Stamford Grand Lists

Taxation in Stamford, CT from 1641 to the Code of 1821

by Robert D. Towne
Library Committee
Stamford Historical Society
July, 1994

This document is part of the Research Library’s , listed as RG-13
Transcripts listed in the can be found in the , IC102: Stamford, Town of Taxation (Grand Lists)

Table of Content:

Early Tax Lists in the Office of Town Clerk
List of Records at Stamford Historical Society

Introduction: The Grand List

There are many differences between early Colonial taxation and today’s. Support for village, country (commonwealth or state), and the church were all included. School costs were only partly covered. Major building projects and wars were handled by special levies. Costs for routine public works were virtually nil, and the colonists’ strong work ethic and family-oriented conservatism shielded them from large debt and welfare costs.

Stamford, under the jurisdiction of the New Haven Colony, was subject to the “Fundamental Orders” of 1639. Taxes were codified a few years later, combining a “poll” or “head” tax on every male over 16 with a general tax based on ability to pay, the latter measured by land and property owned as recorded each year in a “Grand List.” The concept of the “grand list” extends away back to English practice. Rates for village, church, and commonwealth, and levies for major projects and apportionment of country funds for schools were all based on property owned. This was felt to be equally fair to town and taxpayer.

The arrival of the new Connecticut Charter in 1662, placing Stamford under the jurisdiction of Hartford rather than New Haven did not change things, The tax codes in both jurisdictions were quite similar. However, as Stamford and other towns matured, injustices developed and objectives changed. Tax laws changed to cope, but the Grand List remains today at the heart of the structure.

The poll tax was written into Connecticut’s 1650 code as a flat tax, not part of the grand list, levied on all men 16 or over. Ministers, disabled men and some members of government and others were exempt. In 1737 the flat tax was converted to an amount added to each individual’s list of property. The polls became part of the grand list. The rate set was £18 per adult and £9 for youths under 21. Servants and children earning wages paid their own tax, otherwise parents, or in the case of apprentices, their masters paid.

The first “charge” in Connecticut was levied in 1637 by the Colony of Connecticut to pay for the Pequot War. It was payable in corn. The first charge in Stamford came only weeks after the settlers arrived in 1641 when a town meeting ordered a grist mill and dam to be built on the Rippowam River. The building was erected by a contractor and “other parts by those of the town fit to do the work.” The rate was said to be 5 shillings an acre of land for the mill, and 12 shillings a home lot plus 5 shillings an acre for the dam. Land ownership was proportioned largely on the sums each family had contributed to the purchase of Rippowam Plantation, thus the contributors’ list was, in effect, Stamford’s first “Grand List.”

The Connecticut Colony required every male to submit his own list of real estate and personal property. Each town chose three or four “listers” to monitor and process the lists. Warnings were posted on the town bulletin board. If a man failed to include an item it was forfeited, though in 1703 this was eased by merely including the “forgotten” item at four times its value (four-folding). Each man’s list was sent to Hartford’s General Court in October. The Court rebelled at the time required to examine them all, so after 1706 each town sent only summary lists to Hartford. The totals from all towns were added together in establishing the tax rate needed to meet Commonwealth needs, and its subsequent apportionment among the towns. Each town collected the “country” taxes from its residents and forwarded the sum to Hartford.

The Sweat Tax: Extremely important to the first two hundred years of Stamford history were the laws requiring each man to give time each year building roads, fences and gates, clearing and maintaining common lands, etc. In its first year, Stamford laid down these laws, appointed “fence viewers” and set a penalty of five shillings for failure. In 1642 every man had to contribute to the building of a house/fort for Captain John Underhill and a landing on the river. The code of 1650 ordered each able-bodied man to supply a team of horses and labor for two days a year, a rule that lasted until the Revolution, though wealthy persons could pay a fine to be used for hiring substitutes. [Stamford now spends more than 15% of its budget on such items; the colonists’ “sweat tax” side-stepped this cost.]

Similarly, the men of the town were ordered to acquire muskets and powder, to organize train bands (militia) and take turns manning the palisade around the meeting house, Stamford’s fort. Townsmen also were required to provide wood for the minister, (a good oxload apiece ca. 1695), but this was so hard to police it was replaced by raising the minister’s salary, increasing taxes by 15 to 20 pounds annually. Many needs, such as firefighting, were volunteer.

Tax evasion was not a serious problem. In a small community, everyone knew his neighbor’s holdings; nothing could be concealed, though it was claimed some farmers would send livestock to friends over the state line while making up their lists. There also were complaints (in later years) of counterfeit money.

The costs of commonwealth government were not a great burden on Stamford taxpayers. Under New Haven jurisdiction in the years from 1654 to 1662 an average of only £21 was sent to New Haven, payable in good money, beaver, wheat, peas, rye, pork, or beef. Stamford paid from 10% to 13% of the total paid by all towns. The rate of increase in the grand lists throughout the colony was very small from 1651 until 1775; inflation was very small.

Each town used its own grand list for computing rates for its three taxes: church, school (Society), and town expenses, Marcuse, in “Local Public Finance…” stated that local taxes in peacetime were about four times as great as Colony taxes. The Church and related activities absorbed two-thirds to four-fifths of all local expenditure. The burden of taxation was light, though heavier than believed.

