MDFREDER-L Archives

From: "Timothy L. Robinson" <>
Subject: [MDFR] More "Hundres" for Frederick
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 10:48:05 -0500

ASSESSMENT OF 1783 FOR MONTGOMERY COUNTY = ( Later parts became Frederick
County )
by Eleanor M.V. Cook

GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HOUSE OF DELEGATES (Assessment Record) 1783 [MSA S1161 and
SM59] for Montgomery County has five districts designated as:

Sugarland and Upper Potomac Hundreds
Middle Potomac, Lower Potomac, and Georgetown Hundreds
Lower Newfoundland, Rock Creek, and North West Hundreds
Upper Newfoundland and Seneca Hundreds
Linganore and Sugarloaf Hundreds
In addition, there is a sixth assessment record, designated as: Upper
Potomac Hundred.

I believe this separate assessment for Upper Potomac Hundred is an
assessment for 1782, not 1783. This conclusion is based on several factors.

The separate Upper Potomac Hundred assessment is entitled "A Return by Basil
Magruder Assessor in Upper Potomac Hundred Montgomery County agreeable to
the Act to Raise Supplies for the Year 178-." The last digit is somewhat
illegible, but could be a "2" with a flourish at the end. The record is not
a supplement to the Sugarland and Upper Potomac Hundreds assessment record.
Most, but not all, of the names in Upper Potomac Hundred appear in Sugarland
and Upper Potomac Hundreds, valued by Alexander Whitaker, Assessor, 1783.
There are differences in the real property listed. For example, one record
shows Brooke Beall with 286 acres of Piney Grove, and the other does not.

Even when the land of an individual is the same, the assigned values are
much higher in the Upper Potomac Hundred. "An Act to Raise the Supplies for
the Year 1782," passed by the General Assembly (Chap. 4, Nov. 1781), set the
rate of assessment at 45 shillings current money for every 100 pounds of
total worth. At the April 1782 legislative session (Chap. 54) this rate was
reduced to 30 shillings per 100 pounds, and persons who had already paid
were given credit. The value of land and improvements was to be computed in
current money and at the amount they would have sold for in 1774. "An Act to
Raise Supplies for the year 1783" (Chap. 6, Nov. 1782) set the rate of
assessment at 25 shillings for every 100 pounds of total worth.

The Upper Potomac Hundred assessment is consistently set at the rate of 45
shillings per 100 pounds of total value, and the Sugarland and Upper Potomac
Hundreds at the rate of 25 shillings. To compare, keeping in mind that there
were 20 shillings in a pound, we have Zachariah Beall of Upper Potomac
Hundred with 100 pounds total worth being assessed 2 pounds and 5 shillings
and Stephen Caywood of Sugarland and Upper Potomac Hundreds with the same
worth being assessed 1 pound and 5 shillings. All other 1783 districts show
the same rate as that in Sugarland and Upper Potomac: William Fish of
Linganore with a worth of 100 pounds, assessed 1 pound and 5 shillings, and
Jeremiah Ducker of Lower Newfoundland with a worth of 105 pounds, assessed 1
pound, 5 shillings, and 3 pence.

The act to raise supplies for 1782 provided that slaves under the age of 8
be valued at 10 pounds, ages 8 to 14 at 25 pounds, males ages 14 to 45 at 70
pounds, and females ages 14 to 36 at 60 pounds. Assessors were at liberty to
estimate the value of male slaves who were tradesmen, male slaves over 45,
and female slaves over 36. The act to raise supplies for 1783 gave no set
value for slaves under the age of 8, stating instead that the assessors were
to make the judgment. The Upper Potomac Hundred assessment consistently
lists a value of 10 pounds for slaves under 8, whereas in the five 1783
districts the values vary from 3 to 18 pounds.

The act to raise supplies for 1782 required the assessor to list all free
males over age 18. This was done in Upper Potomac Hundred. The law for 1783
omitted this provision, and free males over 18 are not enumerated in the
five 1783 districts.

The format for the Upper Potomac Hundred differs from that of the other five
districts. For each of the latter districts the records contain two lists:
one of real property by tract name, showing name of owner, acreage, etc.,
and a second of people showing values and assessments of real and personal
properties, total worth, white inhabitants, etc. The separate Upper Potomac
Hundred record contains a single listing for real and personal property,
much like the 1782 assessment found in A History of Calvert County,
Maryland, by Charles Francis Stein.
[The author is a member of the Search Room Advisory Committee]

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• [MDFR] More "Hundres" for Frederick by "Timothy L. Robinson" <>