Clarke County, Virginia Personal Property Tax Lists

Personal property taxes have been assessed and collected in Virginia almost annually since 1782. Names of free adult men and single women who owned taxable items were collected by a commissioner of revenue or his deputies. The poll tax (on heads of adult men) was used to support county needs. Taxes on slaves, horses, carriages, clocks and other items were sent to the state. The taxable age for white males varied from sixteen to twenty-one years, depending on the time frame. When a name appears on a Clarke County tax list, you can be fairly certain that person was the head of a household. This book presents abstracts of information found on the original lists. The heads of households, slaves, and horses are indicated. Because of the war, no taxes were assessed in 1863 and 1864. 2015, 5x8, paper, alphabetical, index, 250 pp.