Early Stamford received income other than taxes from sources such as fines and rents. David Waterbury paid to mow hay on the Noroton Islands, but paid no rent in 1685 because the islands were unproductive.

Colonial Stamford expenses included many interesting items. The town owned all the bulls allowed in the settlement. In 1669 the town voted to keep a tavern for visitors and travelers, paying the keeper £5 per year. In the 1670’s, the town started a stockade. In 1673, needing a town gunsmith, Nathaniel Cross was sent for and given a house and land provided he stayed seven years. Stray animals were a concern; men were appointed to catch wild horses. In 1684 the town paid 5 shillings each for wolves, a 3-penny bounty for gray squirrels and a one-penny bounty for blackbirds. Two tything men were paid to see that strict sabboth-day rules were followed. Payments to sheep masters were made until 1706. Until 1664, William Oliver, the town warner or drumbeater, was paid 16 shillings a year for calling the populace to meetings.

In the beginning, land was the primary item in the grand list. Ownership expanded slowly at first; only 960 acres had been cleared and plowed by 1650. By 1680 only about one-third of the town lands had been allocated, though within a few years about 40% would be split off to neighboring towns. In 1685, King James II appointed Sir Edmund Andros who ruthlessly took over many government functions in New England. Fearing the recapture of undistributed land by the king, about two-thirds of the land remaining in town hands was distributed to townsmen beginning in 1687 and culminating with the “long lots” distribution between 1697 and 1699. The tax lists were useful in apportioning these land rights to settlers; in fact, the lists of 1680 and 1686 were carefully drawn as guides. Every man with an estate of £8 could participate, The “long lots” in the northern part of town were distributed to 69 qualifying families on the basis of one acre per 40 shillings assessment on the grand list of 1687.

As Stamford moved into the early 1700s, it was recognized that a man with a profession, business, mill, or trade had higher income than average. The land he owned was no longer a good measure of his wealth. Therefore, an amount was added to his list for his “faculty” or “assessment” as it was commonly called. Faculties were first placed on Connecticut lists in 1737, though Stamford grand lists included faculties as early as 1714. The listers were able to set any amount they chose, but this led to favoritism and inequalities. In 1771 a schedule of minimum assessments was worked out in Hartford. It allowed listers to assess more than the minimum if a lawyer, doctor, tailor, mechanic, merchant, etc. had a highly lucrative business. This, too, led to abuses, so in 1804 the discretionary clause was tightened and maximum limits were set,

The range of properties subject to tax also was enlarging. Livestock, houses, some household goods, mills, ships, etc. were required to be listed. Items were rated by quality: houses by their “smokes” (fireplaces), clocks by brass or wood works, carriages by style, etc. Though in place earlier, the concept of listing all types of property was codified in 1771. It was fairer to farmers and others who had large tracts of land but low income.

The list of items taxed by Stamford in 1781 include

Polls 21-70	Polls under 21
Acres plough land	Cows, steers 3 yrs and up
Acres upland, mowing, pasture	Heifers, steers to 2 yrs.
Acres boggy meadow mowed	Oxen 4 yrs & up
Acres salt & fresh meadow	Horsekind (grades by age)
Acres bushy pasture	Swine 1 yr & up
Acres unenclosed land, graded	Tons of vessels
Smokes (fireplaces), graded	Clocks (graded)
Chaises (graded)	Watches, gold, silver
(Coaches, phaetons added 1796)	Silver plate, ounces
Money on interest	Fourfolds

Sheep-growers in Stamford were given a small tax abatement from 1787 to 1789, and again from 1801 to 1813, The latter period was clearly an inducement to the herders. Connecticut was importing merino sheep and building woolen mills.

The number of taxpayers on the grand list of 1680 was 61. This almost doubled in the next 20 years. In the next 35 years it rose to about 325, and by 1775 it had risen to about 640. In the same period estimated population grew from about 300 to about 3600. As a rough figure, about one out of five residents was a taxpayer through that century.

When the Revolution started, Stamford was 16th in size of Connecticut’s 67 towns, but ranked higher in wealth with a Grand List of £34,078 8s.

In the spring of 1792, Connecticut artisans rebelled against faculty and poll taxes they felt were unfair. Tax listers assessed a minimum of £5 against anyone engaged in a mechanical art. The listers decided who qualified and how big the assessment. This was a hardship for young craftsmen. A 23-year old cordwainer who had just married and worked alone was assessed £20! The poll tax was also unfair. Males 16 to 21 were assessed at £9; those aged 22 to 70 at £18. Artisans were responsible for poll taxes for all apprentices they boarded. In Danbuy, artisans made up only 10% of the taxpayers, but paid 40% of the town’s minor polls. Over 1400 men (298 of them from Stamford) signed a petition, but the Assembly simply let the storm blow over.

Also in the late 1700s, land values had appreciated, but towns were reluctant to re-evaluate. As a result small farmers and livestock owners unwillingly joined the poll-tax payers in carrying much more than their share of the tax load.

The Revolution did not change taxing procedures. Listers were required to post notices in every school district on July 1. Each taxpayer had to list all taxable items in his (or her) possession on August 20, and submit this list by September 20. The listers then added the “faculties” or “assessments” and examined the lists for accuracy, subject to “four-folding.” After compiling, the Stamford Grand List was sent to the State General Assembly (to the Controller after 1796.)

