The latest journal issue, “Part 1: The Federal Tax Man Collects: 18th Century through the Civil War” is now available online for all NCGS Members.
Editor’s Message
We often joke tax collection possibly leaves more surviving records than anything else, including census and vital records, and beyond. Many researchers exhaust county tax records, and few search out federal tax obligations. Let’s explore some federal tax liabilities our ancestors may have incurred.
Let’s march through time from the years after the Revolutionary War until the Civil War. Part 2 (NCGS Journal Volume 48 #3) will cover more of the Civil War years and conclude with the federal tax implications of bootlegging.
We start with an overview of the laws/legislation governing federal taxes with a synopsis of what records may or may not survive. Readers then explore select records of William Polk, supervisor of internal revenue for North Carolina at Charlotte and Raleigh at the turn of the 19th century. Next up is delving into a fascinating Iredell Land Valuations book, created due to federal tax legislation. Before leaving the 18th century, one of the few federal distillery tax books (for Tennessee) gives insight into records of individuals living on land that until recently was part of North Carolina.
There are slim pickings for surviving records documenting the Direct Tax assessments to finance the War of 1812. The personal research of Kenneth H. Thomas, Jr. and tax receipts discovered for Eli Coble help fill some of those blanks.
The financing of the Civil War provides the most robust collection of extant records. Frederick H. Cron introduces us to the concept and challenges of taxin-kind payments; we then explore the same record type for Rowan County. We next turn our attention to taxes paid in Jones and Wake Counties during the Civil War, which were then refunded in 1891, giving us a fascinating glimpse of a little-known bit of federal tax history.
Some exciting new books have recently been published, so be sure to read the book reviews.
Diane L. Richard, Editor
Table of Contents
Editor’s Message
18th and 19th Century Federal Tax Records
Diane L. Richard
Pre-1800: William Polk Lettercopy Book
Hope Blackford, Peggy Littrell
Pre-1800: Iredell Land Valuations Book (1800)
Peggy Littrell
Pre-1800: Federal distillery tax book for Tennessee (1796-1801)
Hope Blackford
War of 1812: How I Used the Orange Co, NC, Direct Tax Assessment of 1816 in My Barbee Family
Research
Kenneth H. Thomas, Jr.
War of 1812: Eli Coble Papers – Tax Receipts (1815-1816)
Hope Blackford
Civil War: Confederate Revenue Sources during the Civil War
Frederick H. Cron
Civil War: Rowan Military Tax in Kind
Anna Holland
Civil War: Jones County Civil War Tax (1866)
Ron Haislip-Hansberry
Civil War: Wake County Civil War Tax (1865/1891)
Diane L. Richard
Book and Media Reviews
W. Becket Soule
Index
The North Carolina Genealogical Society began publishing the NCGS Journal each quarter in 1975. Access to all issues of the NCGS Journal is available to current members of NCGS. To join, visit http://www.ncgenealogy.org/join/.