I've looked at several years of Stafford County land tax lists and think I have an answer -- instinctive, but perhaps not definitive:
In 1838 (and 1840) Thomas TIMMONS Senr. is shown as owning three parcels in Stafford County:
489 acres - Old Mine - [1 mi?] S - $3/ac, [no improvements], $1467 total value, $1.47 tax.
150 acres - Hartwood - [?]2 W - $4/ac, [no improvements], $600 total value, $[0].67 tax.
148 1/2 ac - Deep Run - 15 W - $6/ac, $258 improvements, $891 total value, $[0].90 tax.
[Alexander O'Bryhim not shown]
In 1843 Alexander O'BRYHIN[?] is shown:
" [resides Stafford], life est., 140 acres, Old Mine - $1.90/ac, " " [improvements columns, dollars/cents], $361 total value, $0.53 tax. Remarks: "From Thomas TIMMONS Senrs. Estate / Par[titione]d 1843, Lot No. 1 being Mary TIMMONS (now Orphans) [?] / in her Father's Estate."
From surrounding entries it appears that if a column REQUIRES a value (residence, location/direction, value per acre), then the ditto marks (") indicate that the value above should be repeated. For example: You should never find an entry with the value per acre set at zero.
If the column value can be null, then the ditto represents a blank. This seems to be reserved for specific monetary columns: cents column of the value per acre (perhaps, but often blank); dollars/cents columns for value of improvements, cents column of total value, and dollar column of tax. If the dollar column or cents column is zero, that is usually represented by the ditto (") as a place holder. The U.S. census takers 1790-1840 often used a similar convention (") when marking nulls on each line of the printed schedules.
I conclude that in 1843 Alexander O'BRYHIN's land had no significant improvements on his land (were worth less than $100). Does this make sense?
Don
Donald L. Wilson, Virginiana Librarian
The Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center
for Genealogy and Local History (RELIC)
Prince William Public Library System
Bull Run Regional Library
8051 Ashton Avenue, Manassas, VA 20109-2892
703-792-4540
www.pwcgov.org/library/RELIC
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lyle E. Browning
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2014 10:43 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Clarification requested
Stafford County, Alexander O'Bryhim and Thomas Timmons are the two I'm chasing. Started in 1836 and took it up to 1880. T.Timmons is the FIL of Alex.
Lyle
On Jun 2, 2014, at 3:27 PM, "Wilson, Donald L" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Could you provide a name and a date please? I am hesitant to make a suggestion without seeing the document, since there are inconsistencies in the way different revenue agents recorded the information. We do have microfilm of Stafford County Land Tax lists for the period 1782-1861.
>
> Don
>
> Donald L. Wilson, Virginiana Librarian The Ruth E. Lloyd Information
> Center for Genealogy and Local History (RELIC) Prince William Public
> Library System Bull Run Regional Library
> 8051 Ashton Avenue, Manassas, VA 20109-2892
> 703-792-4540
> www.pwcgov.org/library/RELIC
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lyle E. Browning
> Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 12:17 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Clarification requested
>
> 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
>>> ______________________________________
>>> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the
>>> instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>>>
>>
>> ______________________________________
>> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the
>> instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