Lee Soltow, author of “Watches and Clocks…” makes some very interesting observations. In 1798, 6,551 watches and clocks were taxed in Connecticut, while 36,432 polls were listed. Gold watches were rated at $17; silver watches at $5; brass- or steel-wheeled clocks at $10, and wooden clocks at $3.34. Timepiece owners had twice as much wealth in acreage and farm animals as the average, and items such as silver plate and quality fireplaces, carriages and horses were overwhelmingly in homes of those with timepieces. Conclusion: Look to the grand list and judge a man’s wealth by the watch he owns.

Beginning around 1800 a number of items were added to the taxable list. In 1804, stores were added, rated as one, two, or three stories high, at $10, 20, and $30, respectively. In 1804 bank stock, rapidly becoming a popular investment for wealthy people, was listed at 3% of value. Despite this, there was little increase in taxable property in Connecticut. The value was actually lower in 1818 than in 1796; possibly wealth was shifting into assets not yet taxed, suggests Henry F. Walradt in “The Financial History of Connecticut.”

At this time resistance to unfairness in Connecticut’s taxes led the Toleration Party to campaign strongly in 1817 for reform. “No state,” it was said, “suffered from higher or more unequal taxes.” Land was still the chief taxable property; newer forms of wealth such as capital, stock, bank shares, etc. were not listed or if so, at a low rate. The farmer paid about three times his share: A $20 cow was taxed as high as $233 in bank stock. A $2,000 farm paid taxes as high as $50,000 in money or stock. A day laborer with no property paid a sixteenth of his income in taxes. The fireplace tax was unfair; the rich mansion might pay no more than the little house next door.

A study by the selectmen of 76 towns showed an average town budget of eight cents for every dollar in the grand list. Poll taxes amounting to 30% of the total tax were levied on rich and poor alike. Farmers’ cattle paid in another 30%. The cattle were rated at 30% of true values silver plate at only 5% and bank stock at 6%. Carriages were entered at 20% and watches at 40%. Land was classed as meadow, plow, or pasture without regard to its real value. Thus unproductive lands far from a market were rated as high as, or even higher, than lands far more valuable. Listers frequently inflated the value of properties of families recently moved into town…“strangers,” they were called.

The ground-swell from these inequities, together with the approval of a new constitution in Connecticut in October, 1818 and the disestablishment of the Congregational Church, relieving Stamford and other towns from the burden of collecting church taxes, led to overall tax reforms culminating in a new code in 1821. The master table of assessments was simplified. Buildings and land were given overall assessments with no details, thinning out the plethora of classifications in the listings. Polls were reduced to $40 for adults. School funds were allocated according to the number of pupils instead of taxable wealth. New computations were introduced for non-resident property ownerb and ministers.

Once again taxes were equalized and fairly apportioned.

Physical Description of Tax Records

The Stamford tax lists for the period 1714-1819 were all hand written with quill pen in booklets of hand-made white paper, often watermarked. Most were sadddlestitched with linen thread in covers of coarse heavy paper or paperboard, Some covers are lost. Lines and columns of the pages were hand-ruled.

Tax listers used books with more pages than needed. Excess pages were often cut out. On some blank pages, and covers too, the listers have scribbled notes. The early booklets were merely summaries listing the names and totals declared by each taxpayer. Where a man had a profession, trade, or mill, the listers often inserted a second sum at his name labeled: “Add to above for faculty (or assessment).” This sometimes was done for “four-fold” penalties too.

In 1781 the books were expanded to itemize polls, the various classes of property, “assessments” and school society of each person in multi-column tables across two-page spreads. These were then summarized by type of property on a separate page which became the official town list.

Many of these later books had separate pages detailing: (1) “Assessments,” the values ascribed to professions and trades; (2) “Four-folds,” the penalties for a man’s not listing all his property (many were later crossed out); (3) Lists of carriages; (4) Summaries of taxable property in each school (society) district.

Through 1795, the monetary units were pounds and shillings rated variously as “old tenor,” “new tenor,” or “lawful” money, all of which were worth less than Sterling. Stamford changed to dollars in 1796. The exchange rate was 3-1/3 dollars for one pound. The adult poll, for example, went from £18 to $60.

In 1819, with adoption of Connecticut’s new Constitution, major changes were made. The master table was simplified by giving buildings and land overall assessments. In the following year the size of Stamford’s grand list was drastically reduced as the entire Middlesex Parish, home to over a thousand residents, was separated to form the town of Darien.

On three occasions these tax records were endangered. On February 4, 1904, fire broke out in the town hall. Town clerk Wm. F. Waterbury and probate judge Frederick C. Taylor arrived quickly. With the help of volunteers who formed a “bucket line” most of the town records were removed to nearby Atlantic St. buildings while the raging fire was creeping down from the upper stories. The records were moved to the Arcade Building on upper Atlantic St. Later that same year the Opera House next door to the Arcade burned. For the second time a hasty evacuation of the grand lists was organized by the town clerk. The third occasion, in 1989, was the bursting of a water pipe in the basement vault of the bank where the records were stored. Great damage was done. Many severely damaged records were professionally restored in 1991. Most restored books are housed in dropspine boxes, buckram covered and gold-stamped to simulate hard- bound books.

Though the Stamford Historical Society has Grand Lists for later years, this Registration Group RG-13 stops with 1819. Xerographic or typescript copies of early tax lists are in our Library’s , available to researchers.

