This oath is different from the one an immigrant took upon arrival in Philadelphia. This was an oath renouncing allegiance to King George III and pledging allegiance to the MD government organizing itself to oppose Great Britain during the Revolution. Here's some general information about the Fidelity Oath found in the Archives of this very ListServe a couple years ago: "THE CENSUS OF 1778," by Ben Primer from the Archivists¹ Bulldog (Vol. 1, no. 9) This week's series is the so-called Census of 1778. This "census" was much less a census of all individuals living in the state than it was a means to determine who had not signed the Oaths of Fidelity. The law which demanded that all free male inhabitants take an oath or affirmation of fidelity to the state (Chapter 20 of the Acts of 1777) provided in Section 7 that the constable of every hundred prepare before March 1, 1778 (the deadline for taking the oath) an alphabetical list of all free male inhabitants over age eighteen on that date. The list should include those resident in the hundred and not out of state unless the individual was exempted from taking the oath. The Governor and Council were to make a list of all persons not taking the oath by comparing this "census" with the lists of those signing the oath in order to determine who would be subject to the treble tax specified in the law. Constables were given considerable incentive to prepare the list since they would receive a per diem wage for their efforts and would be fined 200 pounds for failure to create the list. The lists were to be sent both to the Governor and Council and to the county courts. Surprisingly few of these lists seem to have survived. Our (Census of 1778) records are from the county courts and thus may be found in COAGSER. We have records from hundreds in Caroline (found in Land Records, Liber A), Charles and Queen Anne's counties. These are no more than alphabetical lists of names of free males over 18 unlike the Census of 1776 which covered all ages, races and sexes. * * If you would not take the oath, and many did not take the oath, the law stipulated that your regular state tax on property would be triple for life. Triple tax for life! There were no exemptions like there were for militia service for Quakers, Mennonites, and Brethren (historic peace churches) during the Revolution. The law was repealed about 2 years later, but there is some written history that says that the threat of it to the Quakers, Mennonites, and Brethren was that they could no longer live in Maryland and should move farther west. But I have yet to see any lists of those who were charged the triple tax. The G.M. Brumbaugh Md Records book (published about 1920) contains I think some lists of those who took the oath and avoided the tax. NED D.

Vol. II of Brumbaugh contains the "Oaths of Fidelity, March Court, 1778" for Harford and Prince George's County. Those for Harford County are in print format while those for Prince George's are facsimilies of the original records. I don't know where the rest of the counties would be - Washington was formed in 1776 I believe. Lauren Brantner --- On Mon, 12/5/11, Norman E. Donoghue, II <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Norman E. Donoghue, II <[email protected]> > Subject: [MDWashin] Triple Tax > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Date: Monday, December 5, 2011, 5:05 AM > This oath is different from the one > an immigrant took upon arrival in > Philadelphia. This was an oath renouncing allegiance to > King George III and > pledging allegiance to the MD government organizing itself > to oppose Great > Britain during the Revolution. Here's some general > information about the > Fidelity Oath found in the Archives of this very ListServe > a couple years > ago: > > "THE CENSUS OF 1778," > > by Ben Primer > > from the Archivists¹ Bulldog (Vol. 1, no. 9) This week's > series is the > so-called Census of 1778. This "census" was much less a > census of all > individuals living in the state than it was a means to > determine who had not > signed the Oaths of Fidelity. The law which demanded that > all free male > inhabitants take an oath or affirmation of fidelity to the > state (Chapter 20 > of the Acts of 1777) provided in Section 7 that the > constable of every > hundred prepare before March 1, 1778 (the deadline for > taking the oath) an > alphabetical list of all free male inhabitants over age > eighteen on that > date. The list should include those resident in the hundred > and not out of > state unless the individual was exempted from taking the > oath. The Governor > and Council were to make a list of all persons not taking > the oath by > comparing this "census" with the lists of those signing the > oath in order to > determine who would be subject to the treble tax specified > in the law. > Constables were given considerable incentive to prepare the > list since they > would receive a per diem wage for their efforts and would > be fined 200 > pounds for failure to create the list. The lists were to be > sent > both to the Governor and Council and to the county courts. > Surprisingly few > of these lists seem to have survived. Our (Census of 1778) > records are from > the county courts and thus may be found in COAGSER. We have > records from > hundreds in Caroline (found in Land Records, Liber A), > Charles and Queen > Anne's counties. > These are no more than alphabetical lists of names of free > males over 18 > unlike the Census of 1776 which covered all ages, races and > sexes. >    *  * > If you would not take the oath, and many did not take the > oath, the law > stipulated that your regular state tax on property would be > triple for life. > Triple tax for life! There were no exemptions like there > were for militia > service for Quakers, Mennonites, and Brethren (historic > peace churches) > during the Revolution. > The law was repealed about 2 years later, but there is some > written history > that says that the threat of it to the Quakers, Mennonites, > and Brethren was > that they could no longer live in Maryland and should move > farther west. But > I have yet to see any lists of those who were charged the > triple tax. The > G.M. Brumbaugh Md Records book (published about 1920) > contains I think some > lists of those who took the oath and avoided the tax. > > > NED D. > > > > > > > > > > > ********* > Visit the threaded archives of this list: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/MDWASHIN > ********* > > ------------------------------- > 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 >