In reference to the following two tax records, can someone help me decide of they were levied only against the proprietor of a business or were they levied also on property owners, or both??? Can the location of a property be approximated from the description given, and what does the class of the hotel tell me??? Internal Revenue Assessment lists District 13, Division 1-14, Annual 1862 (hotel and retail liquor) Unassessed penalties collected Third District of Iowa November 1863 Clayton Co (hotel 6th class and retail liquor) Thanks for any discussion.

Good question Nancie. The NARA website gives an overview of tax collection history: http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/058.html#58.1 It seems that the feds collected taxes on various items (distilled spirits, carriages, retail liquor, auctioned property, refined sugar , snuff, legal instruments, bonds, and deeds, to name a few) to generate revenue for the government early in the nations history. In 1817, the laws were repealed & no internal taxes were levied between 1817 and 1861. Then in July 1862, to fund the Civil War, an income tax and taxes on various commodities, businesses, products, and services were imposed ..... I also found a 'Tax History' website that gives some excellent information: http://www.tax.org/Museum/1861-1865.htm The Clayton co. tax lists (I believe) are federal taxes, and in looking over the lists, it seems that businesses were taxed on their merchandise ..... perhaps by the value of their inventory or by their total sales for a given period. Individuals were taxed if they owned luxury-type items, like carriages (as opposed to buggies). Individual farmers don't seem to be taxed on their crops or livestock, but livestock dealers are taxed. Doctors & lawyers are taxed on their services. The class of Hotel was likely determined by number of rooms or perhaps by how 'fancy' the hotel was. The location given on the tax lists are pretty general, but in some cases can be further pinpointed by using land or census records. Some of the men may also have a biography that will give more specific details on exactly where they were located. Just like today, some of the businesses were owned by people who lived elsewhere, perhaps a rich Chicago investor, etc. I'm looking forward to reading what other Clayton co. listers have to say on the subject. Regards, Sharyl Ferrall coordinator, Clayton co. IAGenWeb http://iagenweb.org/clayton ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancie inTexas" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, April 02, 2006 3:39 PM Subject: [IACLAYTO-L] Tax lists 1861-3 In reference to the following two tax records, can someone help me decide of they were levied only against the proprietor of a business or were they levied also on property owners, or both??? Can the location of a property be approximated from the description given, and what does the class of the hotel tell me??? Internal Revenue Assessment lists District 13, Division 1-14, Annual 1862 (hotel and retail liquor) Unassessed penalties collected Third District of Iowa November 1863 Clayton Co (hotel 6th class and retail liquor) Thanks for any discussion. ==== IACLAYTO Mailing List ==== Clayton co. IAGenWeb welcomes your submissions and needs your help to get research data on-line. Contact Sharyl: [email protected]