Most of the collection was acquired from six donors over several years. They are:

Donor	Lists for Years of
Estate of Louis D. Ruscoe, 1954	1714, 1736, 1738, 1739, 1744, 1779, and 1780
John Connolly, Collector of Taxes, of Stamford, 1964	1801-04 and 1814-19
The Ferguson Library (originally from Estate of Louis D. Ruscoe)	1728, 1735, 1754, 1760, 1765, 1766, 1769, 1771, 1773, 1775, 1777, and 1778
Mrs. Thomas F. Hogan, 1966	1785, 1786, 1811, and 1812
Mrs. Fred W. Dawless, 1970	1781 and 1782
Mr. Louis Clapes, Town Clerk City of Stamford, 1975	1784, 1787-1800, 1805-10, and 1813

List of Records

Early Tax Lists in office of Town Clerk: 1680, 1686, 1687, and 1701 tax lists exist in the records of the Town Clerk.

E.B. Huntington on pg. 174 of his names all 117 taxpayers on the list of 1701, copied (with errors) from Book of Records A, page 376.  A more accurate 1701 list is given on pgs. 122-4 of Majdalany’s “Early Settlement” (974.6C STAMFORD MAJ 1990)

Year	File Box	Description	Content
1714	Box 1	26 pgs., fragile, faded, 31.3 x 9.8 cm. Self cover.	Alphabetical list itemizes holdings of individuals and gives total for list.
1728	Box 1	36 pgs., 33 x l0.8 cm. No cover.	Four pgs. itemize property of a few people. 23 pgs. individual totals, incl. addendum.
ca. 1723–1729	Box 1	Date uncertain. Poor condition. 10 pgs. remain of original. 30.5 x 9.8 cm.	Individual totals; 1 pg. summary.
ca. 1734 or 1736	Box 1	Date uncertain. Cover badly damaged. 20 pgs., 31 x 9.5 cm.	13 pgs, individ, totals.
1735	Box 2	Restored and rebound. Orig. cover missing. 32 pgs., 31.4 x 10.2 cm.	11 pgs. of individual totals; two pages memo of payments made in kind to schoolmaster, receipted by Robt. Arnold; two pages unclear notes; four pages apparently detailed lists for following year 1736. Blue box size 34 x 11.4 cm.
1736 or 1730	Box 2	Restored and rebound. 30 pgs., stained, 31.4 x 10.2 cm.	13 pgs, of individual totals. Blue box 33.7 x 11.4 cm.
1737	Box 1	Very poor condition. 20 pgs., stained, edges broken away. 32 x 10.8 cm.	13 pgs. individual listings. Other pages full of notes.
1738	Box 1	Self cover, “Stamford List for Aug. 1738.” 32 pgs., corners frayed, 16.2 x 10.3 cm.	27 pgs. individual totals. [See also typed transcripts in vertical file; they include 1 pg. for “heads and mills,” unidentified assessments, 1 pg. of four-folds, and 1 pg. of additions and deductions.]
1739	Box 3	Restored and rebound. 24 pgs., stained, 18.7 x 15.2 cm.	Original title pg. incl. summary figure & scribbled notes, followed by 21 pgs. of individual totals. Blue box 21.3 x 17.1 cm.
1744	Box 1	32 pgs., 16.5 x 10.8 cm. No cover.	30 pgs. of individual totals as of Oct. 1744.
1754	Box 3	Restored and rebound. 22 pgs., stained, 18.4 x 15.2 cm.	21 pgs. individual totals. Certification by 8 listers. Blue box 21 x 16.8 cm.
1760	Box 3	Title “1760.” 32 pgs., 15 x 9.5 cm. Self covers.	27 pgs. individual totals. One pg. Cert. by 1 lister. Balance blank.
1765	Box 3	“Stamford List for 1765.” Restored and rebound. 48 pgs., stained, 15.9 x 10.2 cm.	Title. 29 pgs. individual totals, 7 pgs. of additions, deductions and assessments. Three pages list 17 men four-folded for discrepancies in their declarations. One page allocates totals to three school societies: Old Society, Canaan and Stanwich. Box 18.1 x 11.7 cm.
1766	Box 3	“Stamford List for 1766.” Restored and rebound. 40 pgs., 1549 x 9.8 cm.	Title. 31 pgs. individual totals. Cert. by 4 listers dated Jan. 10, 1767. Three pages list 12 four- folds. Box 18.1 x 11.4 cm.
1769	Box 1	“Stamford Town List for A.D. 1769.” 36 pgs. 19 x 13 cm. Self cover.	31 pgs. individual totals. One pg. cert. by six listers. Balance blank. Back cover badly damaged.
1771	Box 1	48 pgs., 16.5 x 10.2 cm. No cover, back page torn away.	34 pgs. individual totals, four-folders included. Certification by 7 listers, all leading men in town.
1773	Box 1	Date missing. Covers missing. 32 pgs., 16.5 x 11 cm.	Contents: 26 pgs. individual totals.
1774	Box 1	“Stamford List for the Year A.D. 1774.” 44 pgs., 16.5 x 10.2 cm. Self cover.	30 pgs. individual totals incl. four-folds. One pg. certification by 7 listers. Balance blank. Back cover missing.
1775	Box 1	Transcript stored in Inventoried Collection, IC102 “Stamford List for 1775.”	Inside cover summarizes four-folds. 32 pgs. individual totals with four-folds, where they exist, itemized. Cert. by 5 listers.
1777	Box 1	“Stamford List Augt 20, 1777.” 40 pgs., 16.2 x 10.2 cm. Self cover.	Inside cover lists four-folds. 32 pgs. individual totals. Two pages additions & abatements made after lists were sent to Hartford in January, 1778. Cert. by 6 listers.
1778	Box 1	“Stamford List 1778.” 76 pgs. 16 x 10 cm. Self cover.	43 pgs. individual totals. Cert. by 4 listers. Balance blank.
1779	Box 1	Transcript stored in Inventoried Collection, IC102, 38 pgs. Title: “Stamford List Augst 20th, 1779.”	31 pgs. individual totals. No details. Cert. by 5 listers.
1780	Box 1	Transcript stored in Inventoried Collection, IC102, 32 pgs. Title: “Stamford List Augst 20, 1780.”	29 pgs. individual totals. No details. No cert.
1781	Box 4	48 pgs., 33.7 x 21.6 cm. Gray paper covers.	18 spreads now itemizing taxpayer properties, including a column for polls (adults @ £ 18), one for assessments of lawyers, one for assessments of tradesmen, artificers, physicians, surgeons, taverns, etc. Three pages of additions and deductions. Two pages of four-folds, mostly for polls, smokes, and watches undeclared. Two disparate summaries by type of property as of Aug.20, 1781, one preliminary, other cert. by 5 listers.
