Franklin County, Georgia Tax Digest, 1808-1818. (Volume #2)

By: Martha Acker, Pub. 1981, 316 pages, Index, Hard cover, ISBN #978-1-63914-227-9.  Franklin County was created in 1784 and was considered the 8th county of the state.  It is located in the northeastern portion of the state boarding South Carolina along the Savannah River.  Early on, Franklin County boarded Wilkes and Greene Counties, Georgia and Pendleton District/County, South Carolina.  Franklin County is the parent county in part or whole to: Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Hart, Jackson, Madison, Oconee, and Stephens.  Tax Digest can be one of the most valuable tools available to researchers.  When used carefully along with deeds and other legal records, one can construct a rather tight framework around an inhabitant of a given area.  They are particularly useful in differentiating between person with identical names in the same area, and in pinpointing the time of their coming and going.  Important relationships between persons listed in a tax digest can often be established.  Considering that Franklin County has lost its 1790, 1800 and 1810 census, these tax digests help bridge that gap in placing a person in a specific time, city or tax district.  Information that can be gleaned from these records: name of owner, name of executor or guardian, name of adjoining land owners, number of acres, number of dwellings, value of property, city located in or name of closest creek or river, number of slaves and sometimes giving slaves name, indication of out of state ownership or a resident, or whether it is a poll tax for a person claiming no property and whether the tax payer is a defaulter or not.  The index for this book has approximately 15,000 entries plus a place name index.