BEFORE TILL archival sealBefore TillThe Living Evidence Archive

Research object · BT-CLM-00170

Hilliard accumulated taxable personal property after emancipation.

Documented· 4 sourcesLast reviewed August 9, 2026
Research & Interpretation byAmberly R. Carter-MillsFounder, Creator & Descendant Archivist

The Claim

Tax entries from 1874, 1883 and 1884 record Hilliard as owning mules, cattle, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.

Public Summary

Personal property is recorded in tax rolls. No entered tax record lists land, and none establishes landownership.

Evidence Reviewed

  • SupportsModerate

    A 1874 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning two mules.

    Source: 1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules) · Repository pending confirmation

  • Partially SupportsWeak

    A separate 1874 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning two mules and one carriage or wheeled vehicle. Whether this duplicates or supplements the other 1874 entry is under review.

    Source: 1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules and one wheeled vehicle) · Repository pending confirmation

    Possible duplicate. Held apart rather than merged.

  • SupportsModerate

    An 1883 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning cattle, a mule, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.

    Source: 1883 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver, Spencers Mill · Repository pending confirmation

  • SupportsModerate

    An 1884 tax entry records Hilliard Talliaferro as owning cattle, a mule, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.

    Source: 1884 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Talliaferro, Spencers Mill · Repository pending confirmation

    No entered tax entry lists land. Landownership is not claimed.

The Evidence Trail

Step 1 · Claim

BT-CLM-00170

Tax entries from 1874, 1883 and 1884 record Hilliard as owning mules, cattle, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.

Step 2 · Evidence & Source

  1. Supports · Moderate weight

    A 1874 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning two mules.

    1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules) · Repository pending confirmation · Digital Image

    BT-EVD-00139 ← BT-SRC-00119

  2. Partially Supports · Weak weight

    A separate 1874 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning two mules and one carriage or wheeled vehicle. Whether this duplicates or supplements the other 1874 entry is under review.

    1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules and one wheeled vehicle) · Repository pending confirmation · Digital Image

    BT-EVD-00140 ← BT-SRC-00120

    Researcher interpretation · Amberly R. Carter-Mills

    Possible duplicate. Held apart rather than merged.
  3. Supports · Moderate weight

    An 1883 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning cattle, a mule, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.

    1883 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver, Spencers Mill · Repository pending confirmation · Digital Image

    BT-EVD-00142 ← BT-SRC-00121

  4. Supports · Moderate weight

    An 1884 tax entry records Hilliard Talliaferro as owning cattle, a mule, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.

    1884 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Talliaferro, Spencers Mill · Repository pending confirmation · Digital Image

    BT-EVD-00144 ← BT-SRC-00122

    Researcher interpretation · Amberly R. Carter-Mills

    No entered tax entry lists land. Landownership is not claimed.

Step 3 · Conclusion

No conclusion has been published. This remains an open research question. Do land or property tax rolls for the same years record real estate in Hilliard's name?

How the Evidence Sits Together

What supports the claim

Observations that carry the claim forward.

  • A 1874 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning two mules.

    Supports · Moderate weight

    1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules)

  • A separate 1874 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning two mules and one carriage or wheeled vehicle. Whether this duplicates or supplements the other 1874 entry is under review.

    Partially Supports · Weak weight

    1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules and one wheeled vehicle)

    Possible duplicate. Held apart rather than merged.

  • An 1883 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning cattle, a mule, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.

    Supports · Moderate weight

    1883 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver, Spencers Mill

  • An 1884 tax entry records Hilliard Talliaferro as owning cattle, a mule, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.

    Supports · Moderate weight

    1884 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Talliaferro, Spencers Mill

    No entered tax entry lists land. Landownership is not claimed.

What complicates or contradicts it

Kept in view rather than discarded.

  • Nothing in this column for this claim.

What only provides context

Consistent, but not identifying or probative on its own.

  • Nothing in this column for this claim.

Research Conclusion

No conclusion has been published for this claim. It remains an open research question.

Amberly's Research Notes

No research note has been published for this claim yet.

From the research notebook ofAmberly R. Carter-MillsFounder, Creator & Descendant Archivist

What We Still Need to Find

Do land or property tax rolls for the same years record real estate in Hilliard's name?

Provenance, Access and Use

Source creator
Varies by record — see each source
Who made the original record.
Researcher of record
Amberly R. Carter-Mills — Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist
Located, transcribed, weighed and interpreted the evidence.
Publishing archive
BEFORE TILL: The Living Evidence Archive
Holds the object, its identifiers and its revision history.

1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules)

BT-SRC-00119
Evidentiary weight 3 of 4. Digital image of original recordOriginal image: Citation entered — image review pendingA photographic image of a contemporary record held by the repository named below.
Creator
Not recorded
Date created
Not recorded
Repository
Repository pending confirmation
Collection
Personal property tax rolls
Record form
Digital Image
Source type
Tax
Accessed
Not recorded

Access and use

No rights statement has been recorded for this source. Verify rights with the holding repository before republication.

BEFORE TILL publishes description, transcription and analysis. Reuse of the underlying record is governed by the holding repository. Cite this archive by its persistent identifier when quoting our reading of the record.

1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules and one wheeled vehicle)

BT-SRC-00120
Evidentiary weight 3 of 4. Digital image of original recordOriginal image: Citation entered — image review pendingA photographic image of a contemporary record held by the repository named below.
Creator
Not recorded
Date created
Not recorded
Repository
Repository pending confirmation
Collection
Personal property tax rolls
Record form
Digital Image
Source type
Tax
Accessed
Not recorded

Access and use

No rights statement has been recorded for this source. Verify rights with the holding repository before republication.

BEFORE TILL publishes description, transcription and analysis. Reuse of the underlying record is governed by the holding repository. Cite this archive by its persistent identifier when quoting our reading of the record.

1883 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver, Spencers Mill

BT-SRC-00121
Evidentiary weight 3 of 4. Digital image of original recordOriginal image: Citation entered — image review pendingA photographic image of a contemporary record held by the repository named below.
Creator
Not recorded
Date created
Not recorded
Repository
Repository pending confirmation
Collection
Personal property tax rolls
Record form
Digital Image
Source type
Tax
Accessed
Not recorded

Access and use

No rights statement has been recorded for this source. Verify rights with the holding repository before republication.

BEFORE TILL publishes description, transcription and analysis. Reuse of the underlying record is governed by the holding repository. Cite this archive by its persistent identifier when quoting our reading of the record.

1884 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Talliaferro, Spencers Mill

BT-SRC-00122
Evidentiary weight 3 of 4. Digital image of original recordOriginal image: Citation entered — image review pendingA photographic image of a contemporary record held by the repository named below.
Creator
Not recorded
Date created
Not recorded
Repository
Repository pending confirmation
Collection
Personal property tax rolls
Record form
Digital Image
Source type
Tax
Accessed
Not recorded

Access and use

No rights statement has been recorded for this source. Verify rights with the holding repository before republication.

BEFORE TILL publishes description, transcription and analysis. Reuse of the underlying record is governed by the holding repository. Cite this archive by its persistent identifier when quoting our reading of the record.

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