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Archiver > APG > 2005-11 > 1132115086


From: "Mills" <>
Subject: RE: [APG] Estate - U.S. Tax
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 22:24:46 -0600
In-Reply-To: <20051106214641.1562B74A13C0@duck.inebraska.com>


Ruby wrote:
>I have a question regarding an estate. The person did not leave a will,
but
left a somewhat healthy estate, with a widow and some adult children. The
children each almost immediately received about $95 ³U.S. Tax² and when the
estate was finally settled several years later, they got an addition ca
$93.00. The time period for this is 1864-1867 in Muskingum Co., Ohio. The
entries actually read:
> ³Received $92.12² (this is written out ... "which with 93/100 dollars U.S.
Tax, is my share of the estate.")
> Does anybody know what this means? What is the U.S. Tax and how does it
apply to an estate during that time period?


Ruby, perhaps you've gotten an answer privately by now; but I've just
finished skimming over all the messages that backlogged in my mailbox while
I was away and I don't see a posted answer, so I'll dive into this question
before I tackle more complex issues like source citation :).

The U.S. passed temporary tax-assessments acts during the Civil War,
starting with a land-tax act in 1861. This direct assessment *appears* to be
the issue involved in this estate. (See Chapter 18 of Eales and Kvasnicka's
*Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives.*) However, the
whole cluster of details above raises several issues:

1. There seems to be a conflict between your statement that they "almost
immediately received about $95 U.S. Tax" and the quoted statement of the
heir who said "which with 93/100 dollars U.S. Tax is my share of the
estate." The phrase 93/100 would be 93 cents, would it not?

2. I'm also puzzled by your interpretation that the *heirs* received "about
$95 U.S. Tax." It should be the other way around--i.e., the estate *paid*
the tax to the U.S, with the total being deducted from the proceeds that
would have otherwise been paid to the heirs.

3. $95 would be a stiff tax in that era. Even assuming that $95 was the
total assessment (rather than an assessment per heir), then the decedent
would have left a VERY healthy estate for the assessment to run that high.

Elizabeth

-----------------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG


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