Nebraska, Box Butte County Tax Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection includes digital images of tax records from the office of the Box Butte County Clerk for the years 1885 to 2015.

Record Content
Tax records may contain the following information:
 * Name of taxpayer
 * Residence
 * Occupation
 * Description of real estate
 * Name of original land purchaser
 * Description of personal property
 * Number of school children, slaves and farm animals
 * Age
 * Relationships
 * Year died or left property

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * Your Ancestor’s name
 * Residence

Search the Collection
To browse this collections images: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the 'Record Category' category ⇒ Select the 'Record Type, Volume, and Year Range' category which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors 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.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example use the names, time period and residence to search federal censuses, church records and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * 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.
 * Known 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.
 * 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 alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Related Websites

 * Records of the Internal Revenue Service
 * Nebraska Department of Revenue
 * USGenWeb Box Butte County

Related Wiki Articles

 * Box Butte County, Nebraska Genealogy
 * Nebraska Genealogy
 * Tax Laws and Records
 * Nebraska Online Genealogy Records
 * United States Taxation
 * Land Tax Assessment Records

Citations for This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

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