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New Taxation page

Online Resources

 * 1862-1874* at FamilySearch— images

Why Use Tax Records
By studying several consecutive years of tax records you may determine when a young men came of age, when individuals moved in and out of a home, or when they died leaving heirs. Authorities determined wealth (real estate, or income) to be taxed. Taxes can be for polls, real and personal estate, or schools.

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
Duplicate copies are usually found at the county clerk's offices in the land books, for the years 1782-1900.

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of the nineteenth century tax records of most counties.

State Level
A set of annual land tax assessment records from 1782 to 1900 is available at the State Auditor's Office (Capitol Complex, Charleston, West Virginia 25305-0300). Duplicate copies are usually found at the county clerk's offices in the land books.

The Virginia State Library has the original personal property tax books for West Virginia counties from 1782 to 1863. The West Virginia Archives and History Library has tax books from 1863 to 1935.

The Virginia State Library State archive 800 E Broad St (804) 692-3500

Books with published tax records

(see West Virginia Census) in:
 * 1787 Personal property lists of 1787 is a substitute for the 1790 census  Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Florence Speakman Love, compilers. The 1787 Census of Virginia: An Accounting of the Names of Every White Male Tithable Over 21 Years. Three Volumes. Springfield, Virginia: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987.  Check WorldCat for other Location

As a substitute for the missing 1800 Virginia census, use the abstracts of the personal property tax lists of 1800 for the 13 counties in the area that became West Virginia. These have been published in:


 * 1800 Virginians in 1800: Counties of West Virginia. Bridges, Steven A. Trumbull, Connecticut: Steven A. Bridges, 1987.   Be sides the Salt Lake Family History Library check the WorldCat for other locations



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