This Bibliography-in-Progress is a great idea and one I hope will be
emulated for other regions!

 

Such a bibliography is bound to be popular with genealogists.  I am a
genealogist, and have an ancestor who owned land on the Holston in
Washington County, Virginia and also in Tennessee.  I have found very little
information about him. You have provided a wealth of material for me to
research.  Even if nothing specific on him is found, the books should
provide copious background information on what was going on in the area
during the period he was there (approximately 1790 to 1805).  This
background material is almost as sought for as vital statistics by us
genealogists.  And . . . it pleases the genealogists to say that "History is
made up of a lot of individuals-of whom ours is one."  William Preston could
not have been a Colonel unless there were privates, ensigns, etc. - and the
latter are usually our ancestors.

 

Unless I have missed them, no books containing published census records have
been included in your bibliography. You are quite correct in not having any
as you have limited the bibliography to pre-1800, and the 1790 and 1800
Federal Census for Virginia were both destroyed during the War of 1812. 

 

You may not, however, be aware that genealogists use tax records extensively
as a substitute for the census and tax lists provide a good substitute.
Tax/tithable lists start in the 1600s and are found sporadically for many
counties until 1782 at which time a law was passed which provided for annual
taxes to be collected and four copies of these tax records prepared.  Of
these copies, "an attested copy thereof shall be transmitted by the
respective clerks without delay to the auditor of public accounts ..."
Almost all of those deposited at the state level are extant and a number of
them have been published.  

 

The personal property tax lists provide data on emigration, economics,
ethnicity, etc. For instance, suppose you are looking for Richard Bailey
whom you know lived in Montgomery County, Virginia.  He is not in the 1782
or 1783 tax list, but appears in 1784 and several years thereafter.  Since
migration was normally done in groups, one may be able to establish a
migration pattern by finding the names of the other taxpayers who were found
for the first time in 1784, then locating some of those same names in a
county in Maryland, Pennsylvania, eastern Virginia, etc.  

 

You can learn how prosperous these settlers were when they arrived by the
number of horses, cattle, and slaves they brought in, and you can follow the
increase or decrease of same to get an idea of how well they had prospered.
And, of course, by checking to see how many names start with Mc or Mac one
can get a fairly good idea of the percentage who were Irish/Scotch-Irish vs.
the German Schmidts and Kleins and the English surnames, etc.  

 

I hope I have convinced you that tax lists are a relevant historical
research item and should be included.  If I have, could you please add:  

 

Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Florene Speakman Love, eds.  The 1787 Census of
Virginia [:] An Accounting of the Name of Every White Male Tithable Over 21
Years; the Number of White Males between 16 & 21 Years; the Number of Slaves
Over 16 & those Under 16 Years; together with a Listing of their Horses,
Cattle & Carriages; and also the Names of all Persons to whom Ordinary
Licenses and Physician's Licenses were Issued, 3 vols. Springfield,
Virginia: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987.  

[In print]

 

Netti Schreiner-Yantis

107 Latigo Ct.

Stephens City, VA 22655

540-868-1908

 


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