1798 Federal Direct Tax Records
This an online event and will be held via Zoom. Access the event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87375795335?pwd=MRxeWqoj9sl19KwTxMmYxCsGmWZ0Ni.1
Tim Benson will discuss the 1798 federal direct tax, the first federal property tax. He will talk about the reason for the tax, what was taxed, how it was implemented, and what records are available to researchers. He will focus on the records for St. Mary's County and bring insights into the socio-economic situation of St. Mary's County at the turn of 19th century. He will describe his effort in transcribing the 1000+ names in the 44-page tax record into an Excel spreadsheet and give examples of how to access it.
Timothy Benson grew up in Kansas City and received degrees from the University of Kansas, University of Illinois, and Grace Theological Seminary. He retired from the Naval Air Warfare Center at NAS Patuxent River as a systems engineer in 2023 and is now a member of the board of directors of the St. Mary’s County Historical Society. He has interest in Swedish and Mennonite genealogy, as well as U.S. History, particulary the Revolutionary War era. He is also a pastor of a house-church in La Plata. He can be reached at tb@bensonfamilies.net.
