A Guide to the Land Tax, Personal Property Tax and Miscellaneous Separated Records of the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts, 1782-1856; 1922
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 50217
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
Phone: (804) 692-3888 (Archives Reference)
Fax: (804) 692-3556 (Archives Reference)
Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives)
URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/
© 2011 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.
Processed by: Jessie R. Graham
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Land Tax, Personal Property Tax and Miscellaneous Separated Records of the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts, 1782-1922 (bulk 1782-1856). Accession 50217, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Acquisition Information
These records were retroactively accessioned as a group. Some of the larger, more intact items have older accession numbers noted on them, but these accession numbers are not normally used for identification purposes in the library catalog. In the catalog, Land Tax books are part of APA 493 and Personal Property Tax books are part of APA 633.
Historical Information
Although the colonial government had appointed auditors general from time to time, the office was not established on a permanent basis until after independence was declared. At its first session, which convened on 7 October 1776, the General Assembly passed an act creating a board of three auditors to examine and settle claims concerning receipts and expenditures for military purposes. In 1791, the General Assembly passed an act that combined the duties of the Board of Auditors and the Solicitor General, whose office had been created in 1785 to settle the accounts of the state with the United States, and assigned them to a single Auditor of Public Accounts effective 1 January 1792. The auditor soon became the most powerful fiscal officer in the state. All receipts and disbursements were made only upon his warrant to the treasurer, and his books were the standard against which those of the treasurer were checked.
Following the Civil War the complexities of an increasingly sophisticated financial world threatened to overwhelm the state fiscal offices. It was not until a state government reorganization act was passed by the General Assembly on 18 April 1927, however, that the demand was satisfied. Effective 1 March 1928 the office of Auditor of Public Accounts and Second Auditor were abolished and replaced by the office of comptroller--head of the Department of Accounts--to monitor the receipt and disbursement of state funds, and a new office of Auditor of Public Accounts, under the General Assembly, to audit state and local government agencies.
The records of the first Auditor of Public Accounts have not survived intact; periodically they have been subjected to disarrangement or destruction. After the state library building was completed on the east side of Capitol Square in the late 1890s the auditor's office moved into it and the older records were stored in the basement. There they remained until 1913, when they were transferred to the custody of the state library.
Scope and Content
Contains a variety of unidentifiable fragments and other items including letters, lists, and tax assessments that were most likely found loose inside of land tax and personal property tax volumes. The items appear to have been removed before conservation measures were taken sometime around 1940. Attempts were made to match some of the fragments with their original documents and other items are noted as being "duplicates" of existing information.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged alphabetically by name of locality.
Contents List
-
- Box 1
Folder 1
Property tax fragments, 1856; undated .
- Box 1
Folder 1
-
- Box 1
Folder 2
Land tax fragments, 1789-1790 .
- Box 1
Folder 2
-
- Box 1
Folder 3
Land tax fragment, undated [most likely 1782] .
- Box 1
Folder 3
-
- Box 1
Folder 4
Unidentified fragment, undated .
- Box 1
Folder 4
-
- Box 1
Folder 5
Property tax fragments, 1793-1794 .
- Box 1
Folder 5
-
- Box 1
Folder 6
Land and property tax fragments, undated .
- Box 1
Folder 6
-
- Box 1
Folder 7
List of tithes and taxable property, 1785 .
- Box 1
Folder 8
Return of taxable property, 1783 .
- Box 1
Folder 7
-
- Box 1
Folder 9
Land tax fragments, 1784; undated .
- Box 1
Folder 9
-
- Box 1
Folder 10
Property tax fragment, undated [most likely 1785] .
- Box 1
Folder 10
-
- Box 1
Folder 11
Land tax fragments, undated .
- Box 1
Folder 11
-
- Box 1
Folder 12
List of taxable property, 1792 .
- Box 1
Folder 12
-
- Box 1
Folder 13
Land tax fragment, 1821 .
- Box 1
Folder 13
-
- Box 1
Folder 14
Land grants, 1782-1784 .
- Box 1
Folder 15
Letters about property tax corrections, 1790; 1794 .
- Box 1
Folder 16
Property tax fragment, 1782 .
- Box 1
Folder 14
-
- Box 1
Folder 17
Certificate regarding licenses for hawkers and peddlers, 1804-1805 .
- Box 1
Folder 17
-
- Box 1
Folder 18
Land tax fragments, undated .
- Box 1
Folder 18
- Fredericksburg
- Box 1
Folder 19
Land tax fragment, 1803 .
- Box 1
Folder 20
Land tax book, 1817 .
- Box 1
Folder 21
Valuation of houses and lots, 1787 .
- Box 1
Folder 19
-
- Box 1
Folder 22
Land and property tax fragments, 1820; 1821; undated .
- Box 1
Folder 23
Letters (miscellaneous), 1786; 1827 .
