I followed up on Fredric Saunders input and copied that Virginia law and am enclosing it FYI. While doing that I also found an article in the genfiles that was enlightening about how to interpret the Tithable Lists. That is included here too. Bob's Genealogy Filing Cabinet II [Note: See the web site, www.genfiles.com/legal/Tithables.htm, for a full listing of slight variations in use over the years.] Implied information on tithable lists (specifically in Virginia & North Carolina): Keep in mind that tithables lists do not enumerate physical households in the sense of later censuses. They merely enumerate each person responsible for paying the tax along with the number of “heads” for whom they were the responsible taxpayer. Two individuals living in the same house, each an individual taxpayer, would probably be listed independently. When there are multiple names, the first name is that of the “master or mistress of a family” (the person responsible for the tax), followed by the names or number of the taxable members of the household for whom that person would pay the tax. In the 18th century this was males over 16 (children, overseers, apprentices, servants, and slaves), and non-white, enslaved or indentured women over sixteen. A free male 21 or over in the household was legally responsible for his own tax, and thus should be listed separately - although we can’t be certain that this was always the case. As early as 1644, “master of a household” was defined as meaning the person in “command” of the farm or plantation. When a male appears as an independent tithable, it is reasonable to assume that they were of age. A separate appearance on the tax list indicates tax responsibility, which was assumed only upon reaching majority. This does not indicate that the person was maintaining a separate physical household. In the case of males between 16 and 21, their parents, guardians, or masters (in the case of apprentices or servants) were responsible for the tax. The age of persons on the list was calculated as of 9 June of the same year. This can be a very valuable genealogical clue, since the first appearance as a tithable implies the last date on which the person could have turned 16. In the case of disputes over age, the county or vestry courts adjudicated. Apprentices typically were taxed as members of their master’s household, that being a typical provision of an apprentice’s indenture. Although free white women were never tithables themselves, a widow or spinster can appear on a tithables list as head of a household if they were responsible for taxes on male children, servants, or slaves. The sequence in which names appear on a list is not significant, for the list was self-reported by the taxed persons themselves, rather than by a door-to-door assessment such as was done for later censuses. That is, we can’t draw any conclusions about neighbors from the tithables lists. The precinct in which names appear only identifies the general geography in which they lived. It is reasonably safe to infer that male children appearing in a household, regardless of age, are unmarried, for they would otherwise be responsible for their own tax as “master of a family”. Religion was not a factor – all persons were responsible for the support of the parish regardless of their own religious affiliation. Nor was nationality a factor. LAWS OF VIRGINIA, OCTOBER 1748−−22d GEORGE II. CHAP. XXI. An Act concerning Tithables I. BE it enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Burgesses of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That all male persons of the age of sixteen years and upwards, and all negroe, mulatto, and Indian women of the same age, except Indians tributary to this government, and all wives of free negroes, mulattos, and Indians, except as before excepted, shall be and are hereby declared to be tithable, and chargeable for defraying the public, county, and parish levies, of this colony and dominion, excepting such only as the county courts, for charitable reasons appearing to them, shall think fit to excuse. II. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend to the governor, or commander in chief of this colony, for the time being, and his domestick servants; or to the president, masters, scholars, and domestick servants, of the college of William and Mary; or to the person of any beneficed minister within this colony; or to the person of any constable, so long as he continues in his office; so as to charge them, or any of them, as tithables within the meaning of this act. III. And for ascertaining the age of children imported into this colony, Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the owner or purchaser of every imported child, being a servant or slave, and the parent or importer of every free male child, shall bring him or her before the court of what county wherein such child shall be resident, at the first, second, or third court held, after his or her importation, and the age of such child, being then there adjudged by the court, and recorded, shall be deemed and taken to be the true age thereof, in respect to his or her becoming tithable, otherwise every such child shall be immediately tithable, although not sixteen years of age. IV. And for the regular listing all tithable persons, Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the court of every county respectively, shall divide the same into convenient precincts, and annually, before the tenth day of June, appoint one of the justices for each precinct, to take a list of the tithables therein; and every such justice shall, before that day, give public notice of his being so appointed, and at what place or places he intends to receive the lists, by advertisement thereof, affixed to the church door of the parish wherein his precinct lies, and shall accordingly attend on the said