Lois,
Sometimes the difference in numbers is related to slave hiring. Slave hire
contracts often contained a provision to "pay all his taxes and levies for
said year and treat him with humanity." The differences you are seeing are
possibly the difference between owned and hired out enslaved persons.

Another factor could be age - most annual personal property assessments
tally numbers of enslaved persons aged "12 and under 16" and "16 and above"
- sometimes the tally might include persons aged 9 and older. Taxable does
not include those enslaved persons who by age or disability have been
declared non-taxable (not capable of producing income). An enslaver could
petition the county court for an exemption to the tax liability for an
enslaved person deemed "aged and infirm" or "for reasons appearing to the
court" (Prince William County Minute Book, March 8, 1838 and June 3, 1833).
From Guild's book on Black Laws, in 1779 the Virginia Assembly created the
provision that "when any slave is through old age or infirmity incapable of
labor, the tax may be discontinued." [June Purcell Guild, LL.M. *Black Laws
of Virginia: a Summary of the Legislative Acts of Virginia Concerning
Negroes from Earliest Times to the Present* (reprint 1936) (Westminster,
Maryland: Heritage Books, 2011), 134.]

I hope this helps solve your mystery.
Sheri Huerta, PhD
she/her/hers
George Mason University

On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 7:30 PM Leveen, Lois <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Howdy,
> This is a very nitty gritty question for folks who have worked on documents
> regarding enslavement, specifically regarding the number of enslaved people
> held as property by particular enslavers.
>
> I'm discovering some pretty significant discrepancies between the number of
> enslaved people listed in the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules, and the number
> listed in the State Auditor Property Tax records.  With the latter, I am
> able to see reported numbers of enslaved people for a particular enslaver
> year by year, not just decade by decade.  But the numbers are WAYYYY off.
> For example, somebody listed with over 20 enslaved people on the slave
> schedule has only 4 or 5 enslaved in the property tax listing for roughly
> the same time period.  I keep seeing this, over and over.
>
> I suspect someone who has more experience/knowledge working with these
> types of records might be able to explain the discrepancies.  If that's
> you, please school me -- I am all ears (or eyeballs, as I"ll be reading
> your answer).
>
> Thanks so much,
> Lois
>
> Lois Leveen, Ph.D.
> she/her/hers
> Virginia Humanities Fellow
> Library of Virginia
> 800 East Broad Street
> Richmond, VA 23219
>
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