Not necessarily; it is possible that the individual was excused from the 
poll/head tax for a temporary disability, but be sure to read the column 
heading carefully and I always try to track another similar individual 
to make sure that what is happening to my person was or wasn't also 
happening to others. There was a period in the 18302/40s when the 
poll/head tax was not reported in some counties/cities.

Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FUGA, FVGS
PO Box 1273
Orange, VA 22960

540-832-3473
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CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used
under license by board-certified genealogists after periodic evaluation; the board name is
registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.

On 4/4/2023 7:19 PM, Lois M. Leveen wrote:
> I appreciate the responses to date, but I remain a bit befuddled because I have multiple documents indicating taxes due from the same household, for different years in the 1840s, and only one indicates “poll” along with other applicable taxes.  This was a household of free African Americans, with at least one adult male householder (the same head of household) for the various years for which I have found extant documentation.  So it seems if it were a head tax, it would be levied EVERY year.
>
> Am I missing something?
>
> -Lois
>
>
>> On Apr 3, 2023, at 7:06 AM, Tarter, Brent (LVA) <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> For many decades by the 1840s, Virginia had taxed economically productive residents, including white men and enslaved men, women, and children. It was called a poll tax because it was a tax on people enumerated by head (poll) but not then a prerequisite for the franchise.
>>
>> Brent
>> ________________________________
>> From: Metz, John (LVA) <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Monday, April 3, 2023 9:11 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] 1840 city property tax categories
>>
>> I am guessing that this is the tax per head represented in the household. Poll, after all, is an archaic reference to “head.”
>>
>> From: Lois Leveen <[log in to unmask]>
>> Date: Monday, April 3, 2023 at 9:05 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: [VA-HIST] 1840 city property tax categories
>> Howdy colleagues,
>> I am looking at receipts for Richmond city property tax assessments from
>> the 1840s.  The form lists various types of taxable property:
>> Lot
>> House
>> Horse
>> Dog
>> Carriage Wheel
>> Poll
>>
>> I understand what most of those refer to, but I'm stumped by what "polls"
>> are in this context (poll tax as a voting tax I understand, but this is
>> property tax on a household whose Black members would not be eligible to
>> vote for decades to come).  I look forward to someone on this list
>> educating me on what exactly this household had two of, that were treated
>> as Polls for the purpose of taxation.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Lois
>>
>> Lois Leveen, PhD
>> she/her/hers
>>
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