If you have ancestors who lived in Scarborough in 1841, the 1841 Scarborough Tax Valuation Book is a great resource to add texture to your family history and genealogical research.
The online version was scanned on the Maine State Library’s (MSL) Zeutschel OS 12002 multi-camera book scanner, which creates high-resolution images. The original book is held at the Scarborough Historical Museum and is approximately 14 inches tall and 9.25 inches wide. Many thanks to Adam Fisher of the MSL for his assistance in this project.
The book is divided into two sections. First are persons who reside in Scarborough. The names are arranged in somewhat alphabetically. That is to say, all the surnames of a particular letter are together, but they are in not alphabetical within a letter, so Burnham, Berry, and Brown are on the same group of pages before the first person with the surname beginning “C.”
The second section is for people who owned property in Scarborough but lived elsewhere.
The information provided can be amazing. For example, Theodore Libby was taxed on 2 buildings and 88 acres of land in production (tilled, or mowed for hay). He also had 114 acres that were unimproved, 10 acres of which was woodland and 5 acres was salt marsh. He was taxed on 1 horse, 4 oxen, 8 cows or cattle and one swine. There are 70 Libby’s in the book. 68 were residents and two non-resident Libby’s lived elsewhere (Gorham and Saco).
Information provided for Scarborough Residents:
- Names of Persons
- Number of Poles
- Number of Buildings and Value
- Number of acres Mowing and Tillage and Value
- Number of acres fresh Mowing and Value
- Number of acres Pasturing and Value
- Number acres unimproved Land and Value
- Woodland and Value
- Salt Marsh and Value
- Tannery and Value
- Number Horses and Value
- Number of Horses under 4 years old and Value
- Number Oxen and Value
- No. Cows & Cattle 3 years old and Value
- No. Cattle 2 years old and Value
- No. Cattle 1 years old and Value
- Number Swine
- Number Chaise
- Stock in Trade
- Money at Interest
- Sum Total
Information provided for Scarborough Non-residents:
- Names of Non-resident Property Owners
- Their Residence.
- Number of Buildings and Value
- Number of acres Mowing and Tillage and Value
- Number of acres fresh Mowing and Value
- Number of acres Pasturing and Value
- Number acres unimproved Land and Value
- Woodland and Value
- Salt Marsh and Value
- Sum Total
The 1841 Tax Valuation Records are available for download from the Maine State Library site, Digital Archives (https://digitalmaine.com/scarborough_books/1/).