Hidden Treasure in Old-time Taxes

Extract

The value of old tax data, as Professor Burbank has stated, lies in the wealth of detail in the tax lists, and more especially in the valuation lists. For each tax-payer these latter lists frequently give the amount and value of real estate, annual crops, live stock, stock in trade, shipping, mills of various sorts, warehouses, and occasionally even the silver plate owned by the family. Many of these headings, too, are in detailed form. For instance, real estate is divided into plow land, pasturage, orcharding, meadows, and wood land.