It is true that the forms published in the 1819 code do not have a
column for buildings; however,
See /The Revised Code of the Laws of Virginia: Being a Collections of
All Such Acts of the General Assembly, of a Public and Permanent
Nature/, ... (Richmond: Thomas Ritchie, 1819). Available on GoogleBooks
Chapter 183, sections 31 and 32 [Volume 2, pp. 24-5] After the
assessment of the whole state shall have been completed, as directed by
the act, For arranging the counties into districts ... and for the
equalizing the land-tax, passed the 18th day of Feb 1817 and copies of
the tables of assesment for the several counties shall have been
furnished to the respective Commissioners, it shall be the duty of those
commissioners to correct their land books accordingly; . . . [32] It
shall, moreover, be the duty of the commissioners, annually thereafter,
to assess the value of any new building, which may have been erected on
any tract of land or lot, and which shall not have been theretofore
assessed, and to add the amount thereof to the value at which such land
or lot was before charged: Provided, however, That they shall not assess
any such new building, which is under the value of one hundred dollars.
Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS
PO Box 1273
Orange, VA 22960
[log in to unmask]
540-832-3473
CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for
Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified
genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered
in the US Patent & Trademark Office.
On 6/2/2014 6:36 PM, sharpe wrote:
> Have reviewed the Code of 1818 and find no reference to inclusion of
> buildings in the land tax. Chapter 181, Sec. 8.
>
> The forms for 1819 have no column for buildings.
>
> Beginning in 1820 the form includes "Sum added to the land on account
> of Buildings." The lowest value seen is $100.
>
> The 1849 Code of Virginia, Title 17, Chapter 35, Sec. 33, provides
> that buildings are to be reported if found to be of the value of $100
> or upward.
>
> The 1860 Code of Virginia also uses $100 or upward.
>
> Examination of the Acts of Assembly for 1819-20 should provide the
> answer as to what was supposed to be included. But, there may have
> been commissioners who failed to follow instructions. (Despite the
> act of assembly specifying that the tax lists were to count white male
> tithables, many commissioners continued to use the 1787 form listing
> white males age 21 or more.)
>
> The "Houses above $500 in value" listing in 1815 was in keeping with
> taxing selected items of significant value generally owned only by the
> wealthy -- ice houses, portraits in oil, piano-fortes, gold watches,
> silver coffee pots, decanters, etc. That was a one-year event only
> due to the war.
>
>
>
> On 5/30/14, Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Actually it appears that buildings below a certain value were not
>> listed. The 1815 listing for building valuation set the limit as over
>> $500. (These are found in the 1815 personal property taxes--not the land
>> taxes--see earlier postings re this.) The problem is that surviving
>> structures suggest that this criteria did not hold true in the listings
>> in the land taxes beginning in 1820. I'm currently working on a project
>> that involves using these lists and have consulted with an architectural
>> historian who has worked with these taxes in a number of counties and
>> has found the valuations to be very inconsistent between counties but
>> fairly consistent within counties. I'm hopeful that a study of the
>> reassessment lists and the laws requiring reassessment will provide
>> additional information.
>>
>> Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS
>>
>> PO Box 1273
>> Orange, VA 22960
>> [log in to unmask]
>> 540-832-3473
>>
>> CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for
>> Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified
>> genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered
>> in the US Patent & Trademark Office.
>>
>> On 5/30/2014 3:32 PM, Lyle E. Browning wrote:
>>> This is new terrain for me wherein there's direct proof for folks living
>>> in haystacks, i.e., no buildings listed on the LTR. I suppose one has to
>>> assume a standard deviation of error in tabulation of about 1% and live
>>> with the omissions. Ah well. This is my first 1% find.
>>>
>>> Thanks for the clarification.
>>>
>>> Lyle
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On May 30, 2014, at 2:08 PM, "Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS"
>>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Ditto marks are used by some commissioners as place markers in spaces
>>>> that would otherwise be blank. However, these are usually easy to
>>>> identify as such since they are typically placed in every space that
>>>> would otherwise be blank. Be careful about assuming that there were no
>>>> houses or buildings on property because the amount for buildings was left
>>>> blank. If so, many of my ancestors apparently lived and raised their
>>>> families in haystacks.
>>>>
>>>> Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS
>>>>
>>>> PO Box 1273
>>>> Orange, VA 22960
>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>> 540-832-3473
>>>>
>>>> CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for
>>>> Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified
>>>> genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered
>>>> in the US Patent & Trademark Office.
>>>>
>>>> On 5/30/2014 12:16 PM, Lyle E. Browning wrote:
>>>>> The ditto is under both. This is for Stafford County. I have a will that
>>>>> states that the daughter who has been living on a parcel with her
>>>>> husband, is to inherit it if she wishes to continue living there. That
>>>>> indicates a house on the property. But the ditto's appear instead of
>>>>> building values. The building value appears to be some dollars and cents
>>>>> figure so as the entries are alphabetical, I don't see that the dittos
>>>>> would mean identical building values. In the columns where there are
>>>>> distance and bearing from the courthouse and where there are
>>>>> alphabetical designations, then the ditto, as has been pointed out,
>>>>> makes sense, but not in the building values column. In other counties,
>>>>> the cell (if one looks at it like a spreadsheet), would be blank.
>>>>>
>>>>> Lyle Browning
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On May 30, 2014, at 11:31 AM, Lewis Burruss <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> It is "ditto" meaning that the number is the same as the one above. (or
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> word is the same as the word above the ")
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, May 22, 2014 at 6:22 PM, Lyle E. Browning <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In reading the Land Tax Records, I often see " for several entries
>>>>>>> below a
>>>>>>> number. I have interpreted this as being an equals mark such that if
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> number equalled 1200, then the values for the buildings also equalled
>>>>>>> 1200.
>>>>>>> But I have also noted that there are entries for which there are no "
>>>>>>> listed. That brings up the issue of whether the " means equal to the
>>>>>>> value
>>>>>>> above or whether it means no buildings. Where there are no " marks in
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> column, I am working under the interpretation that it means no
>>>>>>> buildings.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What's the standard interpretation for this little wrinkle?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Lyle Browning
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