Virginia County Clerk Prepares Inventory of His Property, Including Slaves, for Tax to Help Pay for War of 1812

Martin Dickenson prepared this inventory of his property, including land, houses, and slaves in 1815. He lived in Grayson County, which bordered North Carolina on the south. This list was probably made for the purposes of the federal direct tax on lands, houses, and slaves to help fund the War of 1812. The full list for the county included the property of 211 landowners. Dickenson lived in one of the ten frame houses in the county and was one of only four landowners who also owned slaves.

He valued his four slaves as worth only $8 and his entire property as worth $42.40, extremely low valuations, even by the standards of the time. For example, he valued his house in Greenville as worth $7.50 and thirteen unimproved lots in Greenville at $0.90. In an 1820 land tax book, by contrast, Dickenson's seventeen town lots were valued at $1,455. Dickenson may have given this list to the sheriff or tax collector of Grayson County for use in preparing an overall report and collecting taxes.

[SLAVERY.] Autograph Document Signed, Inventory of Martin Dickenson, April 1, 1815, Grayson County, Virginia. 1 p., 8.25" x 13.25". Expected folds; some edge tears; very good.

Excerpts
"List of Lands Lotts of Ground with their improvements dwelling houses and slaves owned by Martin Dickenson on the first day of April 1815, lying and being in the first district in the State of Virginia in the County of Grayson viz.
"One farm lying on Elk Creek adjoining the lands of William Hail, Stephen Hail & Barney Knoy containing Three Hundred and seventy five Acres, Having thereon one dwelling House of Wood framed 30 feet long by 18 Wide, One Bar on logs, Kitchen, Meathouse, Cornhouse &c. valued at $15.00"

"4 slaves of the following description viz.
2 males between the age of 12 & 50.
2 females between 12 & 50                                               valued at $8.00
                                                                                          Total Valuation $42.40"

Historical Background
To fund the War of 1812, the federal government desperately needed money. Among the items it decided to tax directly were land, houses, and slaves. In 1813, Congress revived an earlier tax that operated from 1798 to 1802 that taxed each slave aged 12 to 50, at a rate of 50 cents per slave. Congress increased the taxes on houses, lands, and slaves in 1815 and 1816 and repealed it in 1817.

On December 21, 1814, the Virginia General Assembly passed the 1815 Personal Property Tax to raise money to protect Virginians from the British in the War of 1812. According to the law, the tax collector, often the sheriff, was to list the taxpayers and his or her taxable property.

Just over a week later, Congress also passed a personal property tax law. The federal tax applied to all household furniture that exceeded $200 in value and $1 for each saddle or carriage horse, $2 for every gold watch, and $1 for every silver watch. Neither the Virginia nor the federal laws considered slaves to be personal property for taxation purposes.

Martin Dickenson (1773-1834) was born in Virginia. He was a merchant and married Mary, with whom he had nine children. In addition to farming and keeping a hotel, Dickenson worked for William Bourne Sr., a merchant and Grayson County's first clerk. Dickenson served as the county's deputy clerk and later succeeded Bourne as clerk, serving from 1793 until his death in 1834. His son John Calhoun Dickenson (1815-1890), born eight months after his father completed this inventory, served in both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly, including in the Virginia Senate during the Civil War.

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