Connecticut, U.S., Excise Tax Lists, 1865-1874

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Connecticut, U.S., Excise Tax Lists, 1865-1874 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022.
Original data:

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About Connecticut, U.S., Excise Tax Lists, 1865-1874

About the Connecticut, U.S., Excise Tax Lists, 1865-1874

General collection information

This collection includes lists of people who paid federal excise tax in Connecticut between 1865 and 1874. The lists are dated and include the names and home addresses of taxpayers. Some lists include the value of taxable property, the total tax owed, and the name of the taxpayer's company. The lists don't include other personal information about the taxpayers or their families.

Using this collection

This collection includes the following information:

  • Name
  • Date tax paid
  • Address
  • Amount of tax paid

    • Some excise tax lists were produced monthly while others are annual tax registers. Tax lists also provide a way to discover your ancestor's financial status because they reported the value of their property. Changes in your ancestor's financial status also can be tracked over time.

    Collection in context

    These tax lists were created by assessors working for the local and state authorities in Connecticut in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service. The collection includes images of the original excise tax registers. They are high quality primary sources. The original documents are housed at the National Archives and Records Administration in Boston, Massachusetts.

    Excise tax was collected by the federal government on the sale of specific goods and services. Throughout the 1800s, excise taxes were used to increase government revenue during wartime. Excise tax laws were instituted during the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. However, they were unpopular and consistently repealed during peacetime. After the Civil War, most of the excise taxes enacted in 1861 were repealed, except for taxes on distilled liquor and tobacco. This collection has records from the decade immediately after the war, which means many of the taxpayers included in these lists were probably paying taxes for distilled liquor and tobacco.

    Bibliography

    Cilluffo, Anthony A. "Federal Excise Taxes: Background and General Analysis." Congressional Research Service. Accessed April 29, 2022.https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46938.pdf.

    Internal Revenue Service. "An overview of excise tax." Accessed April 29, 2022.https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/an-overview-of-excise-tax.

    National Archives and Records Administration. "National Archives at Boston." Accessed April 29, 2022. https://www.archives.gov/boston.