Remember that just because your ancestor appears on a 1830 real property tax list for Coshocton County, Ohio, it doesn’t mean he lived there. A person could have owned property in a place without living there. People on personal property tax lists are more likely to have lived in the location.
But as for the real property lists, your ancestor might have speculated on property, inherited it, acquired it through military service, etc. and never lived on it. Most property owners lived on or near the property, but don’t use your ancestor’s name on a real property tax list as your sole proof that he lived there.
One response
Very true. In Mississippi, there were many planters in SW Mississippi. As new land was opened for purchase, many of these people owned considerable property in the new areas. One way in which I determined if the person lived on the new land was if they paid a poll tax. I assumed that the poll tax would be paid in the county in which he lived.