Warren County Genealogical Society

Tax records can provide information about property ownership and real estate that can lead to other records such as deeds or probate records.  Inclusion in these types of records can prove the person was alive and in that locality for the year preceding the year of tax filing.  It can also be used to distinguish people who might have the same name but pay taxes on different property.  Tax records might contain information on the death of the landowner or his spouse, the distribution of land to heirs when the will is probated, a livestock count or a detailed description of the land.  There are three main types of taxes to search.

  •  Poll Tax:  This taxes every man over 21 years and every servant over 16 years.  They did not have to own property to be taxed.  This is sometimes known as a Head Tax.

  •  Personal Property Tax:  This taxes personal property.  Sometime known as a Chattel tax and might include the following:  horses, sheep, cattle, pigs, slaves, carriages, watches, windows, built in closets, and tea.  (Warren County did not have slaves, but the other types of items might be taxed).

  •  Real Estate Tax:  This tax is for land or property.  All real estate was taxed.  You might find the name of landowner listed as well as any males eligible to vote, the number of school age children, the rate of assessment and the taxes collected.

Early Tax lists in Warren County are typically broken down in Lands, Town Lots, and Chattel Tax Lists.  Each tax year varies but in general they “MIGHT” contain the following type of information:

  •  Land:  Proprietor, range, township, section, acres, value, house description, and value

  •  Town Lots:  Proprietor, town name, lot numbers, buildings, and values

  •  Chattel Tax:  Owner, # of horses and value, # of cattle and value.  (Additional items are listed in later tax years.)

In addition to the above types of taxes, make sure to also check for delinquent tax duplicates and inheritance tax duplicates. If your ancestor failed to pay taxes they could be listed in the delinquent records and be mentioned in the newspapers.

Below is a comprehensive list of tax records available for Warren County, Ohio.  The Warren County Genealogical Society (WCGS) has indexed some of these, although previous indexes listed names and pages that referred to copies of the records held in their Resource Library.

W. Winston Cochrane has dedicated years creating NEW indexes with much more information.  The Warren County, Ohio, Combined Tax Lists 1806-1825 has just been released and others are in progress.  These indexes are being grouped by a range of years and allow you to track your research subject through time.  Using the information provided, you can also pin down the location of the land described in the Tax Record by matching it up to the Warren County Township, Range, and Section Map.

Also included in the new indexes is a reference to the Film and / or Image Group Number at FamilySearch.org and the Image Number.  The list below provides direct links to these records.

Please see the Warren County, Ohio, Combined Tax Lists 1806-1825 PDF for the new Index.

Please see the Warren County Township, Range, and Section Map to help you locate the property being taxed.

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A PDF of this Warren County, Ohio, Tax Records page can be downloaded for easy access and reference.

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