Maryland, Allegany County Tax Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection consists transcribed tax records for Cumberland, Maryland held at the Allegany County Genealogical Society.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The records may include:
 * The legal description of real and personal property
 * The names and ages of property owners and possible relationships
 * The time period when families resided in Maryland
 * The occupation of the property owner
 * Places of residence
 * The names of other relatives
 * Additional information associated with the property

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the individual
 * The date or place of residence

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Known occupations can lead you to other types of records such as employment, school, or church records.
 * Use the information to find vital records such as birth, baptism, and marriage records. Also search for immigration, and military records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members in censuses.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record. Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relatives that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Try variant spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Maryland, United States Genealogy.

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of Maryland.
 * Maryland Guided Research
 * Maryland Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.