The Personal Property tax was started by the Commonwealth in 1782. I think
it was collected until the early 1850s.
It taxed:
All white males 21 years and older
All Black males and females -- slave or free (slaves paid for by
their masters) -- age varied by year, but usually 16 and older.
At various times it taxed horses, cattle, carriage wheels (i.e. the
rate depended on whether the vehicle was two wheeled or four wheeled)
Some years pool tables, mirrors, and silver plate were taxed.
These lists survive for most counties, but not in there entirety for any
county. They are all found at LVA.
If you can get the list for 1816, it's a real thriller since that year
almost all major house hold goods were taxed. You can get a real idea of
the various standards of living in an area from that list.
I've never heard of a share cropper that early, but I do know that land
owners sometimes paid the tax of their hired white workers as well as their
male children and slaves. I don't know of any sort of restrictions on land
ownership other than economic -- could you afford to buy it?
I should also note -- as I always did when I was teaching -- that free Black
females were subject to a special burden under this tax since no white women
were subject to the tax.
I hope that helps.
Peter V. Bergstrom, PhD
Manager, Information Systems, Lighthouse Institute
Archivist, Illinois Addiction Studies Archive
Chestnut Health Systems
720 W. Chestnut St.
Bloomington, IL
Webmaster http://www.chestnut.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Diana Bennett [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, 19 June 2001 10:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: SHARECROPPER?
Dear VA Hist:
In 1792 in Berkeley County my ancestor is listed as paying Personal
Property tax. He is listed as a S cropper, there are 2 whites and 4
horses.
1. Is an S cropper a sharecropper? Can a sharecropper own land?
2. If he paid personal property tax, does that mean that he did NOT own
land?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Diana Kercheval Bennett
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