children aged 5 to 12 years whose parents could not pay for their schooling.[1] These individuals were listed at the back of local township tax records. The recording of this information became obsolete when public schools were created in the state in 1834. I like to think of these records as the antithesis to probate records for our wealthier kin because they specify child-parent relationships. The image below is for my Boyd family in Chester County.

 

Avoid Conflation
Is this my James Boyd in 1785? Many times, individuals with the same name in the same place are combined into one individual. I was searching for James Boyd, who was the father of William Boyd (1753-1836). I found a critically important 1785 court case involving James Boyd in Upper Makefield, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, but I couldn’t be sure if this was my James Boyd. As context, William Boyd mentioned in his pension application for service in the Revolutionary War that he lived in Upper Makefield about this time. A search in 1785 tax records found four individuals named James Boyd (see table below).

Using additional data, I was able to eliminate three of the four James Boyd individuals leaving only James Boyd of Upper Makefield. Without consulting tax records, a researcher might have only identified the James Boyd who owned land because deeds are frequently used as a genealogical source. The other three candidates do not appear in other records except tax records.

 

Economic Context
How wealthy were my ancestors, Ira R. Butler and John Boyd? Besides indicating how much taxes someone paid, which is an assessment of their assets, tax records can specifically list some of their assets. While it varies by location, I have seen individuals taxed for land, slaves, type of house, cows, horses, sheep, dogs, and even clocks. Records can also list occupations. In the 1828 tax record below for Fallowfield, Washington County, Pennsylvania, John Boyd and his brother-in-law, Ira R. Butler, show the variation in provided information.

Ira Butler owned acreage whereas John Boyd owned just a small lot. Ira was listed as a ship carpenter and his business was taxed as “occupation”. Ira had two cows, John did not. Other tax records (not shown) indicated that John was a day laborer, which was perhaps why no specific occupation was listed.

 

Did William B. Wilson own slaves? The tax record for William B. Wilson in 1842 in Tyler County, [West] Virginia provides a different perspective on taxable assets, including slaves, horses, brass clocks, gold watches, other (silver, brass, and copper) time pieces, carriages, and wagons (see image below). He was only taxed for his horse.

 

Find Missing People
What happened to Lydia McMasters after 1768? Prior to an investigation of tax records, Lydia McMasters was last found as the executrix in her deceased husband’s 1768 estate in Byberry, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Following her known children forward through land and census records constructed a possible timeline but no direct evidence of her whereabouts. However, checking the tax records in Chester, Burlington County, New Jersey for her son Thomas McMasters found Lydia listed along with her son in 1796 and 1797 (see the image below). Lydia was taxed for her house and lot. She disappears from tax rolls after 1797 while her son is continuously found. It is probable she died after 1797 given her advanced age.

 

FAN Club
While most tax records are simply organized alphabetically by the first letter of the surname, occasionally additional information is provided that, as a genealogist, feels like the tax assessor left us an Easter egg.

Who were the parents of John G. Boyd? While reviewing a cousin’s DNA matches, I noticed a cluster of matches descending from a Benjamin McDonald (1753-1824) of Chester County, Pennsylvania that appeared to be connected to her Boyd line, which dead ends with John G. Boyd (born 1817 Pennsylvania). While reviewing census records for Benjamin McDonald, I found a Thomas Boyd enumerated next to him in the 1800 census. While this might suggest they were only neighbors, I went to tax records to learn more. A notation in the 1798 tax record for Thomas Boyd in East Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania indicated he was taxed for 25 acres and improvements that were part of Benjamin McDonald’s land (see image below). It seems more probable now that Thomas and Benjamin were more than neighbors – they could be associates and perhaps family.

 

Which McMasters family does Mary Boyd belong? William Boyd married Mary McMasters in 1778 in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In establishing which McMasters family Mary likely belonged, I consulted the tax records and correlated it with other evidence. William Boyd volunteered seven times in the Revolutionary War with two of those times in Hugh Edams’ place. In the 1782 tax records for Northampton, Bucks County, I found William McMasters taxed as single and residing at the home of James Edams, who was the father of Hugh Edams (see below). This tax record, in addition to other collected evidence, established a FAN Club for the Edams, Boyds, and McMasters of Northampton Township.