1782	Box 4	40 pgs., 33.7 x 21.6 cm. No cover.	18 spreads itemized. One page list of four-folds. Unbound: two pgs. of additions after list was sent to Hartford Oct.2, 1782; one page summary.
1784	Box 4	“Stamford List Book 1784.” 48 pgs. plus 4 pgs heavy paper covers. 34.5 x 21.75 cm.	21 spreads itemized. Three pgs. additions & corrections. Any summary lists that existed have been cut out.
1785–1786	Box 5	Two books stitched into one cover made by pasting up pages from The New Haven Gazette dated May 5 and May 26, 1785
	1785	“Stamford List Augst 1785.” 48 pgs., 32.4 x 20.3 cm.	22 spreads itemized. Loose 4-pg. insert summarizes property by type and lists assessments by name and trade. Does not list school societies.
	1786	Transcript stored in Inventoried Collection, IC102, 46 pgs., 33.3 x 20.6 cm Title: “Stamford List 1786.”	21 spreads itemized incl. four-folds and additions. One page summary by type of property. One page assessments by name and trade. One page untitled list.
1787	Box 4	“Stamford Lists for the year 1787.” Approx. 48 pgs. 36.2 x 21.9 cm. No cover.	22 spreads itemized. Columns added for abatements for sheep, and for assessments not identified as to trade.
1788	Box 4	“Stamford List 1788.” 60 pgs. 31.1 x 19.7 cm.	22 spreads itemized. One page additions after list sent to New Haven (sic) 1788. One page summary, Aug. 20, 1788. One page of assessments by name and trade.
1789	Box 4	“Stamford 1789.” 56 pgs., 32.4 x 20.6 cm. Deeply embossed paper covers.	21 spreads itemized. One spread of additions sent May 1790. One page summary. One page of assessments by name and trade.
1790–1791	Box 5	Two books bound into one tan cardboard cover 33 x 21.3 cm.
	1790	“Stamford List for Augt 20th, 1790.” 52 pgs.	22 spreads itemized. One page summary signed by 5 listers. One page of assessments by name and trade. One page additions and deductions. Also one page additions and deductions after the list was sent to New Haven.
	1791	“Stamford List August 20th, 1795.” 56 pgs	Title 21 spreads itemized. One page summary by type of property. One page of assessments, names & amounts. Two pages additions & deductions made after list sent to General Assembly in October. Certification Feb. 6, 1792 signed by 5 listers.
1792–1793	Box 5	Two books bound in one tan cardboard cover 33 x 20.6 cm.
	1792	“Stamford List August 20, 1792.” 48 pgs.	21 spreads itemized. Column now shows five school societies. One page summary by type of property. One page of assessments. Certification by 7 listers.
	1793	“Stamford List August 20, 1793.” 48 pgs.	23 spreads itemized. One page summary by type of property. One page assessments. Certification by seven listers.
1794–1795	Box 5	Two books bound into one cardboard cover.
	1794	“Stamford, August List 1794.” 60 pgs.	25 spreads itemized. A column for abatements has been added. One page summary by type of property. Certification Jan. 26, 1795 by six listers.
	1795	“Stamford, August List for 1795.” 60 pgs.	24 spreads itemized. One page summary by type of property. One page assessments by name and type. Certification by six listers.
1796–1797	Box 5	Two books bound in one cardboard cover. 33.3 x 20.6 cm.
	1796	“Stamford List 1796.” 70 pgs.	30 spreads itemized. One page summary by type of property. One page detailed assessments.
	1797	“Stamford List Aug’t 20th, 1797.” 74 pgs.	25 spreads itemized. One page summary by type of property. One page school breakdown. One page of additions April 30, 1798. One page of assessments. Certified 7 listers.
1798–1799	Box 6	Two books bound into one cardboard cover. 32 x 19.7 cm.
	1798	“Stamford List for Aug’t 20th, 1798.” 72 pgs., 32 x 19.1 cm.	28 spreads itemized. 8 pgs. additions after list sent to New Haven Oct. 1798. One page summary by type of property. Two pages assessments. Cert. by 7 listers. One page summary of additions cert. by 5 listers. One page breakdown for five school districts, cert. by 5 listers.
	1799	“August List 1799” 64 pgs., 32.4 x 20.3 cm.	Title “August List 1799” with certification by six listers. 27 spreads itemized. Four pages additions. One page summary by type of property. One page summarizing additions and giving breakdown by school societies. Two pages of later additions.
1800	Box 6	“Stamford List for 1800.” 64-pg. book plus 8-pg. and 4-pg. loose inserts, in gray cardboard cover 34.9 x 21.3 cm.	Title. 28 spreads itemized. Cert. by 6 listers. One page summary Aug. 20. One page summary of post-October additions, breakdown for school societies, and cert. of men in uniform. Inserts: (a) Title “Stamford Additions on List 1800.” Six pages itemized lists. One page abatements. (b) Two pages additions.
1801	Box 6	Restored and rebound. 74 pgs., 32.5 x 20.3 cm., in new gray paper cover (orig. cover brown paper, “List Book 1801 – Adjourn to Jan. 29, 1802”).	25 spreads itemized. Six pages additions. One page summary “Aug. 20, 1801 List.” One page additions plus breakdown for four school societies (Canaan now omitted.) Cert. by five listers. (Note: the paper is finer, smoother, lighter.) Box 34.8 x 21.9 cm.
1802	Box 6	Orig. rough gray paper cover, 32.7 x 20.32 cm. titled: “List Book Aug. 20th 1802.” 56 pgs., 32.1 x 19.4 cm.	25 spreads itemized, plus four persons four-folded. One page summary Aug. 20. One page summary of additions, plus school breakdown. Certification by six listers.
1803	Box 7	Restored and rebound. Orig. tan paperboard covers titled “Stamford List 1803.” Book 60 pgs., 33.7 x 20.6 cm., heavy wm’d paper re-sewn in gray paper cover.	23 spreads itemized. Two pages additions and four-folds. One page October summary including abatements. One page of later additions, plus breakdowns by school. Certification by four listers.
