FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject State Taxation Pages Project

Project Leader
Carly Bagley

Purpose
To update/standardize the taxation pages for each state. You will use a lot of your best judgement to make these pages better. Some of these pages won't have much information. And some may have an incredible amount of information. And so we may have to modify the template in the future. Please reach out anytime you have questions or have difficulties knowing where to place information.

Task List
Task List

Step 1:
'''1. Select the "Edit Source" tab to edit your state page (at the very top near the wiki search bar). The top of the page should look something like this:'''

Or, it might look something like this:



'''2. We want our taxation pages to be standardized. So beneath the above text, insert the following to help you organize the information on this page (it will act as a guide for you to organize this page):'''


 * == Online Resources ==
 * *0000-0000 - [URL HERE NAME OF COLLECTION] at NAME OF WEBSITE (Free /$)


 * == Why Use Tax Records ==


 * == How to Use Tax Records for STATE ==


 * === County Level ===


 * === State Level ===


 * == Tax Laws ==


 * == References ==

Step 2: Online Resources
'''1. Examine the information on your state page. Are there any online databases on this page already? If so, you will need to move that link to underneath online resources. Open the link to the database and copy the URL. Replace "URL HERE" with your link. It should look like this:
 * *0000-0000 - NAME OF COLLECTION at NAME OF WEBSITE (Free /$)

'''2. Insert the name of the collection into the template, as well as the name of the website. Because this database is from Ancestry, this example would look like this:
 * 0000-0000 - Tennessee, Early Tax List Records, 1783-1895 at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

If the database is from FamilySearch, then look at step 4 for an example. '''3. Insert years. These are the years that the record collection covers. It should now look like this:
 * 1783-1895 - Tennessee, Early Tax List Records, 1783-1895 at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

If you have multiple online resources, you will want to put them in numerical order, by beginning year. '''4. Insert references. Because this collection requires a subscription to view it, you will need to include information that it costs money. However if the collection is from FamilySearch, then you won't need to add anything. (Because it's free!)''' Here's an example of an online collection from Ancestry:
 * 1783-1895 - Tennessee, Early Tax List Records, 1783-1895 at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

Here's an example of an online collection from FamilySearch:
 * 1862-1874 - |U.S., Internal Revenue Assessment Lists, 1862-1874 at FamilySearch.org. Images only.

NOTE: not every FamilySearch collection will be "images only." You will only include that if it doesn't have an index.

Step 3: Why Use Tax Records
1. Copy and paste the information below and put it underneath the heading "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.

'''2. After you paste that information underneath "Why Use Tax Records," you will then want to scan the rest of the page for information that belongs underneath this heading. This would be any general information about why tax records are helpful for genealogy research. (You usually won't find anything unique or new that belongs here. But just check just in case.)'''

Step 4: How to Use Tax Records
1. Go to heading "How to Use Tax Records for STATE" Insert state name where STATE is. '''2. Sometimes states taxed their people on a state-level or on a county-level. Sort information into which section fits best and place information underneath the appropriate heading.''' '''3. Use bullet points when possible, especially with record collections (but not at the expense of clarity and writing out helpful information). List sources by year range. Here is an example below of what your bullet points would look like:'''
 * 1778-1832 Creekmore, Pollyanna. Early East Tennessee Taxpayers. Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1980. Originally appeared as a series of articles in: The East Tennessee Historical Society’s Publications. Includes tax lists for 1778–1832, with surname indexes prepared by Frances Maynard and Dorothy Peters.


 * 1778-1885 - Rasmussen, Geoffrey D., compiler. East Tennessee Tax Records Index. 3 volumes. Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc., 2005. These three volumes contain index entries for 69,069 persons between 1778-1850 in Washington County - Tennessee's first county.


 * 1787-1827 - Sistler, Byron. Index to Early Tennessee Tax Lists. Evanston, Illinois: 1977. . This book indexes tax lists for 68 counties, as well as petitions, voter lists, and newspaper lists of inhabitants. There are about 46,000 entries representing the years 1787–1827.


 * 1814-1857 - lists for the 3rd Collection District taken by deputy collector of revenue John Teddar are found in the manuscript collection: John Tedder Papers, 1814-1857 at TSLA. (Includes Franklin, Overton, Warren and White counties.)


 * 1861-1865 - United States. Bureau of Internal Revenue. Assessment Lists of the United States Direct Tax Commission for the District of Tennessee.This tax list shows monthly and annual taxes on personal property, income, those who produced and distributed goods, and on licenses to practice and do business. Each microfilm has a full list of counties and the districts to which they belonged. This is a list of person taxed during the Civil War.

'''4. Here is what wikitext for a bullet point looks like:
 * *1787-1827 - Sistler, Byron.Index to Early Tennessee Tax Lists. Evanston, Illinois: 1977. This book indexes tax lists for 68 counties, as well as petitions, voter lists, and newspaper lists of inhabitants. There are about 46,000 entries representing the years 1787–1827.

Example
Go to Tennesee's taxation page for an example of what your page should look like.