Judy, it sounds like this "road tax" was a local jurisdiction taxing residents for the improvement of local roads. I found a number of such entries in accounting books from my great great grandfather and my great grandfather. More often in the early days they were required to work on the road, which they did and recorded how much time they spent. Later it seems they paid a tax. Your ancestor may have paid the road tax on the parsonage because he was the church treasurer at the time (as was my great great grandfather) or it was his contribution to the church to take care of this bill. The reason there is only one reference to the road tax is likely because it wasn't an every year assessment. It could have been a one time or infrequent assessment for improvement of the road. John > Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:52:58 -0500 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > Subject: Re: [BRE] "Self-Allocation Giving"? > > Thank you, Craig, for your informative reply about how this works today. > > I've never read the Minutes for any 1900s entries but I recall seeing some > 1860-1880 entries with just a person's name and an amount (in change > mostly-- something like .5 e.g. point 5 -- would that have been cents?). > It didn't seem like there was one set amount for each person -- anywhere > from point 1 to point 10. > > As well, we had wondered why one of my ancestors paid the "road tax" on the > "parsonage" (If I recall, the date was in the 1860s or 1870s). According to > other Brethren researchers I spoke to in the 1980s, the German Baptists (as > they were called then) did not use "Reverend" (Rev'd) or "parsonage", but I > saw both in the Minutes. Further, no one could explain why my ancestor paid > the road tax. > > According to a descendant in 1970s, one church in SWPA did have a parsonage > very near to the church/graveyard and our ancestor, a Deacon in the church, > lived in that house. Supposedly, our ancestor would walk to the church 9so, > the house was close) and light the stove before services; he took care of > the cemetery and burials (and he and his wife were 2 of the last 3 burials > in this graveyard.) But the location of the "parsonage" was forgotten by > the time I began my research in the 1980s. And there's still no clear > explanation as to why he was responsible to pay the road tax and only that > year. It is the only Minutes entry, that I'm aware of, concerning payment > of taxes. I don't think it's ever mentioned before or after, for any > member. Might this road tax payment have been considered my ancestor's > "tithe"? > > So much was never recorded. What was written often just raises more > questions! > > If anyone has ideas of how I can pinpoint the location of this unknown > parsonage, please offer your suggestions. It was not in the church's deeds, > nor named in my ancestor's deeds. Being on a rural road, there's no "house > number" I could use/follow from tax or census. > > Again, thank you for explaining how self-allocation works today. If anyone > knows more about the ways members contributed financially to their churches > in the mid-1800s on, I'd appreciate more information. > Judy > On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 7:07 PM, Craig Alan Myers < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > Judy, > > > > "Self-allocation giving" is what the congregation allocates to give > > to various external ministries, such as the District, the Camp, the > > Home, and the denomination. It is called "self-allocation" because > > the congregation decides for itself what it will give; there is no > > assessment by these external ministries on the local congregation. A > > congregation may give more, beyond what it may normally > > self-allocate.<snipped> > > ------------------------ > Search the Archives at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/BRETHREN > ------------------------ > Support Our Sponsoring Agency > The Fellowship Of Brethren Genealogists (FOBG) > For further information contact Ron McAdams mailto:[email protected] > ------------------------ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

John, That makes a lot of sense. The old Minutes do not list the "office holders". I never considered that my ancestor, James Polk Lane, could have maybe been the Church Treasurer. It's frustrating that my research often has these single "clues" but little-to-no ways to use the clues to further my research. I wish this congregation had kept more complete "records" but it seems they wrote very little. Thank you for your explanation. It helps me understand the context, especially that it may only have been a one-time event or not every year. Judy On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 7:45 AM, john shafer <[email protected]> wrote: > > Judy, it sounds like this "road tax" was a local jurisdiction taxing > residents for the improvement of local roads. I found a number of such > entries in accounting books from my great great grandfather and my great > grandfather. More often in the early days they were required to work on the > road, which they did and recorded how much time they spent. Later it seems > they paid a tax. Your ancestor may have paid the road tax on the parsonage > because he was the church treasurer at the time (as was my great great > grandfather) or it was his contribution to the church to take care of this > bill. The reason there is only one reference to the road tax is likely > because it wasn't an every year assessment. It could have been a one time > or infrequent assessment for improvement of the road. > > John >