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(This page's most recent update is January 2025)
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Another type of genealogy record that provides tremendous value is tax records. Like city directories and voting registers, they provide information for us between federal censuses. They also can go back to colonial times.
Types of Taxes
- Income tax
- Federal direct tax
- Poll or head tax
- Real property, e.g., land
- Personal property, e.g., livestock, equipment, carriages, enslaved persons
- Other, such as special levies for roads, schools, etc.
Types of Information
- Date
- Residence address; property, license, or goods; value; tax amount; possibly profession, occupation, or trade
- Name of the taxpayer, usually white adult males
- Town/township/city, county, and state of residence
- Owner and/or renter of the property
- Number of white adult males in the home
- Type and value of property
- Livestock owned
- Personal property owned
- Amount of tax owed
- Profession, occupation, or trade
- Number of school-aged children
- Number of enslaved persons
Derivative information, such as birth date, death date, and date of marriage can often be estimated or determined from the presence or absence of a person in a tax list.
Good primers regarding the genealogical value of tax records and more details can be found in these articles:
- The Genealogical Benefits of Tax Records
- Using Poll Tax Records for Genealogy
- Genealogy 101: Tax Records
- Back to the Basics with Tax Records: Part 1
- Back to the Basics with Tax Records: Part 2
- Back to the Basics with Tax Records: Part 3
- United States Taxation
- The Value of Using US Tax Records in Genealogy Research
Note: Some links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
Massachusetts Tax Records
- Attleborough, Valuation of the Town Tax
- Barre, Town Records, 1763-1846
- Berkshire County, Inheritance Tax Records, V. 1-2, 1907-1921
- Billerica, Town Records, 1653-1848
- Bolton, Tax Records, 1788-1850
- Boston Tax Records, 1822-1918
- Boston, A Report of the Record Commissioners and Taxation
- Boston, Assessors Books, 1780
- Boston, List of Persons, Co-partnerships and Corporations Who Were Taxed on five Thousand dollars or More in 1826e
- Boston, Tax Lists, 1674-1695
- Boston, Tax Records, pt. 1: Assessors’ Lists, Tax Books, and Transfer Books, 1822-1918
- Boston, Tax Records, pt. 2: Valuation Books, 1822-1918
- Boston, Taxes for the Year 1821
- Burlington, Town Records, 1799-1856
- Carlisle, Town Records, 1754-1861
- Charlton, Valuation and Taxes, 1905
- Chelmsford, Town Records, 1727-1779
- Danvers, Tax List, 1775
- Dedham, List of Persons Assessed for a Poll Tax, 1917
- Dennis, Town Records, 1794-1865
- Dorchester, Taxable Valuation of the Real and Personal Estates, 1869
- Enfield, Town Records, 1816-1927
- Essex, Tax Records 1802-1856
- Franklin County, Tax Lists
- Hingham, Names of Taxpayers, 1711
- Lynnfield, Tax Records, 1810-1824
- Manchester, Town Records, 1653-1890
- Massachusetts Tax Inventory, 1771
- Massachusetts, Petitions to Towns for Tax Relief, Vols. 180-188, 303, 1780-1790
- Medford, Town Records 1673-1864
- Middleboro, Annual Report of the Town Officers
- Middleton, Tax Valuations, 1729-1799
- Milton Town Records, 1662-1729
- Nantucket, Town Records, 1695-1852
- Natick, Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, 1892
- Newburyport, List of Persons Assessed for Poll Taxes in Wards 1-5, 1905
- North Reading, Valuation of Real and Personal Estate with the Taxes Assessed upon the same, 1890
- Northfield, Valuation and Taxes
- Oakham, Valuation and Taxes
- Oxford, Assessors’ Report of the Valuation and Tax for 1902
- Pepperell, Valuation and Taxes
- Princeton, Town Records, 1762-1964
- Rehoboth, Town Reports, 1846-1914: also including Tax Lists
- Shelburne, Tax Records of Shelburne, 1812-1840
- Townsend, Annual Reports of the Officers and Committees
- Tyngsborough, Town and Vital Records, 1794-1883
- United States Internal Revenue Assessment Lists, 1862-1874
- Waltham, Tax Records, 1848, 1850
- Watertown, List of Persons Reported for the Assessment of a Poll Tax
- Watertown, Taxable Valuation of the Real and Personal Estates with the amount of Tax
- Westford, Miscellaneous Town Records, 1750-1850
- Westminster, Town Records, 1763-1874
- Westminster, Valuation and Taxes
- Weston, Tax Lists (1757-1827)
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!