Description

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This work marks the third volume of Jefferson County, Georgia tax lists compiled by Michael A. Ports (earlier ones covered the periods 1796-1803 and 1804-1808, respectively). The compiler produced this work from the microfilm of the original record volumes made in 1958 at the Court of Ordinary in Louisville by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake City, Utah. These Georgia tax digests are a significant genealogical resource, especially prior to 1820, a period in which virtually no federal census schedules survive for the state. Every free man, from 21 to 60 years of age, was subject to the poll tax. All owners, regardless of age or sex, were taxed for each of their slaves and all of their land and improvements. Moreover, taxes were levied on specific professions, such as doctors and lawyers, carriages, billiard tables, stock-in-trade, and stud horses.