Depending on the time period, your ancestor may not appear on very many records. Finding them in a tax list proves that you are looking in the right time period and right geographic area that they were in for at least awhile. Finding men on a tax list where they weren't before may give you some kind of indication that they have just attained the age of majority and eligibllity for paying taxes in the first place--or that they just moved into an area. Sorry to object to your objection, but there are a lot of clues to find your ancestor in a time and a place by looking at tax records. Karen