- Box 1
Folder 22
-
- Box 1
Folder 24
List of transferences and resurveys, 1801-1802 .
- Box 1
Folder 25
Property tax fragment, 1814 .
- Box 1
Folder 24
-
- Box 1
Folder 26
Land tax fragment, undated [circa 1700s] .
- Box 1
Folder 26
-
- Box 1
Folder 27
Land and property tax fragments, 1790; 1791; 1799 .
- Box 1
Folder 28
Ordinary license fee collection [Richard Jones], 1805 .
- Box 1
Folder 27
-
- Box 1
Folder 29
Land tax fragments, 1784; undated .
- Box 1
Folder 30
List of alterations and additions to the land tax, 1784-1785 .
- Box 1
Folder 29
-
- Box 1
Folder 31
Land assessment book, 1817 .
- Box 1
Folder 32
Land tax fragments, 1832; 1836 .
- Box 1
Folder 31
-
- Box 1
Folder 33
Land tax fragments, 1816; undated .
- Box 1
Folder 33
-
- Box 1
Folder 34
Certificates regarding licenses for hawkers and peddlers, 1797-1798 .
- Box 1
Folder 35
List of land sold for non-payment of taxes [fragment], 1850 .
- Box 1
Folder 34
-
- Box 1
Folder 36
Land assessments, 1819 .
- Box 1
Folder 36
-
- Box 1
Folder 37
Land tax fragments, undated [most likely 1792] .
- Box 1
Folder 37
-
- Box 1
Folder 38
Property tax fragment, undated .
- Box 1
Folder 38
-
- Box 1
Folder 39
Certificate regarding licenses for hawkers and peddlers, 1799 .
- Box 1
Folder 40
Property tax fragment, undated [most likely 1814] .
- Box 1
Folder 39
-
- Box 1
Folder 41
Land and property tax fragments, undated .
- Box 1
Folder 41
-
- Box 1
Folder 42
Land grants, 1785; undated .
- Box 1
Folder 42
-
- Box 1
Folder 43
Certifcate regarding licenses for hawkers and peddlers, 1799 .
- Box 1
Folder 44
Warrant fragments, 1782; 1786 .
- Box 1
Folder 43
-
- Box 1
Folder 45
Land tax fragment, 1811 .
- Box 1
Folder 45
-
- Box 1
Folder 46
Land tax assessment, 1819 .
- Box 1
Folder 46
- Norfolk City
- Box 1
Folder 47
Property tax fragments, 1801; undated .
- Box 1
Folder 47
-
- Box 1
Folder 48
Account of taxes received, 1784-1785 .
- Box 1
Folder 48
-
- Box 1
Folder 49
Land assessment book, 1839 .
- Box 1
Folder 49
-
- Box 2
Folder 1
Property tax fragment, 1811 .
- Box 2
Folder 1
-
- Box 2
Folder 2
Land tax fragment, undated .
- Box 2
Folder 3
Property tax book, 1785 .
- Box 2
Folder 2
-
- Box 2
Folder 4
Property tax fragments, 1799; undated .
- Box 2
Folder 4
-
- Box 2
Folder 5
Property tax fragments, 1786; 1789 .
- Box 2
Folder 5
-
- Box 2
Folder 6
Sheriff's papers fragments, 1783-1786; 1795 .
- Box 2
Folder 6
-
- Box 2
Folder 7
Land and property tax fragments, 1786-1787; undated .
- Box 2
Folder 7
- Richmond City
- Box 2
Folder 8
Property tax book, 1798 .
- Box 2
Folder 9
Property tax fragment, undated .
- Box 2
Folder 8
-
- Box 2
Folder 10
List of tithables and taxable property, 1786 .
- Box 2
Folder 10
-
- Box 2
Folder 11
Property tax fragment, 1787-1788 .
- Box 2
Folder 11
-
- Box 2
Folder 12
Land tax fragments, undated .
- Box 2
Folder 12
-
- Box 2
Folder 13
Cash, warrants and tobacco fragment, undated .
- Box 2
Folder 13
-
- Box 2
Folder 14
List of alterations, alienations and divisions, 1787-1788 .
- Box 2
Folder 14
-
- Box 2
Folder 15
Property tax fragments, 1806; undated .
- Box 2
Folder 15
-
- Box 2
Folder 16
Land tax fragment, undated .
- Box 2
Folder 16
-
- Box 2
Folder 17
Land and property tax fragments, undated .
- Box 2
Folder 17
-
- Box 2
Folder 18
Land tax booklets, 1791-1793 .
- Box 2
Folder 19
Unidentified fragment [possibly personal property tax], undated .
- Box 2
Folder 18
-
- Box 2
Folder 20
Land tax fragment, 1819 .
- Box 2
Folder 20
- Miscellaneous material
- Box 2
Folder 21
Personal property tabulation fragment, 1852 .
- Box 2
Folder 22
Material collected from restored tax books, 1922; undated .
- Box 2
Folder 21