Finding tax lists=Frustration

I've ranted before about some of the problems of long-distance genealogy. You know, when your family history takes you everywhere but the state you're currently living in. When that happens, you have to rely on published resources, the internet, FHL microfilms, kindly librarians, volunteers, and employees, the luck of the Irish (LOL), and if all else fails, paid researchers. I've had a fair amount of luck doing basic record retrieval using all of the above, however once you venture out of the realm of the ordinary (ie. your basic birth, marriage, and death info) things start to get a bit more tricky. It becomes harder and harder to gain access to what you need. There are some locations with wonderful historical and genealogical societies with hard-working members who spend countless hours to transcribe, abstract, and index all kinds of useful genealogical information. Yes, while you shouldn't necessarily rely upon the work of others since human error is always a possibility, these local reference works are a goldmine because at the very least they will give you the location of the records that you need so that you can order copies without having to pay someone for the retrieval. Without the location, for instance which Will Book or Grantee index number, the court employees won't give you the time of day over the telephone. I've found quite a few published references for various New Hampshire counties especially helpful. Even with these great resources available though, tax lists still seem to be falling through the cracks. It's really frustrating to me because tax lists can be one of the best resources for locating individuals and figuring their ages and relationships prior to 1850 when only the head of the household is listed on census schedules. Somehow, these records seem to get ignored by transcribers, often in favor of what they feel are more important vital records. I understand that feeling, however, what do you do when you get past the point of civil registration and you have to start piecing things together to build a case for a familial relationship? Those tax lists start looking awfully attractive at that point. Just a bit of a rant and piece of mind for today. Rant Off.

Update on Delaware County, PA tax lists

I received a response to a query about the Delaware County tax lists a week or so ago but I've been so backlogged lately with work that I haven't had a chance to update the info here yet. It appears that the first information I received from a reference librarian at Neumann College, which stated the tax dockets had been sent to the Delaware County Historical Society, was incorrect. A different employee at the Neumann College Library says that they were moved to the Delaware County Archives not the Historical Society. So now I will attempt to confirm this with the Archives and post yet another update here as soon as I hear something back.

Update on Delaware Co, PA records

Ok, so after reading a great article on PA records, and general history, by Kay Haviland Freilich ("Research in Pennsylvania", NGSQ v. 90, March 2002") I was determined to pin down the tax records of Delaware Co, PA which the article mentioned had been transferred to Neumann College in Aston. I sent an email to the library inquiring about the tax lists and received a reply this morning saying that they have been transferred again to the Delaware County Historical Society and for me to contact them. I thought, no problem, I've seen their website before (I was actually going to post it here on the site) but when I went to go to the page, it appears that their site has been closed down. It used to be at www.delawarecountyhistoricalsociety.org. So my next step will be to try and email the owner of the site at www.delawarecountyhistory.com to see if they may know of the tax lists and/or the status of the DCHS website. Keep an eye on the comment section for this thread for an update.

Working my through the ins and outs of tax lists

So I'm currently attempting to get copies of tax lists from two different time frames from two different states. New Hampshire tax lists (I'm specifically looking for tax lists for Dover, NH 1800-abt 1817) remain in the town/city clerk's office while Pennsylvania tax lists (specifically for Delaware Co, PA between about 1840-1875) appear to be kept at the county level. Both are proving to be difficult to access from outside their respective states. For the NH part of the problem the familysearch.org lists a film including land grants and tax lists for Dover/Strafford Co in general, however these relate to the 17th and 18th centuries. They also have a film with the lists from the 1798 tax but Dover was not among those towns included in the lists. On the PA side, the following are the list of films available under the heading "taxation":
Additional tax transcripts of townships formerly in Chester County, Pennsylvania and now in Delaware County, Pennsylvania from 1781-1789 Chester County (Pennsylvania). Board of County Commissioners
Chester County taxes, 1781-1789, for that part of the county which became Delaware County Chester County (Pennsylvania). Collectors
Delaware County, Pennsylvania; the taxables in the assessment list of 1715 and Swedish inhabitants 1693 Williams, Richard T., d. 1983
Delaware County, the Delaware Bay and early settlers in the seventeenth century Williams, Mildred C. (Mildred Corson)
Index of wills and administration records of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, 1789-1850 Williams, Richard T., d. 1983
Listing of inhabitants in 1722, Dalaware County, Pennsylvania Iscrupe, William L
Tax list of Chester County, 1768 : pertaining to the inhabitants of Chester County, including the present-day county of Delaware

None of which pertain to the time frame I'm looking for, abt 1840-1875. So pretty much, as I have been unable to location published indexes for tax lists fitting my time frame, it looks like my only option in both cases is to hire someone to go through the index for me. For those who may also be searching for an on-location professional researcher, the following sites are the best places to find them:

The Association of Professional Genealogists
http://www.apgen.org/

Board for Certification of Genealogists
http://www.bcgcertification.org/associates/index.php

Through these two sites, you will be able to location highly trained and qualified genealogists with varying rates who will give you the best results in your search.