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[Identification of item], [box #, folder #], Elizabeth Brooks Tax Receipts, 1832-1836, SC 0068, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.
This collection was donated by Tiffany Cole in March 2017.
The donor acquired the materials via Ebay from a seller in Edinburg, Virginia.
Elizabeth Brooks was a resident of Rockingham County, Virginia at least between 1820, when she is first listed on the federal census as a resident of that locale, and 1836, when documentation contained within this collection proves she paid taxes on county land. She is listed in 1820 as a free white woman over the age of 45. The 1830 census lists her as a free white woman between the ages of 70 and 79. That Brooks is listed by name on both censuses indicates that she was a likely head of household, perhaps a widow.
Prior to 1870, when county treasurers started managing finances, the sheriff handled the tax revenues for his county. The sheriffs during the time Brooks paid taxes in Rockingham County were Joseph Baxter (1832), Daniel Matthews (1834), and Joseph Cravens (1836). Their respective deputies were J. H. Hopkins and two gentlemen with the surname Mitchell.
The Elizabeth Brooks Tax Receipts, 1832-1836, are comprised of three receipts of taxes paid by Rockingham County, Virginia resident Elizabeth Brooks. For each year, Brooks paid $5.00 on one 30-acre tract of land. The taxes were paid to the sheriff of Rockingham County – Joseph Baxter, Daniel Matthews, and Joseph Cravens, respectively – and the receipt was filled out by the sheriff's deputy. In addition to taxes on tracts of land, the receipts include categories for slaves, horses, and a county and parish levy. These categories are blank on Brooks' receipts indicating that she did not own slaves or horses or pay a county and parish levy.
This collection is arranged chronologically.