Listed below are records relating to taxes for real estate and personal property in 18th & 19th Century East New Market. Some of the records transcribed cover a wider area, such as "District 2, New Market District", "Transquakin Hundred", and properties adjacent to 18th & 19th Century East New Market.
Census for Revolutionary War debt
1776
Tax Records for Middle District Hundreds
1783
Levy List
1825
Tax Assessment Lists, District 2, Dorchester Co.
1838,
1841-1878*, 1879, 1880-1896*, 1898-1904*, 1911*
Tax Records (detailed) for East New Market Corp.
1852-1864,
1866, 1867-1876,
1876, 1876-1896**,
1896, 1896-1910,
1910*
Tax Assessment Lists for East New Market Corp.
1849, 1851,
1852, March 1853,
July 1853, 1854,
1855, 1856,
1857, 1858,
1859, 1860,
1861, 1862,
1863, 1864,
1865, 1866,
1867
Levy Book for Dorchester Co.*
1859-1909*
Federal Assessment Record
1862
Tax Sale Papers for Dorchester Co.*
1911- 1923*,
1924-1933*,
1934-1962*
State Tax Commission*
1914-1932*
State Tax Commisioner*
1878-1914*
* not transcribed - Maryland
State Archives citation only.
** records that existed at one time, but were lost/destroyed.
Marylanders have been paying taxes since the formation of the colony. The earliest taxes were paid to Lord Baltimore for property owned in the form of quit-rents. Landowners in the local area paid quit-rents as early as 1659, ten years before the formation of Dorchester County. This type of land taxation in Maryland continued until the eve of the American Revolution.
During the 1700's, Hundreds were established in Maryland for taxation and other purposes. Hundreds were divisions within a county based on taxable units. Taxes were levied upon free males, male servants, and male and female slaves over sixteen years of age. Lists were prepared annually by the constable for each Hundred. The New Market area was part of the Transquakin Hundred and the Middle District Hundred during the 1700s.
In 1776, Maryland took a Census of population to determine what the state owed towards the Revolutionary War debt. This Census listed the head of household and the number of white males and females broken down by age and the number of negroes.
Maryland began to tax personal property in the late 1700s to pay for schools, roads and other local and state efforts. To determine what was owed assessment lists were created with values of real and personal property. More detailed tax records specifically list certain items of personal property and give a description of real estate owned.