A little history on tobacco and taxes... Tobacco was the backbone of the economy in this country for nearly three centuries. Columbus observed the indigenous people of this hemisphere used tobacco and told the folks back home in Spain, and use spread all across Europe. Tobacco is how Jamestown survived - shipping tobacco to England. Cigarmaking came to prominence in 19th century in this country as a cottage industry as well as in factories. By 1830, England imported 250,000 pounds of cigars a year. During the Mexican War, soldiers discovered cigarillos and in Europe Phillip Morris began selling Turkish cigarettes in 1847. In 1850's the Duke tobacco empire began as a home-based factory in North Carolina, the first American cigarette was patented, and safety matches were invented. The first cigarette tax was passed to help pay for the Civil War after the first factory opened in 1864, producing 20 million cigarettes a year. Income Taxes did not exist until the Civil War. Before that taxation was done locally, calculated by Tax Assessors. Depending on what years you are looking at, the basis for paying taxes varied. For example, in colonial times people were taxed based on things like commodities (tea, sugar) and property, and in some places on the number of closets in the house or the number of window panes they had. Because having glass windows and closets were signs of wealth. In New England, houses were build without closets and people used armoires and wardrobes, which are furniture of course, to avoid taxation. From IRS website: The roots of IRS go back to the Civil War when President Lincoln and Congress, in 1862, created the position of commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted an income tax to pay war expenses. The income tax was repealed 10 years later. Congress revived the income tax in 1894, but the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional the following year. In 1913, the 16th Amendment was ratified giving Congress the authority to enact an income tax. The Census Dept and the IRS are not connected, although people often think so. The Census Bureau is part of the Dept. of Commerce. The IRS is under the Treasury Dept. The aggregated numbers tallied from the census are the basis for allocating funds at the state and federal levels, and for determining how many seats each state has in the House of Representatives. But tax officials do not have access to census information collected about any specific individuals. The Census Bureau estimates that 30% of the people do not return their census forms for any number of reasons. No wonder we can't find so many of our ancestors! Tink At 12:11 PM 4/7/2008, you wrote: >Hi Listers, > >I want to thank everyone who helped me with my research regarding the cigar >factory that was in Oneida, NY. I was given a link to a website that had a >picture of those who worked at the Powell & Goldstein Cigar Factory. It is >quite possible that this is where my g-g- uncle, William Clapp worked as it >was less than a mile from his home on Williams Street in Oneida. >Considering the transportation available in 1900, (of lack thereof) it is >probable but not definite. > >I can't claim a definite match as further research shows that there were at >least eight cigar factories in Oneida. Using 21st century thinking, it is >hard to believe that there was so much demand for cigars. It is also hard >to believe that my g-g uncle was working as a cigar maker in Pennsylvania at >the age of 12. One of the listers mentioned that Clay, NY was once called >Cigarville. With Oneida having nine or more cigar factories, how many did >Clay NY have? > >Again, many thanks for your kind help. My next project is getting his >marriage certificate and I have already contacted the Historical Society for >their help. Depending on what they find, I may pursue street directories, >voter registration lists, etc. > >This particular uncle disappears after the 1900 Federal Census. For >whatever reason, my grandfather's family, grandmother's family, even my >husbands family did not stand up and be counted when the census taker came >around. Maybe because it is tax time, I was wondering that if they were not >counted, how would anyone know if they paid taxes or not. The withholding >taxes from paychecks did not start until much later. Any thoughts? > >Regards, > >Lynn Eivers > > > >------------------------------- >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