Missouri, Callaway County Tax Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The collection consists of images of Callaway County tax records from the collections at the Missouri State Archives in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Record Content
The records usually include:


 * Name of owner
 * Assessment number
 * Original grantee
 * Number of acres of land
 * Value
 * Town plot description
 * Name of city or town
 * Kind, number, and value of livestock
 * Kind, quantity, and value of farm commodities
 * Amount of state taxes
 * Amount of county taxes

How to Use This Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * The name of your ancestor
 * Identifying information such as where they lived

Search the Collection
To search the collection by name fill in your ancestor’s name in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

If you did not find the person you were looking for, you may need to search the collection by image. ⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "County/Precinct" ⇒Select the "Year range" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image. Again you will need to compare the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor.

Be aware that with either search you may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor in the assessment rolls, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may be new details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Tax assessments identify the name and residence of the taxpayer. This information can help you locate land records and census records.
 * The description of the real estate, number of acres owned, types of buildings, identifiable personal property, and the farm animals can help you determine an occupation: someone living at a church is probably a minister; someone with several acres of land or many farm animals is probably a farmer; someone living on the same property as the school may be a teacher; someone living above or behind a store is probably a merchant. Occupations can lead you to other types of records such as employment, school, or church records.
 * Following an ancestor through the assessment rolls can help you establish a family migration pattern or identify the year an individual moved into an area or left the area.
 * The assessment rolls can also indicate that an individual died. Use the last known tax year as an approximate death year. Use the death year and residence to locate death or probate records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * It is often helpful to extract the information on all individuals with the same surname in the same general area. If the surname is uncommon, it is likely that those living in the same area were related.
 * Other family members may have lived nearby so you may want to search an entire town, neighboring towns, or even a county.
 * Additional searches may be needed to locate all members of a particular family in the assessment rolls.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.

General Information About These Records
Governments created tax records that vary in content according to the purpose of the assessment. Most are based on personal property, real estate, and income. Taxes were collected to raise money for a variety of purposes. The tax assessments were made to determine how much money each property owner must pay. Tax records are usually reliable as they are kept by the county clerk who recorded the event at or very near the time it occurred.

Related Websites
Missouri State Archives

Related Wiki Articles

 * Missouri
 * Missouri Taxation

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information (often called citing your sources). This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation:

Image citation: