Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Northampton County (Va.) Lists of Tithables, 1662-1664, 1670, 1675-1677. Local government records collection, Northampton County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Northampton County under the accession numbers 31075 and 22344.

Historical Information

Northampton County probably was named for the English county, of which Obedience Robins, a prominent early resident of the Eastern Shore, was a native. The county, which originally included all of the peninsula south of Maryland and which was one of the eight shires established in 1694, was first called Accomac. The name was changed by legislative action in 1643.

In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Virginia, the term "tithable" referred to a person who paid (or for whom someone else paid) one of the taxes imposed by the General Assembly for the support of civil government in the colony. In colonial Virginia, a poll tax or capitation tax was assessed on free white males, African American slaves, and Native American servants (both male and female), all age sixteen or older. Owners and masters paid the taxes levied on their slaves and servants. For a more detailed history of tithables, consult the Library of Virginia's website for Colonial Tithables

Scope and Content

Northampton County (Va.) Lists of Tithables, 1662-1664, 1670, 1675-1677, consists of photostats of the lists of tithable heads of household in the county for the years 1662-1664, 1670, and 1675-1677.

Arrangement

Chronological.

Related Material

Additional Northampton County Tax and Fiscal Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Northampton County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans -- History
• Slaveholders -- Virginia -- Northampton County
• Slavery -- Virginia -- Northampton County
• Slaves -- Virginia -- Northampton County
• Taxation -- Virginia -- Northampton County.

Geographical Names:

• Northampton County (Va.) -- History -- 17th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Local government records -- Virginia -- Northampton County.
• Tax and fiscal records -- Virginia -- Northampton County.
• Tithable lists -- Virginia -- Northampton County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data