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Online Resources

 * 1787-1899 A list of the tax digests, 1787 to 1899 FamilySearch Many originals are at the Georgia Department of Archives and History.


 * 1789-1799 Georgia Tax Index, 1789-1799 at Ancestry (Free /$)
 * 1793-1893 Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893 at Ancestry (Free /$) Index and images
 * 1862-1874 - FamilySearch Images only.

Why Use Tax Records
Tax record content varies and may include the name and residence of the taxpayer, description of the real estate, name of original purchaser, description of personal property, number of males over 21, number of school children, slaves, and farm animals. Tax records usually are arranged by date and locality and are not normally indexed. Tax records can be used in place of missing land and census records to locate a person’s residence.

County Level
During the colonial period, Georgia counties were divided into "Militia Districts" for the purpose of organizing a military company to defend the area from Indian raids or other threats. This practice continued after the Revolution, and as new counties were formed, new Militia Districts were created within their boundaries.

Each Georgia Militia District (GMD) was led by an elected Captain, who enrolled the names of every able-bodied male between the ages of 16 and 50 who lived within that District. "Muster Days", originally intended for military drilling, eventually evolved into little more than social events. According to George R. Gilmer in Georgians, many Oglethorpe County residents found these Muster Days "a great bore… and resented the practice of being taken away from their useful employments, to be made to stand in the sun, run about the old fields and get drunk…" District residents often elected a Captain who promised not to hold muster days!

The Militia system was abandoned during the Civil War period, but the district boundaries remain intact and retain their function as political subdivisions. Aside from providing a military company, Militia Districts were used as divisions for census enumeration, voting and taxation (Georgia taxpayers are still divided by GMD today).

District names

Militia Districts were originally identified by the name of their Captain. When a new Captain was elected, the name of the district would change; Captain Smith’s District became Captain Mathew’s District. In 1804, each GMD was assigned a number, and these numbers remain in use today. Eventually, each district was also labeled with a "place name" (Goosepond, Beaverdam), and these names have also remained unchanged. However, the practice of referring to a District by its Captain’s name continued for some time on census and tax rolls… making it a challenge to determine which district is which when studying these records. An example of this is Oglethorpe County Militia Districts found on the following link Oglethorpe County Militia Districts ~ Captains' Names Scroll down to see Names and dates listed.

The following map is clickable and each county you click on will show names as well as just numbers as names gave way to numbers that stayed the same. Georgia Map for counties

State Level
Georgia Department of Archives and History Phone: 678-364-3700 Address: 5800 Jonesboro Rd. Morrow, GA 30260 The Georgia Department of Archives and History Website

Taxes in Georgia were levied on free white males over 21 and all slaves up to age 60. These persons are referred to as "polls." Tax listings, or digests, of a county generally list the taxable landowners and other polls and the amount of tax. The records in each county are divided by militia district.



Tax Laws
Abraham Lincoln instituted the income tax in 1862, and on July 1, 1862, Congress passed the Internal Revenue Act, creating the Bureau of Internal Revenue (later renamed to the Internal Revenue Service). This act was intended to “provide Internal Revenue to support the Government and to pay interest on the Public Debt.” Instituted in the height of the Civil War, the “Public Debt” at the time primarily consisted of war expenses. For the Southern States that were part of the Confederate side of the Civil War, once Union troops took over parts of the Southern States, income tax were instituted on them.


 * To learn more about this Collection click here


 * To learn more about the Civil War taxes click here

Availability

 * Tax digests for ten counties are found in Ruth Blair, Tax Digests of Georgia of Various Counties 1790-1818, (1926; reprint, Vidalia, Georgia: Genealogical Reprints, 1971)


 * Additional tax lists are in An Index to Georgia Tax Digests, Five Volumes. (Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Reprint Company, 1986) This index includes the records for 1789 to 1817 and is fully indexed.


 * To locate tax lists or digests for Georgia Counties, available through the Family History Library, use the Place-names Search in the FamilySearch Catalog for: