Hi Scott,

Not being an expert in these matters I can only express my opinion. So here goes...

1) "Could someone please tell me what the following excerpt from the personal property tax list of 1789 (Rockingham County) tells me about the age of this William Lamme?"

From this single excerpt I would say William is at least 21 years of age.

2) "Does the fact that William was listed and that he paid the tax for a horse tell me that he was over 21, notwithstanding that the column is blank?"

Yes.

3) "Doesn't the fact that someone was listed indicate that he was at least 16 years of age, and, if so, shouldn't one or the other of those columns always be checked?"

I have noticed, in many, many tax lists, that the column indicating "over 21" is NOT checked. In other tax lists I have noticed that this column is ALWAYS checked. It appears (my assumption) that the clerk who wrote the tax lists either checked all the columns or checked none of the columns. It would be easier to not check 1000 entries than to check each one, since the individual is already listed and must be of age.

Back to "the age of this William Lamme?" The best way to infer an individual's age from tax lists is to go back in years until that individual disappears. The first year the individual shows up is the year he usually becomes 21 (if he pays the tax) or 16 (if someone else pays the tax). This method only works well if the individual is resident in the county during the time he first shows up, like a son becoming of age (16) or paying his own tax (21). There are other circumstances that could complicate this line of reasoning. You must really analyze many consecutive tax list years. 

With all that said we went back in time to look for William Lamme (Lam, Lamb). We found him listed in every year back to 1782. He can be found in our 1782 Rockingham Free Sample, on image 20, along with John, Peter, Henry, Nicholas and Michael. It would appear that he was at least 21 in 1782.

Steve and Bunny

Binns Genealogy dot Com
Scanned Microfilm Images on CD
Virginia Tax List Club
http://www.BinnsGenealogy.com/
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Scott Simpson 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 8:50 PM
  Subject: [VA-ROOTS] personal property tax list, 1789


  Could someone please tell me what the following excerpt from the personal property tax list of 1789 (Rockingham County) tells me about the age of this William Lamme?

  Does the fact that William was listed and that he paid the tax for a horse tell me that he was over 21, notwithstanding that the column is blank? 

  Doesn't the fact that someone was listed indicate that he was at least 16 years of age, and, if so, shouldn't one or the other of those columns always be checked?

  Thank you!

  Scott Simpson

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