 

Finding Tax Records
It’s been my experience that tax records, especially older ones, are generally found at one of three locations: public entities, repositories, and online. Unfortunately, copies of the same tax records are not found in all locations, and there can be significant barriers in reviewing them including cost and in-person access. Surprisingly, some locations like courthouses no longer have actual records while other locations only have transcribed copies. If given a choice, review originals as transcriptions are not always accurate as I’ve written about before.

Tax records are also not consistently available across all municipalities. Some records were lost or destroyed or not uniformly documented from the beginning. Be mindful of when townships and counties were formed. For example, recently I was looking for ancestors who resided in Carroll Township in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1850, but the township was not formed from Nottingham and Fallowfield townships until 1834. So, I had to review tax records for both townships prior to that date to follow my ancestors backwards through time.

Public Entities
Courthouses are the logical place where one would expect to find tax records as they were the entities to originally author them. However, I found many tax assessor’s offices either no longer store older records or don’t know where the older ones are found even if onsite. In contrast, some counties have digitized collections making them available for search on local computers. Some public libraries have copies either as transcribed books or on microfilm. Access to records is typically limited to those onsite.

Repositories
Entities acting to preserve documents of historical significance include city, county, and state archives as well as historical and genealogical societies. The range of services offered vary greatly from remote research assistance to only in-person access. If planning an in-person visit, it is best to contact them ahead of time as the hours and days of operation also vary greatly. Some archives are not centralized either distributing records across buildings or cities. For example, the state of Illinois has seven regional archive depositories housed at different universities across the state.

Online
Not surprisingly, online access to tax records can be the easiest to find. However, they can be behind paywalls (e.g., Ancestry.com) or require you to visit a physical location, such as the family history library, to access (FamilySearch.org). When found online, they may not contain all available tax years. For example, FamilySearch has some tax records for Washington County, Pennsylvania prior to 1800 and none after. I had to physically visit the local library in Washington County to find those after 1800 (well worth the trip). Consider an additional example. Ancestry has tax records for Bucks County, Pennsylvania for 1782 through 1860, but not all tax years are included in the collection. I had to visit and correspond with the Bucks County Archives to find tax records for the years 1829 and 1830, which were the only two years an ancestor of interest appeared in local tax records.

Concluding Thoughts and Advice
I’ve not found one source accurately and succinctly detailing available tax records by year and by municipality. Most library catalog entries provide a date range, such as the above-mentioned Bucks County tax rolls on Ancestry. However, it is not always clear whether all available years are included either because they don’t exist, or an online publisher doesn’t have access to them. Many times, the only way to know if a tax roll exists for a given year is to physically look through a book or microfilm. If ever in doubt, call the reference librarian, archivist, or assessor’s office.

To find whether tax records for the county, township, or municipality for the time period of interest, I recommend making inquiries in the following order, which are organized with respect to ease of access but also those most likely to provide accurate information:

1. FamilySearch online catalog. Look under taxation within the desired location.
2. Ancestry.com’s online catalog. Typically found under Wills, Probates, Land, Tax & Criminal.
3. Local library, historical society, or archive online catalog or call their reference librarian.
4. County courthouses or city assessor’s office.

However, be cautious. For all the great information it contains, even FamilySearch’s wiki is not always accurate. For example, the tax records I reviewed at the Citizens Library in Washington County, Pennsylvania were not listed here, which bemoans the point that you need to consult more than one source to determine whether records exist.

When reviewing tax records, don’t just stop reviewing a particular tax year once you find your person of interest. There are often many sections of the tax roll above and beyond the list of individuals paying taxes. Your person may additionally be mentioned in other sections, which can include a list of jurors, poor school children, and those with licensees for taverns, entertainment houses, or selling merchandise.

Don’t let the difficulty in locating tax records prevent you from trying. As I like to say with genealogy or life in general, persistence prevails over book-smarts every time. Through my many examples, I hope I have demonstrated that tax records can break down brick walls or at least help construct a proof argument that greatly erodes a brick wall.

Morgan Stanley once stated, “You must pay taxes. But there’s no law that says you gotta leave a tip.” Well, I’m going to leave you with a tip anyway – tax records are better than early census records, so make the effort to locate them.

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Sources
[1] Chester County Archives (n.d.), Poor School Children Records, 1810-1842. Accessed 16 March 2024 at https://www.chesco.org/1710/Poor-School-Children-Records-1810-1842.