1804	Box 7	Restored and rebound. Orig. tan paperboard cover titled “Stamford List 1804.” 80 pgs., 30.5 x 18.4 cm., fine wm’d paper, resewn in gray paper cover.	22 spreads itemized. Four pages additions. One page October summary. One page summary of additions, plus school breakdown. Four pages of minutes of listers’ meetings and notes regarding discrepancies. Back page has certification, one signature visible. Blue box 36.2 x 22.9 cm.
1805	Box 8	76 pgs., tan cover of rough paper titled “List Book 1805,” 32.1 x 21 cm.	32 spreads itemized. Table has columns for assessments, sheep, soldiers, abatements, and school districts. One page lists stores and carriages. One page summary 20th Aug. 1805 by type of property. One page summary of additions, corrections and final totals October, 1805. One page breakdown for four school districts. Certification by six listers.
1806	Box 8	78 pgs., 33 x 20.3 cm., in remnants of tan cover mounted on paperboard. Cover: “List Book 1806,” also many random notations.	Title page. 36 spreads itemized. Two pages of four-folds. One page of stores and carriages. One page summary Aug. 20, 1806. One page additions and abatements, One page school society breakdown. Cert. by six listers.
1807	Box 8	“Stamford List Aug. 20, 1807.” 78 pgs., 32.4 x 20.6 cm., cover missing.	Title page. 30 spreads itemized. Six pages additions. Two pages four-folds and more additions. Two pages summaries. One page school breakdown plus cert. by six listerse One page assessments. One page carriages. Last page notes and doodles. Separate 4-page insert is worksheet. Separate note: “Examined, stamped and dismissed by Select Men Nov’r 1809.”
1808	Box 8	“Stamford List for August 1808.” 76 pgs., tan paperboard cover, 31.8 x 20.6 cm.	Cover & title page. 34 spreads itemized, with list of four-folds. Two pages assessments and carriages. One page summary incl. abatements. One page school breakdown. Cert. by seven listers.
1809	Box 9	“Stamford List 1809,” 84 pgs., gray paper cover 33 x 21.6 cm.	36 spreads itemized. One page summary Aug. 20, 1809. One page school breakdown. Three pages assessments and carriages. Cert. by seven listers.
1810	Box 8	82 pgs., gray paper covers, 33 x 21.6 cm.	36 spreads itemized, incl. additions and four-folds. Two pages summary. One page school societies. Two pages of assessments and carriages. One page certification by six listers. Sheep, soldiers, abatements still in list.
1811	Box 9	Restored & rebound. 84 pgs., 32.4 x 20.3 cm. New cover rough gray paper. Orig. tan paperboard cover titled “Stamford List 1811.”	36 spreads itemized incl. 6 four-folds. One page summary by type of property. One page school breakdown. Two pages assessments. One page carriages. Cert. by six listers. Navy box 34.9 x 22.2 cm.
1812	Box 9	Restored. 84 pgs., 32.4 x 20 cm. Tan and gray paper cover titled “Stamford List 1812.”	35 spreads itemized. Two pages Of four-folds. One page summary, One page school breakdown. Two pages of assessments. One page carriages. Navy box.
1813	Box 10	82 pgs., 33 x 20.3 cm, in tan covers made by pasting up two sheets of an 1810 ship’s log. Title: “Joshua Morehouse Cyphering Book. 1813 Book.”	34 spreads itemized. Two pages four- folds. One page summary. One page school breakdown. Two pages “Assessments of mechanics, physicians, attorneys, mills, etc. August List 1813.” One page carriages. Six listers.
1814	Box 10	Restored & rebound. 80 pgs., 33 x 20.3 cm., in new gray paper cover. Orig. cover marble paper.	26 spreads itemized. Two pages of four-folds. One page summary. One page school societies. One page carriages. Two pages assessments. Cert. by 7 listers. Fitted in navy box 32.4 x 21.6 cm.
1815	Box 10	Restored and rebound. 84 pgs., 32.1 x 20.3 cm., in new gray paper cover. Orig. cover missing.	32 spreads itemized. Two pages four-folds. One page carriages. Two pages assessments. Cert. by six listers. One page summary. One page schools. Fitted in navy box 34.3 x 21.6 cm.
1816	Box 11	Restored and rebound. 82 pgs., 33 x 20.3 cm., in new gray paper cover. Orig. cover marble paper.	31 spreads itemized. Two pages four-folds. One page carriages. Two pages assessments (mechanics, attorneys, physicians, mills, weavers, taylors, etc.) One page summary. One page school breakdown. Cert. by six listers. Navy box 35.2 x 21.9 cm.
1817	Box 11	Restored and rebound. 82 pgs., 32.1 x 20 cm., in new gray hand-made paper cover. Orig. cover marble paper.	Note from Town Clerk 1819, and letter from State Comptroller to Town Clerk 1820 affixed to blank pages. 31 spreads itemized. One page carriages. Two pages assessments. One page summary. One page school breakdown and abatements. Cert. by 7 listers. One page of notes. Fitted in blue box 34.6 x 21.6 cm.
1818	Box 12	Restored and rebound. 90 pgs., 32.4 x 20.3 cm., in new hand made paper cover. Orig. cover, marble paper, titled “August List 1818.”	32 spreads itemized. Two pages of four- folds. One page carriages. Two pages assessments. One page school breakdown. One page of notes apparently re additions. Fitted in navy box 34.3 x 22.2 cm.
1819	Box 12	Restored and rebound. 94 pgs., 33 x 20.3 cm., in new hand-made paper cover. Orig. cover tan paperboard titled “Assessment on August list 1819.”	31 spreads itemized. Two pages list property of ministers. Two pages assessments. Two pages list non-residents houses & land. One page breakdown for school societies; also shows soldiers’ abatements. One page summary. One page computation of ministers’ and non-residents’ assessments. Cert. by four listers. One page notes. Fitted in navy box 36.8 x 24.1 cm.

