1860 Hernando, Florida, Tax Roll:
A Replacement for the
Missing 1860 Federal Census

Florida's Hernando County was established on 24 February 1843. In 1844 it was renamed Benton County in honor of Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who introduced a bill in Congress in 1840 entitled "The Armed Occupation Act" which provided land grants for settlers in central Florida. This act was responsible for opening the land of Hernando County for settlement. The name was changed back to Hernando in December 1850 when Senator Benton fell from the favor of the county's citizens because of his strong stand for the Union and opposition to secession. Thus, in the 1850 Federal Census, Hernando residents are enumerated under Benton County.

Researching inhabitants of Hernando County is hampered by two incidents that occurred over a century ago. First, the 1860 Federal Census is missing for Hernando County. Various sources say it was never taken. Second, in 1877, the courthouse burned to the ground "and the records contained therein were destroyed" according to a history of Brooksville.

The Florida County Tax Rolls will help supply information lost by these two events. The tax rolls contain a fascinating amount of information on the residents of each county and the property they owned and were taxed on. Tax rolls for Hernando County are available yearly from 1845 through 1879, with the exception or 1847, 1848, 1849, 1865, 1870, and 1871.

The kinds of property enumerated and the amount of detail recorded varied greatly from year to year. For 1860 the following were recorded:

a) Name of taxpayer (or if taxes were paid by an agent for a non-resident or administrator of an estate this is noted)
b) If taxpayer was a white male over 21 and under 50
c) Number of acres of land owned
d) Value of the land
e) Value of improvements to the land
f) Number of slaves owned
g) Value of the slaves
h) All bank or other corporate stock
i) All money at interest
j) All notes and obligations
k) All capital employed in trade by merchants and traders
l) All capital invested in water vessels
m) Value of all carriages
n) Number of horses, asses, mules owned
o) Value of horses, asses, mules
p) Number of cattle, swine, sheep owned
q) Value of cattle, swine, sheep
r) Value of all household furniture owned
s) Value of all watches owned
t) Drafts bought or sold
u) Free negroes and mulattoes
v) Number of cattle or non-residents
w) Value of cattle of non-residents
x) Premiums received from agencies or foreign insurance companies
y) Amount or state tax
z) Amount of county tax

In the list that follows, only the first seven, (a) through (g), are included to conserve space. By 1869, the legal description of the land including section, range, and township was given. This information is of major interest since deed records prior to the courthouse fire in 1877 are not available.

The Florida County Tax Rolls are available on microfilm at the Florida. State Archives. They are filed as Series 28, Record Group 350, of the State Comptroller's records. A list of the counties and years available can be obtained by writing to the Archives (Florida State Archives, Dept. of State, R.A. Gray Building, Tallahassee, FL 32399) and requesting the "Finding Aid" for the tax rolls. They were microfilmed by the LDS Church and are also available at the local LDS Family History Center libraries through the microfilm rental program.

I have made the following changes from spellings that appeared in the original article. I changed Daiby to Darby in both places it occurred. I changed Bales to Bates in four places. I changed McKown to McKeown in both places it occurred. I changed Henry Hearn to Henry Harn in one place. I changed D. C. Ellis to T. C. Ellis each time it occurred. I changed Horn to Harn four times, and I changed A. B. to H. B. Harn. I changed Green Gamson to Green Garrison. I changed F. H. Eddington to F. H. Ederington. I changed Henry Chrestey to Henry Christy in all three places it occurred. I changed B. M. Harwell to E. M. Harville and I changed J. E. Harwell to J. E. Harville. I changed C. B. Hill to C. D. Hill (twice) because of information from Jim Dennison.

Please send any possible corrections to Jeff Miller.