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Maryland Society, Sons of the American Revolution

The National Society Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) recognizes not only the services of those who bore arms in the Revolution, but also those who rendered service in civil capacities and provided other support, material or verbal. Material support included the payment of taxes that were in support of the War, or honored requests of the Continental Congress to the States. These (qualifying) taxes provide evidence of Patriotic Service for an ancestor for membership of a descendant in the SAR.

The Maryland Revolutionary War Era Tax Lists are arranged by county/district/hundred. Researchers may use them to discover distant ancestors. SAR members and prospective members may use them as supporting evidence of Patriotic Service for new and supplemental applications.

In Maryland, landowners were listed on most tax records (but not all) with the specific land tracts that were taxed. So the tax records are useful in proofs of identity and lineage in addition to proofs of Patriotic Service. The tract names are a benefit to researchers because ancestor names and the lands they owned were listed in land records and often bequeathed to sons or other descendants in probate records. Collectively this provides a more precise opportunity to match one's ancestor with the names on these lists.

Overview of the Maryland Revolutionary War Era Tax Lists


We suggest that anyone exploring these lists first read the Overview document (linked below). This will provide a general sense of the arrangement of the files, the Acts that resulted in the tax collections, and the qualifying circumstances for those listed. it also discusses the abstracted version of these lists available on the Maryland State Archives website.

    Overview of the Maryland Revolutionary War Era Tax Lists

    Reports of the NSSAR Subcommittee on Revolutionary Taxes

    Maryland Tax Laws in force during the American Revolution

    Maryland Tax Records Lists that provide a Basis of Patriotic Service


Maryland Qualifying Revolutionary Tax Files

Please note that these files are large - up to 200 MB. You may experience a delay depending on the speed of your Internet connection. You should have a copy of Adobe Reader installed on your computer to view these files, see http://get.adobe.com/reader/(link is external) to download the latest version. If you wish to download or view these files click here or the button.

National Society Sons of the American Revolution Terms of Use

  1. Although all original tax records are public domain and available courtesy of the Maryland State Archives, the PDF files are © NSSAR 2013 - All Rights Reserved. This includes the Tables of Contents, Notes, and other explanatory text.
  2. Duplication and/or distribution for commercial purposes is not authorized.
  3. Individual researchers may download/copy/print any file for personal use only.
  4. Publication without prior permission is not authorized. In all cases where permission is granted, both the National Society Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR) and the Maryland State Archives (MSA) shall be credited. For publication approval please contact:


John D. Sinks, NSSAR Genealogy Committee

Chair, Subcommittee on Revolutionary Taxes

jsinks@comcast.net(link sends e-mail)

1783 Tax Lists Maryland Tax Records

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