Support for the Church

In the new plantation of Stamford, on the western edge of Puritanism, church and village were treated as one. At first the minister’s salary was raised by a fund drive. In 1644 a rate was imposed on those who didn’t pay their share. With the commonwealth code of 1656, the means of supporting the church switched to a tax based on the grand list and collected by the town.

When a new meeting house was built in 1672/3, the grand list was used in two ways: (1) to levy a tax to pay for the building and (2) to allocate pews. Wealthier families were given preference, with exceptions for high social or military rank and for venerated seniors who had given their wealth to their children.

All property owners voted on the minister’s rate. It was customarily paid one third in winter wheat, one third in pork, and one third in indian corn. Town meetings and town records covered both village and church affairs.

Administrations of church and town were officially separated in 1731 though the church records were kept in the town books for 28 more years. The tax continued, with abatements for outlying residents in winter (starting in 1733), and for people in northern Stamford (1770) who paid rates to the Pound Ridge church.

All church taxes went to the Congregational Church no matter what religion the taxpayer professed. This seemed expedient as long as there was only one church. When Episcopalians began preaching here in 1727 and their first church opened in 1747 the Puritans demanded that Episcopalians continue to pay taxes to the First Society, with few exclusions. The Anglicans fought for many years but got no relief until 1772. Rates for Baptists in Bangall were abated retroactive to 1771. Methodists coming in 1788 were also abated.

The concept of taxes for support of the church weakened in the late 1790s, as people began to object and refused to pay the tax. A special collector was named to seize property of the delinquents. One man whose horse was seized and sold launched an angry lawsuit to recover the horse. In 1811, due partly to legal costs in this lawsuit, the church rate was doubled to 5 cents on the dollar.

The state soon decided it wanted out. In 1817-18 it distributed among the churches a large fund received from the Federal Government and no more grants were made by Connecticut to religious groups. The new state constitution was adopted in the same year…the final stroke separating Church and State. The Congregational First Society continued to impose taxes until 1835/36, following which church needs were raised by subscription.

Support for the Schools

In 1656, Stamford’s 15th year, the New Haven jurisdiction passed laws ordering every plantation to provide instruction for children. Connecticut already had similar laws. Despite severe penalties some towns ignored this, so the next year the Court ordered them to procure a schoolmaster. One-third of the school costs were to come from town taxes; the other two-thirds to come from the scholars.

