Using Ratables for New Jersey Genealogy

What are ratables?

Ratables are lists of heads of household compiled in order to levy a tax.  Heads of household were typically males and in some cases widows.  These taxes were levied periodically from 1773-1822.

Tax rates were based on a number of variables set by the New Jersey General Assembly, such as how many “improved” (i.e. arable) acres were owned, how many and what type of livestock, whether you owned a carriage, and how many servants and enslaved persons were contracted and owned.

The specifics of what was taxed and at what rate changed when each new tax was issued.  Information collected about the taxpayer varied based on what was being taxed for the period of that ratable.

What can you do with ratables?

Ratables are an important primary source for pre-1830 genealogy research in New Jersey.

The first set of ratables was issued in 1773-1774, while New Jersey was a province, then regularly until 1822. There was no statewide census of colonial New Jersey.  The federal census returns for New Jersey conducted from 1790-1820 are lost; the first available statewide census return for New Jersey is 1830.  There are less census returns available for New Jersey than any other state. Genealogy researchers use ratables as a census substitute.

Lists of all known taxpayers in a town and lists of all known taxpayers with the same surname facilitate cluster genealogy, name studies, local history studies, and brick wall research.

Revolutionary Census of New Jersey

There are several published transcriptions and compilations of tax lists. The Revolutionary Census of New Jersey compiled by Kenn Stryker-Rodda is the most used.  This index groups individuals by last name from three different ratables: 1773-1774, 1778-1780, and 1784-1786.  There is no complete set of ratables for all regions in this time period, so by using these three sets, all townships are covered.

“For the revolutionary period there is at least one list for each of the townships into which the thirteen counties of the colony/state were divided… Two successive lists have been incorporated into this index whenever possible, as individuals were sometimes omitted from a list, and because names were spelled differently even by the same assessor.” (Stryker-Rodda, p. v.)

The index is alphabetical by last name, and includes their township. For the financial details and to see all taxpayers of the same town listed together, you can refer back to the transcriptions of the ratables published in the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey. A “code” in the front of the book indicates which issue of GMNJ contains the transcription.  The New Jersey State Library has a complete set of the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey available for in-library use.

What can you learn from ratables?

The account of the taxpayer’s property lists several features of his wealth.  Tax was calculated by multiplying these numbers by rates.  For example, the tax burden for a householder in 1773/1774 ranged from 2 shillings to £4.  Those who owned a furnace or glass-house could be taxed up to £10.  There are a number of carve-outs and exemptions, similar to modern tax policy.

1773-1774 Ratable	1778-1780 Ratable	1784-1786 Ratable
a number without a letter: number of acres of improved land c: number of horses and/or cattle gm: grist mill hh: householder ms: merchant shop rc: riding chair s: servants or enslaved persons sm: single man sm&h: single man who keeps a horse v: vessel (boat)	a number without a letter: number of acres of improved land c: horned cattle ex: exempt h: horse(s) h&l: house and small lot hh: householder p: hog(s) rc: riding chair s: enslaved persons sm: single man who works for hire sm&h: single man who keeps a horse u: acres of unimproved land £: amount out at interest	a number without a letter: number of acres of improved land c: horned cattle ex: exempt gm: grist mill h: horse(s) h&l: house and small lot hh: householder p: hogs

Other Indexes to Ratables

• Jackson, Ronald Vern, ed. New Jersey Tax Lists, 1772-1822. five volumes. American Tax List Indices. Salt Lake City, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1981. This work is an alphabetical index of taxpayers and includes the taxpayer’s name, town, county, and date they appeared on the tax list. It is not comprehensive, does not include all lists or even all counties. The contents are also searchable as part of Ancestry’s database New Jersey, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1643-1890.
• Norton, James S. New Jersey in 1793: An Abstract and Index to the 1793 Militia Census of the State of New Jersey. Salt Lake City, Utah, 1973.  This is a transcription of ratables created as a result of an NJ Law of 30 Nov 1792 “to take a list of all and every free and able-bodied white male Citizen, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five Years.” Those who did not serve and paid a $3 tax, as well as certain occupations, are listed as “exempt.”  There are no extant 1793 ratables from Bergen, Cape May, Salem, and Somerset, but the author reconstructed a list of these men from other sources.

How to Access Ratables at the New Jersey State Archives

Of the total number of ratables recorded, only about a thousand (4% of the total) still exist. Almost all original extant ratables are in the collections of the New Jersey State Archives.

Until recently the Archives’ tax ratables were available only on microfilm, in person, or by request. As of spring 2024, the Archives has begun to publish high quality scanned ratables on their website.

Visit the record for the Tax Ratables (1768-1854) series.  From here, click the link titled Finding Aid with Scanned Images.  This page has links to currently available scans in their collection; more will be added over time.

“This series includes original tax ratables from the period 1773-1822, as well as photocopies of several tax lists currently in the custody of various historical societies.” Ratables are part of the New Jersey General Assembly Collection.

Questions about access to ratables should be directed to the New Jersey State Archives. Researchers are welcome to browse the print indexes listed to ratables above and issues of the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey in the NJ State Research Library on the fourth floor of the New Jersey State Library.

Selected New Jersey Colonial and Revolutionary Legislation on Ratables

If you have additional citations or references, please send them to the author.

An Act to Settle the Quotas of the Several Counties in This Colony for the Levying Taxes. (6 Dec 1769) Acts of the General Assembly of the Province of New-Jersey (Allinson), chapter CCCCXCV, https://books.google.com/books?id=Yd81AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA317#v=onepage&q&f=false

An Act for the Raising of Four Battalions. (27 Nov 1776) Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey, chapter IX, http://njlaw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/diglib.cgi?page=9&collect=njleg&file=001&zoom=100

An Act for Better Regulating the Militia. (15 Mar 1777) Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey, chapter XX, http://njlaw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/diglib.cgi?page=26&collect=njleg&file=001&zoom=100

An Act to Raise a Fund by Taxation for discharging the Debts and defraying the necessary expences [sic] of the State of New-Jersey. (26 Mar 1778) Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey, chapter XXIII, https://njlaw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/diglib.cgi?collect=njleg&file=002&page=0056&zoom=100

Some of the above acts created exemptions; other legislation creating and modifying exemptions

An Act for Encouraging the Manufacture of Paper in the State of New Jersey. (20 Jun 1778), Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey, https://njlaw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/diglib.cgi?collect=njleg&file=002&page=0088&zoom=120

An Act to encourage William Parker, William Corlies, Richard Lippincott, Jeremiah Borden and Laurence Hartshorne, to erect Salt-Works in the State of New-Jersey. (5 Oct 1776) Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey, chapter VIII, https://njlaw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/diglib.cgi?collect=njleg&file=001&page=0008&zoom=120

An Act for Granting a Bounty upon Wool, Flax and Hemp, Raised and Sold within the State of New-Jersey. (14 Apr 1778) Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey, chapter XXII, article 56, https://njlaw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/diglib.cgi?page=55&collect=njleg&file=002&zoom=120

An Act for the Speedy and Effectual Recruiting of the Four New-Jersey Regiments in the Service of the United States. (3 Apr 1778) Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey, chapter XXIV, section 24), https://njlaw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/diglib.cgi?collect=njleg&file=002&page=0070&zoom=120

Using Ratables for New Jersey Genealogy (Presentation)

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