SHENANDOAH COUNTY, VA, PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX RECORDS AND RESIDENCY I recently replied to a query on the VASHENAN Rootsweb mailing list concerning the areas covered in each Personal Property Tax List as an aid in determining residency. Since subscribers of this mailing list may also be interested, I am repeating my reply here. I have studied the Shenandoah County Personal Property Tax and Land Tax Lists from their beginning in 1782 up to 1831. From 1782 through 1786 there was only one main list for each of the two types of taxes. Beginning in 1787 there were two lists, one for the 13th Regiment and one for the 97th Regiment. Sometimes they were called respectively, List A and List B. Also at times they are designated as Lists 1 & 2, but this was not consistent and the numbers were sometimes reversed. The 13th consisted of Battalions # 1 & #2. It appears the 97th had only Battalion #2. I have concluded that the parts of Page and Warren Counties formed from Shenandoah and perhaps Powell's Fort Valley were in the 97th Regiment. The remainder of Shenandoah County was in the 13th Regiment. It requires some detective work to determine residency from the information available. First compare the information in "The Personal Property Tax Lists for the Year 1787 for Shenandoah County, Virginia" compiled by Schreiner- Yantis & Love with the Heads of Families in 1785 (actually the Personal Property Tax Lists) found on page 216 of John W. Wayland's "A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia." Each household was actually visited with dates in 1787 and consequently one can determine neighbors. Wayland attempted to assign localities to each sublist of tax payers on the 1785 list and I believe he has done a reasonably accurate job. Information in the Land Tax Records, such as acreage, can be compared with descriptions in deeds, and also with names on the Personal Property Tax Lists. Beginning in 1812 the general location of the parcels land was given, and starting in 1814 the mileage and direction of each property from the Courthouse in Woodstock was added to the records. The census records can also be helpful, especially 1830, which sometimes show the regiment and battalion of each head of family. The microfilm of the actual census records should be consulted since published compilations usually omit this information. The census records are usually in chronological order, but not always. I will be most interested in corrections, additions and comments anyone may have. Please direct them to the mailing list so they will be of benefit to all subscribers. Joe Baker