Richard Mills apparently was Stamford’s first school teacher. He moved to Long Island in 1661, and there are no records of any school until December, 1670 when Matthew Bellamy was named Schoolmaster. His schoolhouse was built three years later using materials from the old meeting house. It was located just southwest of the new meeting house on the town green.

The General Assembly of Connecticut began to help defray school costs. In 1700 the Assembly voted to contribute to each town 20 shillings for every 1000 pounds on the town’s grand list, the funds to come from the country tax. In Stamford, these funds were divided among three schools according to the number of pupils in each. The balance was to come from parents and in the case of apprentices, from the masters. A suggestion in 1704 to establish a regular school tax was promptly rejected. The payments from Hartford rose to 40 shillings/1000 pounds in 1708.

In 1712 the church was assigned the administration of school houses, curriculum and text and the hiring of teachers, though the work was actually done by the town school committee established six years earlier. On December 26, 1734, three years after church and town were separated and the Congregationalists had reorganized as “The First Society,” the church took over the schools completely in what were known as Ecclesiastical Society Meetings, a term shortened to “School Society” or just “Society” as written in the tax lists. No change was made in financing.

On April 2, 1798 the grand list was used again. Stamford’s central school district voted a tax of four cents per dollar on its 1797 tax list to build a new school.

Schools received an unusual boost in 1797. The state had sold almost 3,000,000 acres of its “Western Reserve,” land in Ohio. The proceeds were invested in U.S. Bonds in a School Fund. The State Assembly decided to distribute the substantial interest to town school districts in proportion to the grand lists. The State also continued to return to the schools part of the taxes collected for the State by the towns. In 1801 each school Society received $2.00 for every $1000 on its portion of the grand list. This, added to the School Fund interests relieved the towns of most of their school costs. In many years the State returned more than it got from the towns.

Bibliography

Andrews, Charles M. Rise and Fall of the New Haven Colony. Tercentenary pamphlet no. XLVIII (1936) comprise of Chapters from his Colonial Period vol. II.

Becker, Robert A. Revolution, Reform and the Politics of American Taxation. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. 1980.

Brown, Herbert H. & Mahon, Joseph J. Jr. Church and State: Taxation of Religious Organizations…Benefits Granted bv Federal & State Governments. Villanova Law Review, Winter 1960, pgs. 255-280.

Calder, Elizabeth MacBeath. The New Haven Colony. New Haven: Yale Historical Publications. Misc. XXVIII. 1934.

Feinstein, Estelle F. Stamford from Puritan to Patriot 1641-1774. Stamford, CT: Stamford Bicentennial Corporation. 1976.

Feinstein, Estelle F. and Pendery, Joyce S. Stamford: An Illustrated History. Woodland Hills, CA: Windsor Publications, Inc. 1984.

Gillespie, Edward. Picturesque Stamford 1641-1892. Stamford: Gillespie Bros. 1892.

Gipson, Lawrence H. Connecticut Taxation and Parliamentary Aid Preceding the Revolutionary War. Reprinted, retitled Connecticut Taxation 1750-1775, as Tercentenary Pamphlet X. Yale University Press. 1933.

Gipson, Lawrence Henry. Studies in Colonial Connecticut Taxation. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University. 1931.

Huntington, E. B. . Publ. orig. 1868. Reprint 1979 and 1992. Harrison, NY.: Harbor Hill Books.

Jones, Frederick Robertson. History of Taxation in Connecticut 1636-1776. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Studies in Historical & Political Science, vol. 8, 1896.

Majdalany, Jeanne, and Wicks, Edith M. The Early Settlement of Stamford, Connecticut 1641-1700. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc. 1990.

Marcus, Ronald. Revolutionary War Damage Claims. Essex, CT: The Pequot Press, Inc. 1968-9.

Marcuse, William. Local Public Finance in Colonial Connecticut. Doctorial dissertation, Columbia. 1956.

Purcell, Richard J. Connecticut in Transition 1776-1818. Washington: 1918. Reprinted by Wesleyan University Press, 1963.

Rice, Lloyd Preston. Justice in Taxation in Colonial Connecticut. Based on Rice’s dissertation, The General Property Tax in Connecticut 1635-1771 at Harvard University. 1920.

Sherwood, Herbert F. The Story of Stamford. New York, NY: The States History Company. 1930.

Soltow, Lee. Watches & Clocks in Connecticut, 1800. A Symbol of Socio-economic Status, Connecticut Historical Soc. Bulletin, Vol. 459 No. 4, Oct 1980, pg 115.

Stamford Advocate. Tercentenary Edition: Town of Stamford, Connecticut. Stamford, CT: Stamford Advocate, June 7, 1941.

Town of Stamford. Early records. 1721 Town Meeting.

Updegraff, Marie. Education Spelled Freedom. Ch. in Stamford Past and Present. Stamford, CT: Stamford Bicentennial Committee. 1976.

Van Dusen, Albert E. Connecticut. New York: Random House. 1961.

Walradt, Henry F. The Financial History of Connecticut 1789-1861. Transactions of Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences. New Haven: Yale University. March 1912.

Walsh, James P. Mechanics and Citizens: The Connecticut Artisan Protest of 1792. Williamsburg, VA: The William and Mary Quarterly, Jan 1985, pg 66.

Warren, Alvin C. Property Tax Exemptions for Charitable, Education, Religious, and Governmental Institutions in Connecticut. Connecticut Law Review, Fall 1971.