Bob Wood on Early Taxes in Montgomery County

by Bob Wood*

The Revolutionary War ended in 1783, and in 1784 Montgomery County was annexed from Philadelphia County. It seems that in those very early decades the county government was practically the sole provider of services for the residents of New Hanover. Deeds were recorded, wills registered, roads and bridges built, and justice served almost entirely at the county level.

Around this time there was one federal tax event. The Direct Tax of 1798, often called “the window pane tax.” This tax law passed by Congress called for the assessment and enumeration of all properties. This assessment was apparently carried out in only sixteen townships of Montgomery County. The enumerated townships such as Abington, Cheltenham, Gwynedd, Horsham, Lower Merion and others were close to the city. Here in the German region, there arose such a storm of protest that it seems they were never enumerated or assessed and only a single uniform tax of about fifty cents was charged to each property owner.

The assessment records in the townships where the Direct Tax assessments were carried out are a quite valuable resource for researchers and historians because they list each property owner of 1798 and then go on to describe the properties in detail. The houses’ dimensions, number of stories, construction materials (and, indeed, number of windows and lights [panes]), out-buildings, and so on are noted.

Still, some interesting observations can be made about houses in these nearby townships. The most striking thing about the houses is their small size. Following are the dimensions of houses listed in order as they appear on a page of the Abington Township listing: 26X14; 25X22; 18X16; 20X20; 28X20; 20X16; 20X18; 20X16: 24X18; 14X12. These are not room dimensions, but the size of the whole house! Most were two stories but some only one. Interestingly, too, almost every house had a separate structure listed as a kitchen.

Although we have no Direct Tax assessments, New Hanover and surrounding townships do have the annual property assessments by township levied by the county preserved on microfilm at such places as The Historical Society of Montgomery County. These are a rich source of information about the early days as they list property owners and their acreage, numbers of horses, cows, and for some years cattle and even dogs. Unfortunately, the buildings are not described.

If we take 1785, the first year, we find that Sebastian Reifsnyder, the assessor, was informed that New Hanover needed to raise a total of 257 pounds, 5 shillings and 5 pence. It is unclear whether this was in Pennsylvania currency or the British system of “pounds sterling.” To further complicate things the assessment seems to be listed in dollars and cents. From other sources we know that the currency at this time was a terrible muddle. All sorts of different money, Spanish pieces of eight, federal silver dollars, Pennsylvania currency, and others were being used, but exchange rates usually ended up being calculated to the British pound. No wonder barter was the main medium of exchange.

In 1785 New Hanover Township stretched from the Schuylkill River to the Upper Hanover line and so included what is now Upper and Lower Pottsgrove and most of Pottstown. Assessments for “A&D,” acreage and dwelling, varied, sometimes widely. So, then as now, the assessor must have taken into consideration the sale value of the house and property.

In 1785 “A&D” was taxed at about one-and-one-half cents per acre; horses were seven cents, and cows four cents. All men paid an occupation tax of forty or fifty cents. George Derr, a tailor, and Wendle Renninger, a stone mason, paid forty cents occupation tax, but George Erb, a shoemaker, paid a penny less, thirty-nine. Adam Brand, the clockmaker, had thirty acres, one horse, one cow and paid forty cents occupation tax.

In 1786 one resident had a “mulatto slave” for which he was taxed fifty cents. That same year Andrew Smith (Andreas Schmidt), whose house still stands along the Swamp Pike, had 435 acres for which he was taxed $10.44 also four horses and six cows. Interestingly, his house was a tavern and said to have been used for surgical operations on soldiers when the army was in the area in 1777.

Taxes generally tended to go up so that by the year 1800 cows were taxed at twelve cents and horses at twenty-four. By 1820 the county tax was pretty hefty. Land was valued at about twenty cents an acre and an average farm paid about $20.00, but a large farm of 200 acres may have been taxed as much as $50.00 total. Whether some of this money was redistributed back to the townships, I do not know.

A curiosity is that in 1809 the state legislature passed a law taxing dogs in the counties around Philadelphia. It seems that so many dogs were running loose that they were killing farmers’ sheep. A state tax of twenty-five cents was levied against each dog. Most all farms had one dog. An aggressive watchdog was probably considered a necessary livestock at the time.

Also listed at the end of the assessment were the names of “poor children” whose tuition at the local pay school would be reimbursed by the county. In New Hanover there were seldom more than a dozen, and in most years only five or six children so listed. In the year 1818 there were two families listed each with three children.

My research has not yet revealed the function of township government in those early days. There were one or two overseers of the poor and an overseer of highways elected each year in March, but what they did and how they were funded, if at all, I have yet to learn.

* An inspiring Jack of all trades, master of many, Bob Wood serves as Studio B's Gallery Adjunct when he's not busy doing everything else! Writer, artist, potter, historian, and volunteer. Bob began his career as an artist following his retirement from teaching Language Arts. Bob is a popular speaker; local history is his niche. Bob has published four books on local history.

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