1776 Ayr Township

Tax Assessment ~ Part 4

 

This image includes the bottom portion of the second page of the original 1776 tax assessment return for Ayr Township, within Bedford County, showing the names of Residents "Marten" through "Smith".

 

Note: The original tax assessment return is noted with the date of 1775. But the names on the original return do not match those given in the published Pennsylvania Archives for the year 1775; whereas they do match those given for the year 1776.
     In some cases, the return would be written out at the end of one year (e.g. 1775) to be used during the year following (e.g. 1776). That was evidently the case with this assessment.

 

Note: This image was scanned from a photocopy of the original 1776 tax assessment for Ayr Township, within Bedford County. The originals of the tax assessment returns were stored, for many years, in Vault #1 in the basement of the Bedford County Court House. The webmaster of this site was given permission by the officials of the Bedford County Court system to photocopy the original returns in the 1980s. A year or two after the original returns were photocopied, a pipe burst in the vault in which the returns were stored, causing water damage to many records, and the original tax assessment returns were subsequently transferred to the Pioneer Historical Society of Bedford County for storage.

   The following is a transcription of the names of the Residents which appear on the 1776 Ayr Township, Bedford County tax assessment return, as shown in the image above. It is as accurate as possible. Certain names are followed by a name in brackets { }. These are included in order to show how the names are spelled in the published Pennsylvania Archives (1897 Edition, Third Series, Volume XXII, Pages 151-153). Apparently, the compilers of the published Pennsylvania Archives decided that the names should be spelled the way they thought proper, rather than how the tax assessors and/or collectors actually spelled them.

Marten, John {Martin, John}
McLure, John {McClure, John}
Mcinbey, John {Mclmby, John}
Maxfied, Jeams {Maxfield, James}
Neasburt, Alaxandrew {Nisbet, Alexander}
Paxton, Joseph
Paxton, Thomas
Philips, Even {Philips, Evans}
Paterson, Frances {Patterson, Francis}
Quary, Charls {Query, Charles}
Query, Allaxandrew {Querry, Alexander}
Royer, Daniel
Rankin, James
Ranken, Geams {crossed out}
Ramssey, Geams {Ramsey, James}
Steevens, Abednego {Stevens, Abednigo}
Scot, John {Scott, John}
Shelby, Even {Shelby, Evan}
Smith, Mary, widow