Economic Mobility into the Planter Class in Texas, 1846-1860 Page: 21
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slaves. In general, the values of property and number of slaves owned by individuals
has been considered to have been reported with significant accuracy, yet there are
many instances in which the individual who reported these values was not the actual
owner, as will be discussed below.26
The annual state property tax records provide the major data source for this
study. These returns were compiled each January by the county tax assessor with
information self-reported by each individual taxpayer. Though some differences exist
year to year, the information reported included acreage, including value of the acreage
and the name of the original grantee, town lots and value, number of slaves and value,
number and value of various types of livestock, and value of miscellaneous property.
All of this information can be invaluable for assessing economic mobility, into the
planter class.
The data from the tax rolls have been limited to the years 1846 to 1860, except
in the case of McLennan County. Limiting this study to the statehood period is beneficial
in several ways. First, it makes for a manageable sized dataset. It also covers all of the
pre-secession statehood period, when slavery "came of age" in Texas, growing rapidly
and turning Texas into one of the leading states in the Cotton Kingdom. Finally, the tax
records from the early statehood period differ from those of the Republic of Texas in
that they are more uniform and they remained largely intact at the time of microfilming.
McLennan County was not organized until August 1850, thus 1851 was the first year of
tax records for this county. County tax records prior to 1851 for Navarro, Milam, and
26 For a discussion of the general reliability of property reporting in the census, see Campbell and
Lowe, Wealth and Power, 22-24, and also Lowe and Campbell, Planters & Plain Folk, 195-196.21
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Nelson, Robert Nicholas. Economic Mobility into the Planter Class in Texas, 1846-1860, dissertation, December 2011; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc103363/m1/27/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .