Bless you, Jetta for asking this question. (However, I DO think I have found the answer.) Some of us may be overly proud, because I have been dying to ask the list forever and haven't done so since I thought it was something everyone knew and I was particularly clueless. In the meantime I have FRUITLESSLY searched every genealogy dictionary on the internet and in print, looked for definitions of legal terms etc. The term 50 or 250 etc. acres was fairly easy. Like you I figured out that was the land they owned or at least the land they were taxed on. Black polls or poles (you see it both ways) must be a tax on slaves and white polls or free polls a tax on white men probably voters. Anyway that was more or less what I figured out, but yesterday was my day to volunteer at my genealogy society library and I did find a good definition.... This is Polyanna Creekmore's explanation of the rates for her transcription of the 1799 tax list. "In the provisions of the act of 1797 white polls consisted of 'all free males and male servants between the ages of twenty one and fifty years..." slaves "all slaves MALE and FEMALE between the ages of 12 and 50 years." You have also probably noticed from various tax lists that there was also a tax on stud horses and town lots as well as land and free polls (or white polls) and black polls. Gail > > On the early Grainger County Tax Lists the word "poll" was used. There were > numerous persons in Grainger County with FP after their name. > > FP= Free poll----What does this mean? > > PT= Poll tax-----What does this mean? > > The tax book did not explain the abbreviations. > > Sometimes a person would not have "Poll" after their name, but a number with > lower case "a" beside it such as 120a. I thought this meant that the person > owned 120 acres. > > What is the difference between "John, 1 WP" and " John, 1FP" and "John 120a" > and "John, 1PT." > > I am hoping that someone can explain the abbreviations to me. > > Thanks for your time...Jetta > > >