Ohio Tax Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Ohio

What is in the Collection?
The records include an index and images to taxation records as recorded with the County Auditor of each county. The records in this collection cover the years 1800 to 1850. However, the majority are from the years 1816 through 1838. Entries are recorded in voucher books, one person per page. Included are the following Ohio counties:


 * Ashtabula
 * Belmont
 * Carroll
 * Columbiana
 * Guernsey
 * Harrison
 * Jackson
 * Jefferson
 * Monroe
 * Trumbull
 * Washington

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. There may be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. Numerous families lived in Ohio and owned taxable property.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Information in Ohio tax records includes:


 * Legal description of real and personal property
 * Names and ages of property owners and possible relationships
 * Time periods when families resided in Ohio
 * Occupation of the property owner
 * Places of residence
 * Names of other relatives
 * Additional information associated with the property

Tax records are based on the property owned by people. Only the person who owned the taxable property was listed on the tax record; other residents, living on the property, were not listed. Tax records are considered a primary source. They are usually reliable because they are kept by the county clerk in the local courthouse, who usually recorded the event at or very near the time it occurred.

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * The location or date of the event

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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.

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What Do I Do Next?
Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Look at the actual image of the record, if you can, to verify the information and to find additional information. '

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

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 * Church Records were kept years before counties began keeping records. They are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby town or county.
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Citing this Collection
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