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Indiana Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 10507, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46852-0507

Index to Tax Duplicates for Monroe County, Indiana (1842)

Submitted by Randi Richardson

ABOUT THIS SOURCE: The earliest available tax duplicates for Monroe County, Indiana, are those of 1842. Microfilm copies of these duplicates are available at the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, the Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Monroe County History Center in Bloomington, Indiana.

The 1842 tax duplicates are of special importance because they are a record of all adult males residing in the county, the township in which they lived, and what taxable property they owned, if any. The last variable is an indicator of wealth. A few female land owners are also included among the duplicates as are the owners of any estates. Land ownership is described specifically by lot, where applicable, number of acres, section, township and range.

In 1842, there were only ten townships. Marion and Polk townships did not yet exist. The townships appear within the duplicates in the following order: Bean Blossom—1; Washington—2; Benton—3; Salt Creek—4; Clear Creek—5; Indian Creek—6; Van Buren—7; Richland—8; Perry—9; Bloomington—10.

Within each township, individuals were alphabetized by the first letter of the last name. Typically, each individual was given a unique number and the numbers throughout the county appear in numerical order. Occasionally, no number was assigned to an individual within a township, perhaps through oversight.

Given that the handwriting in the duplicates is sometimes difficult to read, every effort was made to verify the information. It was proofed by two people, one reading from the handwritten copy and the other from the typed copy. When in doubt, names were checked against census records, marriage records and land records. Some names simply were not legible and those are so noted in the typed copy. Spelling variants have also been included. In spite of these efforts, it seems reasonable to assume that there are still some errors in interpretation. Consequently, one should exercise caution and good judgment when using the index.

Each duplicate consists of a left- and right-hand page. The tax ID number appears in the column immediately to the right of the name. In order of appearance, other columns include:

1) Polls 2) Acres 3) Hundredths 4) ¼ Quarter 5) ½ Quarter 6) Quarter 7) Section 8) Town 9) Range 10) Value of lands without improvement 11) Value of lands with improvement 12) Names of towns 13) In-lots

14) Out-lots 15) Part of in-lots 16) Part of out-lots 17) Number of square 18) Value of lots and improvement 19) Value of corporation stock 20) Value of personal property 21) Total value of taxables 22) State tax 23) County tax 24) Road tax 25) Delinquent taxes; county, road and total amount of tax including delinquents 26) Remarks

The extent of the adult male population and relative wealth of a township may be measured by the sum of the total of the polls, the value of all lands without improvement and the value of lands with improvement.

Taxes levied by the county in 1842 were: polls--$1.00; $.20 on each $100.00.

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