Written by Clay Riley – Wherever civilization goes and stays, there inevitably is that bane of life, man’s burden: taxes. The first settlers of Brown County, however, were not especially burdened by taxation, the total collections for the first year being only $66.90 on a tax rate of about two cents* per $100 valuation. The first levy and assessment of taxes in the new county was in 1859, the year following organization and election of officers. Due to the small population, it is likely that this assessment was complete, for it was comparatively easy to enroll all the tax payers at that time.

 

Tax payers listed for the year 1859, a list comparable to a complete census of the county, were: Ichabod Adams, M. G. Anderson, David Q. Anderson, W. M. Bennett, Abel Bowser, W. F. Brown, David Baugh, F. A. Baugh, P. C. Brewer, Levi Roberts, James Vaughn, G. W. Williams, J. J. Cox, Welcome W. Chandler, William Carver, S. R. Coggin, M. J. Coggin, James H. Fowler, Thompson Fowler, Henry Skinner, Jasper Willis, W. L. Williams, Cyrus Ford, D. S. Hanna, Jesse P. Hanna, T. D. Harriss, Jesse S. Harriss, W. B. Hamilton, George Issacs, George  Tankersley, Gideon Willis, John Williams, John Jones, Brooks W. Lee, B. J. Marshall, J. B. McReynolds, R. Potter, Thomas J. Priddy, George Robbins, A. Roberts, Frank Tankersley, Rupel Williams.

Property valuations for that year included: 2,978 acres of land at $1 per acre (evidently 100% valuation); 41 horses at $59.15 each; 3,952 cattle at $6 each; Cash, $235; Miscellaneous property, $3,641.

There is no record of an assessment of taxes in 1860, although no reason can be discovered for omitting it.

In 1861 there was a levy and assessment, and 109 names appear on the rolls for that year, showing the speed with which the new county was being settled. The acreage of land rendered for taxation had increased to 24,081, and an additional 156,245 acres of un-rendered land was shown on the tax rolls.

There were 216 horses, valued at $47 per head, and 18,450 cattle at $5 per bead. Sheep had made their appearance in the county, and 265 were taxed at $3 per head. The tax rate for this year was 16 2-3 cents per $100 valuation, and the tax total was $799.48.

Names appearing on the tax rolls for 1861 were:

Ichabod Adams, A. E. Adams, M. G. Anderson, David Q. Anderson, J. J. Anderson, W. Aldredge, Peter Alba, Charles Arnett, David Baugh, P. W. Brewer, W. F. Brown, Abel Bowser, W. W. Beaumont, Fred Brookerson, Wm. Bevens, William Bennett, Wm. E. Burks, J. N. Beasley, John Beasley, Welcome W. Chandler, William Chancellor, N. J. Clark, Israel Clements, W. R. Carver, J. J. Callen, S. R. Coggin, M. J. Coggin, John W. Cox, John Connell, H. M. Childers Sr., H. M. Childers Jr., Elisha Childers, Samuel Crimer, A. J. Davis, J. J. Daniel, W. C. Dunn, Richard Fitzpatrick, Thomas Fowler, James H. Fowler, Levi Fowler, Greenleaf Fisk, Thomas Forsythe, Benjamin Goates, L. D. Greaves, Isaac Griffin, Harry Gilliland, David S. Hanna, Jesse P. Hanna, Thomas D. Harriss, Jesse S. Harriss, R. Hill, W. A. Holloway, F. Marion Hodges, W. S. Houge, Malcom Hunter, H. H. Hunter, James M. Hunter, John

James, A. J. Jones. Thomas J. Keesee, 0. H. P. Keesee, James E. Keesee, Brooks W. Lee, Gresham Lee, James Lindsey, W. Manuel, John Mullins, William Mullins, A. K. McKean, E. B. McReynolds, Harvey McPeters, John Nichols, W. C. Parks, J. L. Poplin, Isaac Pettit, Thomas J. Priddy, John Rhodes, James Richardson, Thomas Rogers, George Robins, James Robins, Arch Roberts, Levi Roberts, J. R. Austin, D. D. Sallee, T. C. Small, Benjamin Skinner, John Sheen, Elizabeth St. Clair, G. W. Tankersley, R. F. Tankersley, P. Turner, James W. Vaughn, R. W. Vaughn, R. A. Vaughn, Elizabeth Watts, W. P. B. Wilburn, F. M. Wilburn and Benjamin Smith.

