The 2022 tax deadline has arrived! In past April posts, I included various Pennsylvania county property tax records. These records showed taxes on property, including land, buildings, and some livestock. Sometimes an occupation or a militia tax was conducted. This year instead of property tax records, I am highlighting the federal IRS Tax Assessment Lists, particularly 1862.
During the Civil War in 1862 an act of Congress created the Bureau of Internal Revenue, now known as the Internal Revenue Service, to help fund the government and support the Union troops. The government determined what items and services would be taxed and in the initial year income over $800 was taxed. The returns were conducted by districts, such as county, and although these listed individuals in alphabetical groupings, they might be from different townships across the county.
I stumbled upon these returns a few years ago when searching for potential documents for my great-great-grandmother Catherine Blackson. The information was too vague to determine if it was her or not, so I did not investigate these records further until recently. Revisiting the tax assessments, I realize that like property tax records, these can inform when and where someone resided. These records could help narrow years when a relative died or moved to or from an area, especially when the event occurred between census years.
On ancestry.com I located some maternal relatives, both known and suspected, in the assessment lists for 1862. I am certain a few of the names are my ancestors, but for others, not enough information was on the return to clearly identify if an ancestor or a cousin. I looked for my paternal relatives in north central PA, but I found none in 1862 for Lycoming, Sullivan or Columbia counties. Perhaps they had income under $800 and were not taxed in 1862. Below are extracts of returns I found for surnames Brinker, Jewell, Llewellen, Ludwick, Markle, Mosier, and Rugh in southwestern Pennsylvania.
| 1862 IRS Assessments for Southwestern Pennsylvania | |||||||
| Name | Residence | Quantity | Description | Value | Rate | Tax | Total |
| Ludwick, Levi | Wilkins Tp | Retail Dealer | $10.00 | $10.00 | |||
| Luwick, Jacob | Versailles Tp | Retail of Grocery | $10.00 | $10.00 | |||
| Rugh, Peter | Hempfield | 16 | tons Coal | 3 1/2 | $0.56 | $56.00 | |
| Markle, S.B. & C.P. | Sewickley Tp | 324 | tons bet. Coal | 3 1/2 | $11.34 | $11.34 | |
| Rugh, Jacob | Salem Tp | 1 | one horse buggy | 0.75 | $1.00 | $1.00 | |
| Rugh, Michael (J&B) | Washington | 1 | one horse buggy | 0.75 | $1.00 | $1.00 | |
| Rugh, Peter | Hempfield | 1 | one horse buggy | 0.90 | $1.00 | $1.00 | |
| Rugh, Peter | Hempfield | 88 | tons coal | 3 1/2 | $3.08 | ||
| Brinker, Simon | Mt. Pleasant | 1 | one horse buggy | 1.00 | $1.00 | $1.00 | |
| Brinker, Cyrus | Mt. Pleasant Tp. | 1 | one horse buggy | 0.75 | $1.00 | $1.00 | |
| Ludwick, H.F. | Manor Station | 1 | one horse buggy | 1.00 | $1.00 | $1.00 | |
| Ludwick, H.F. & C. | Manor Station | Wholesale Dealer | $50.00 | $50.00 | |||
| Markle, Jos. Gen | S. Huntingdon | 1 | one horse carriage | 0.75 | $1.00 | $1.00 | |
| Jewell, Saml | Waynesburg | cabinet ware | 85.50 | 3 1/2 | $2.56 | $2.56 | |
| Llewellen, Jno N. | Mt. Morris | Iron man | 25.00 | 3 1/2 | $0.75 | $0.75 | |
| Mosier, Daniel | Georges | 1 | one horse buggy | 0.75 | $1.00 | $1.00 | |
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