Hanover County, Virginia Property Book, 1782-1784

Hanover was an important county on the outskirts of the state capital (Richmond). Almost all Hanover County records prior to 1866 have been destroyed. A limited number of records which are not very well known have survived. Two of the most notable sets of these records are the Personal Property Tax Records and the Land Tax Records, both of which have been preserved on microfilm in the Library of Virginia. This work is a transcription, to the best of the author,'s ability, of the taxable personal property in Hanover County beginning in the year 1782 and ending in 1784. Some taxable or titheable personal property remains relatively constant, while other items often vary from year to year and even from precinct to precinct. The precinct boundaries are unknown to the author since the court order books which would have established the boundary lines apparently did not survive. The author has attempted to standardize the format whenever possible. Some names have been placed out of order on the list for economy of page space. No names have been transferred to another precinct. Some of the slave names are out of listing order, but remain assigned to the owner. Notations in parentheses (_) are from the original record and other notes in brackets [_] are the author,'s notations. "The term "net" or "neat" in regard to cattle is simply an archaic term to describe the genus bovine. In colonial times every county in Virginia was served by at least one Anglican Church which encompassed the surrounding territory called a parish. The first parish established for Hanover County was St. Paul,'s Parish, in the year, 1704. In 1727, the parish was divided to create the new parish of St. Martin,'s, which encompassed the Western half of the county. The approximate dividing line between these two parishes is a line running due North from the present day U.S, Route #301 bridge over the Chickahominy River to Bear Island on the North Anna - Pamunkey River. Thus, for purposes of this book, St. Paul,'s Parish is effectively the eastern half of the county and St. Martin,'s is effectively the western half. Equally important in this 'property book,' are the numerous slaves which the clerk recorded in each plantation or residence. Most important, the majority of them are cited least given names, which may be a significant boom to researchers in African American genealogy. For example, in the sample page [17] shown here, 98 African Americans were identified along with 24 unnnamed individuals.

Ray Campbell

index, 450 pp.

107-HNPP1