Tax rolls for 1862 contain the following additional names:

M. W. Baugh, J. S. Byers, J. D. Bancroft, Elias· Bridges, R. D. Beauford, Jesse Bond, W. Baker, J. F. Blackwell, F. A. Baugh, Samuel Bailey, J. J. Cox, Wm. Connell, James P. Chancellor, Isaac Christmas, Geo. H. Cherry, W. H. Cox, Duncan Bros. Wm. Edmundson, John Gilliland, K. L. Gossett, Bap Howell, L. J. Harriss, Jas. Hanna, D. Hollingsworth, W. K. Hamblin, J. Hamblin, Dudley Johnston, J. Kirkpatrick, L. B. Ledbetter, W. P. Mills, Isaac Mullins, W. A. Moreton,

D. J. l\1arshall, D. C. Morgan, Joel Parks, L. D. St. Clair James E. Stiles, F. M. Stiles, Taylor Smith, Anthony Smith, R.  J. Towns, John Williams, Thomas Williams, W. L. Williams, Allen Williams, Isaac West, A. L. Watts, Celia Watts, W. J. Wilkerson and Lacey Webb.

Properties listed on the tax rolls for 1862 included:

29,799 acres of land valued at $1per acre; 33,425 head of cattle valued at $205,355; 697 head of horses valued at $15,360; 575 head of sheep valued at $2,300; Miscellaneous property valued at 7,625. Here were listed taxable properties of a total value of $298,349, a remarkable evidence of the development that had been made in half a dozen years.

Property assessments for 1863 are not available, but new names appearing on the tax rolls for that year included:

J. Adams, John A. Adams, F. M. Anderson, W. C. Anderson, J. N. Baugh, Howell Bass, Wm. Barfoot, John Barfoot, B. J. Bufford, Mary Bevin, J. J. Collins, I. Christian, G. Cherryhomes. E. 0. Chafee, S. R. Cagle, J. M. Coffey, Joel Counts, Henry Counts, S. L. Doran, Henry

Griffin, W. R. Hough, W. F. Hudson, J. Johnson, J. W. Lewis, D. H. Moseley, W. J. Morton, John Montgomery, W. McClean, Thomas McClear, Lewis Roberts, J. M. Rollins, G. M. Rollins, Willis Roberts, W. Robertson, I. Scogg, W. Stowell, G. N. Taskler, James Winters, James Ward and Ida Watts.

A certificate attached to the 1863 tax rolls by M. G. Anderson, county clerk, recited that 0. H. P. Keesee, County Assessor and Collector of Taxes, had gone before the commissioner’s court October 24, 1863, with the desire and intention of settling with the court, having been ready to settle for some time past, but that due to the “deranged condition of the county”, Indians and other causes, we cannot get the court all together at one time.

 

* The first 1859 county tax rate of 2 cents per $100 valuation was low compared to the latest tax year (2016) of the county only rate of 60 cents per $100 valuation.

Source; THE PROMISED LAND – A History of Brown County, Texas by James C. White, Image; Portal of Texas History, Ibid.

This and many other stories are available at the Brownwood Public Library – Genealogy & Local History Branch at 213 S. Broadway. Volunteers from the Pecan Valley Genealogical Society are there to assist you in your family or local history research.

Clay Riley is a local historian and retired Aerospace Engineer that has been involved in the Historical and Genealogical Community of Brown County for over 20 years. Should you have a comment, or a question that he may be able to answer in future columns, he can be reached at; pvgsbwd@gmail.com.