Salem Village Assessment:

1681

Name Tax Petition Sort
Adams, John 22.5 NoS 1
Aires, Nath'l 24 NoS 2
Andrew, Daniel 119.25 Anti-P 3
Bayly, Tho 13 NoS 4
Bishop, Edward 48 Anti-P 5
Boys, Joseph 3.25 NoS 6
Brabrook, Sam 16 Anti-P 7
Brown, John 61.5 NoS 8
Buckly, William 24 Anti-P 9
Burroughs, John 30 NoS 10
1681 Tax List (Sample)

The 1690 tax list provided a snap shot of Salem Village's economic structure just prior to the witchcraft outbreak. The list by itself cannot, however, indicate whether economic relationships were changing over time. In Salem Possessed, Boyer and Nissenbaum contend that supporters of the 1692 witch hunt were in the process of economic decline while the economic fortunes of their anti-Parris opponents were advancing. The concepts of economic advance and decline are dynamic and cannot be evaluated with evidence from one moment. Fortunately, it is possible to trace the economic standing of Salem Villagers over a span of time. Village records contain a number of tax assessments, beginning in 1681. Comparing the tax lists of 1681 and 1690 can test whether the economic standing of the pro- and anti-Parris factions were changing in the decade before 1692.

Like the 1690 tax list, the 1681 Tax Data Set contains four columns of information:

To explore Salem Village's economic landscape during the 1680s, click Next.