Review of Wilkes County, Georgia Tax Records, 1785-1805
BOOK REVIEW
The book listed below has been reviewed by this coordinator through the generosity of Frank Parker Hudson. It is my opinion that it is a vital reference work for the Wilkes County, Georgia researcher. It is a very valuable resource.
I have taken the liberty of paraphrasing, and in most cases, retyped verbatim the information from Mr. Hudson's flyer without the use of quotes. Please consider this to be, in the majority, his work. He did it so well that I did not see any reason to "re-invent the wheel"
Wilkes County, Georgia Tax Records
By Frank Parker Hudson
Two hard cover volumes, with Library quality binding, on 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch archival grade (acid free) paper. It includes a 204 page Index to Returns of Persons Subject To Taxation, Adjoining Landowners and Original Grantees (Or For Whom the Land Was Surveyed)
It lists all extant tax records (over 47,000)including some which had not been microfilmed before research on this book started. Mr. Hudson has listed all data of genealogical significance found in the records.
Over forty-five per cent of all free souls living in the State of Georgia were residents of Wilkes County in 1790.
A number of residents of other states and of seventeen other Georgia counties are listed because they were subject to taxation in Wilkes County. These include residents of VA, MD, NC, & SC. In addition there are a number of "Free Negroes" and "Free Mulattoes". There are many free white males listed who owned no property. (Polls)
Included in the books are data on the Microfilm and Frame Number of all returns found in the original records. The four rolls of Microfilm are available for use or for sale by the Georgia Archives.
An appendix includes many of the variant spellings of the surnames found in the records. This may give the researcher a new insight into why many records are "missing".
Another appendix lists the county in which all the watercourses named in the records were located and the identity of the principal river of which the creek is a tributary.
Still another appendix lists the names of the successive captains of the Militia Districts of Wilkes County from 1806 to 1830.
Maps show the location of the Militia Districts in 1785, 1790, 1794, 1797, 1804 and 1805, using current maps as backgrounds. Also included is an 1805 plat of the Town of Washington.
Militia Districts taken from old Wilkes County and placed in a newly formed county are identified so the residents may be tracked in the new county. These are listed in the year following the creation of the new county.
The original Wilkes County included all of the area now in Lincoln, Elbert, and Wilkes Counties; most of Oglethorpe, Madison, Taliafero, and Warren Counties; half of Hart County and parts of Clarke, Green, Hancock, and McDuffie Counties.
Where lists of Defaulters have been lost from original records, lists published in newspapers have been substituted with notations. Any variations between published lists and original records have been noted.
Publication of this work has been made possible by a grant from the R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation. Without this grant the price of the set of two volumes would be in excess of $100. The Foundation also funded the filming and re-filming by the Georgia Archives of original records to provide frame numbers.
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