Land and Tax Rolls
Tax rolls are helpful for a variety of research questions,
such as: determining an arrival to or a move from a particular region,
a death date, the exact location of an individual's property, the owner
of a property, value of a property, or when
a building was constructed on a property. The tax rolls list information
such as: the owner of a plot of land, the description of the land (where
it was and how many acres), the taxpayer, and various taxes paid by the
owner (or taxpayer). In the back of the tax book is usually a lis
t of
personal property valuations and taxes paid by the individual. This can
give the researcher an idea of the individual's wealth.
We have tax rolls for Brown, Calumet, Marinette, Oconto, and Outagamie counties. When using these materials for research, you will need to know the following: the county; the city, town, or township; and the years to be researched. Tax rolls are arranged by legal property description. Hence, it is helpful to also have this information before beginning a search.
We have tax rolls on a yearly basis for the 1800s through the early 1900s. The later tax rolls became too bulky to save on an annual basis, so only the years ending in 5 and 0 have been saved. Therefore, we will only have 1900, 1905, 1910, 1915, 1920, etc. Occasionally we have assessment rolls for communities instead of tax rolls. They contain the same information. An assessment roll was prepared by the town treasurer while the tax roll was prepared by the county treasurer.