tenth day of June, if it be not Sunday, and then on the next day, and in August court next following shall deliver a fair list, of the names and numbers of the tithables, together with the vouchers by him taken, to the clerk of the court, who, on the next court day, shall set up fair copies of such lists in his court house, there to remain during the sitting of that! court, for the inspection of all persons, and the better discovery of such as shall be concealed: And if any justice so appointed shall refuse to take, or shall fail to return such list, and vouchers, as aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay two thousand pounds of tobacco, one moiety to the king, his heirs and successors, for the use of the county wherein such failure, or refusal shall be, towards lessening the county levy, and the other moiety to the informer, to be recovered with costs, by action of debt, or information, in any county court of this dominion. V. And that every master, or owner of a family, or in his absence, or non-residence at the plantation; his or her agent, attorney, or overseer, shall on the said tenth day of June, by a list under his or her hand, deliver, or cause to be delivered, to the justice appointed for that precinct, the names and number of all tithable persons abiding in, or belonging to his or her family, the ninth of June; or the master or owner thereof, or in case of his or her absence, or non residence upon the plantation, the overseer, shall be adjudged a concealer of such and so many tithables as shall not be listed and given in, and for every tithable person, so concealed, shall forfeit and pay five hundred pounds of tobacco, one moiety to the king, his heirs and successors, for the use of the parish wherein such concealment shall be, the other moiety to the informer, to be recovered with costs, by action of debt, or information, in any court of record where the same shall be cognizable: And! when any overseer shall fail to list the tithables upon the plantation whereof he is overseer, the master or owner shall be subject to the payment of their levies, in the same manner as he would have been if they had been listed: And if any justice, appointed to take the list of tithables, shall not truly enter and list the names, and number of his own tithables in that precinct, in the list he gives in, he shall be adjudged a concealer, and for every tithable person so by him concealed and not listed, shall forfeit and pay one thousand pounds of tobacco, to be applied and recovered as aforesaid. VI. Provided nevertheless, That if any owner or overseer shall happen, by sickness, absence, or ignorance of the person, or place, to omit delivering his or her list on the said tenth day of June, to the justice appointed to take the same, it shall be lawful for such person, to deliver or send his or her list to the house of such justice, at any time before the last day of the said month, which shall discharge him or her from the penalty aforesaid. VII. And whereas some persons, being owners of plantations in different counties and parishes, when they have been apprehensive, That the levies would run high in one of those counties or parishes, by reason of public buildings, or other emergencies, have removed their tithables some small time before the ninth of June, out of such county or parish, to some other plantation in another county or parish, and in a short time afterwards have caused the same, or other tithables in their room, to return to the county or parish from whence they were removed: For preventing such fraudulent practices, Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That if any master, owner, or overseer, shall remove his or her tithables, from one plantation to another, with intent to avoid the payment of levies in the county or parish from whence they are so removed, and shall afterwards cause the same or other tithables in their room, to return to the plantation from whence they were removed, i! n the manner herein before mentioned, every such master, owner, or overseer, shall be adjudged, and is hereby declared to be a concealer of the tithables so removed, and shall be liable to the penalties by this act inflicted for concealing or not listing tithables, to be recovered and applied as is herein before directed. VIII. And for the ease and encouragement of mariners, and seafaring persons, Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That all mariners and seafaring persons, not being freeholders, commonly employed in navigation, and who actually pay towards the support of Greenwich hospital, out of their wages, shall be, and are hereby exempted from being listed as tithables, and from paying any public, county, or parish levy. IX. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That one act made in the fourth year of queen Anne, intituled, An act concerning tithables, and one other act, made in the twelfth year of his present majesty's reign, For amending the said act and acts, clause and clauses, heretofore made, for or concerning any matter or thing within the purview of this act, shall be, and are hereby repealed. X. And be it further enacted, That this act shall commence and be in force, from and immediately after the tenth day of June, which shall be in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-one. -----Original Message----- From: Fredric Z. Saunders [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 3:29 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MDCHARLE] Tithable The age was 16. See Hening's Statutes, 6:40 at: http://www.vagenweb.org/hening/ The later volumes are not yet on-line, but I am certain that had not changed by the 1768 list of your interest. Rick Saunders http://genealogypro.com/fsaunders.html -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 269.2.0/756 - Release Date: 4/10/2007 10:44 PM