Cooper Family (Click for Family Tree)

We don’t know much about this line of the family, so are putting these sweet pictures up on the blog in hopes that a descendant will see them and contact us.

Harold Reuben Ribakow was born 24 July 1935 to Delmas Mayer Ribakow and Loretta Cooper, daughter of Joseph Baer Cooper (1873-1955) and Helen Freda Cooper (1878-1934); Loretta was the sister of Irving I. Cooper. Harold lived in Towson, Maryland, and College Park in 1954-1959 when he was attending college and dental school. He married in the summer of 1959, although we do not know the name of his wife- it has been lost to memory within the family. They were found in Baltimore after that, and likely had 2 children. Harold died in Baltimore on 2 January 2008.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Family treasure chest of photos.
2. We have seen the family name spelled as Rubikow, Rubikov, Ribakow, etc.

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Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

Here is the Springsteen name again on a tax record from Indianapolis, Indiana, in May of 1863. This is an excise tax record for a company called, “Theodore & Springsteen.”  So who is the Springsteen in this entry?

The entry itself gives us a clue, as the company is listed as “Builders & Contractors.” From censuses and City Directories, we know that our Jefferson Springsteen was a painter by trade, but was also in law enforcement- in 1860 he was the City Marshall, and in 1860 was listed as a detective. His oldest son John was noted as a painter in 1870, as were sons Jeff and Charles; younger son Abe F. was listed as a brickmason. The boys were still young enough to be living at home, but could possibly have been in business with a partner since all practiced trades involved in the building industry.

Another option was Abraham Springsteen, Jefferson’s brother, since he was a brickmason. Checking an Indianapolis City Directory, we were able to find both Jeff and Abraham listed at their homes, but further in the directory was another entry that gave us the answer we were seeking:

So know we know it most probably was Abram/Abraham Springsteen (1824-1895) that was in the partnership, since Abe F., nephew of Abram, was just 11 and heading off to war as a drummer boy.

A tidbit in a newspaper article also mentions the elder Abram:

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Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

On 3 June 1863, during the Civil War, “Abel Springsteen” was assessed taxes on income of $117 in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was recorded on a form for excise taxes, although detailed information is not written in at the top. The rate he was taxed was 3%, and the assessment was considered to be in Class A, which was apparently ad valorem duty. (Today many citizens pay ad valorem taxes on their vehicles.)

The total tax liability on income of $117.00 was $5.31!

In today’s dollars, that would be $2,137.58 in income, and $97.01 for taxes.

But their math is confusing, as 3% of $117.00 is actually $3.51. The tax paid was about 4.5%, if he really did pay the listed amount.

Wonder if the 3 and the 5 were just transposed when written in the list? Would Abel/Abraham have just paid the higher amount, or contested it? He didn’t have a lot of income compared to others on the same list, so he probably needed to save every penny he could; hopefully he paid the lesser amount.

And just who is “Abel Springsteen”? That name has not come up in other Indianapolis searches, so it might actually be “Abram” or “Abraham” Springsteen. Abram Furman Springsteen, “the youngest drummer boy” of the Civil War has been mentioned quite frequently in this blog, but would have been just 13 in 1863. So it is probably his uncle Abraham, who was born in 1824 in New York and arrived in Indianapolis by 1860. This Abraham was a master brick mason, and we know he was working in Indianapolis as a mason at the time of this tax. More to come about Abraham and his business, and that too has to do with taxes.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918. Ancestry.com Online publication, Provo, UT, USA. Original data – National Archives (NARA) microfilm series: M603, M754-M771, M773-M777, M779-M780, M782, M784, M787-M789, M791-M793, M795, M1631, M1775-M1776, T227, T1208-T1209.
2. Inflation calculator that actually includes to present day, not just 2013- http://www.in2013dollars.com

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Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

McMurray Family, Payne Family (Click for Family Tree)

Well, maybe this isn’t so funny… maybe funny-ironic?

Our “Friday Funny” today is courtesy of the 1895 Supreme Court ruling in Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. concerning an 1894 taxation law:

“The tax imposed … so far as it falls on the income of real estate, and of personal property, being a direct tax, within the meaning of the constitution, and therefore unconstitutional and void, because not apportioned according to representation, all those sections, constituting one entire scheme of taxation, are necessarily invalid.”

Yes, they really declared income tax unconstitutional!

Since today is the anniversary of the founding of the Internal Revenue Service (though it did not yet have that name), on 1 July 1862, it is an appropriate day- of mourning, perhaps?- to consider how our ancestors saw income taxes and to explore how tax records are useful to family historians. They most likely did not find taxation funny either, but would have liked the idea that the Supreme Court felt certain taxes were unconstitutional.

Let’s go back to the beginning of income taxes:

That first federal tax collection was done to help fund the Union Civil War efforts to keep the country together.  Taxes were levied at 3% on incomes above $600 and 5% for incomes above $10,000. The bill was amended in 1864 and raised to 5% for incomes $600-$5,000, 7.5% for incomes $5,000-$10,000, and 10% on incomes greater than $10,000. (The Confederacy also levied taxes with a 1% tax on wages of $1,000-$2,500, and 2% on income over $2,500.)

Beginning an income tax to fund the Civil War surely made citizens have mixed feelings:

The Federal tax was to continue until 1866, however it remained in force until 1872.

Once Congress had gotten used to citizens filling the kitty each year for them to spend as they wished, new bills for taxation were introduced regularly. In our Constitution, Article 1 gives Congress the power to levy “Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” Direct taxes, however, were limited and Congress had to apportion them according to the population of a state; indirect taxes were not allowed. Apportionment was hard to do with an income tax, as some of the tax was collected on income from property, such as rental property or dividends on stocks, which was considered an ‘indirect tax’; therefore most thought an income tax was unconstitutional. (See references below for better legal details.)

Now back to Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. Never fear, our Congress took action once an income tax was declared unconstitutional! Not fast though, as it took until 1913 for the 16th Amendment to be ratified and give Congress the power…

“to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”

The branch of government that collects taxes officially become the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 1918.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Of course, there were taxes long before 1862- “No taxation without representation!” was the cry of the American Revolutionaries against the oppressive taxes of King George of England, and those taxes were instrumental in forming our new nation. Early in the republic, imports were taxed via tariffs, whiskey was taxed (leading to “The Whiskey Rebellion”,) and even glass window panes were taxed at one point, as only the wealthy could afford real glass. States could tax property owners, and those who were eligible to vote (white males) paid a ‘poll tax,’ one way to ensure that only those of means could vote. But there were no federal income taxes.

Sometimes tax records are the only record we can find of our very early ancestors. Tax information can also be used to differentiate two persons of the same name, such as Sr. and Jr. (not necessarily related, and the Jr. would become Sr. when the elder man in town died), father and son, etc., by looking at assets.

The Internal Revenue Service and other tax records can give us quite a lot of insight into our ancestors- their property, other items they owned, what was important at the time, their neighbors and family, even their relative standing in the community economically when we compare them to others in the neighborhood.

Tax records are sometimes challenging to understand, and often difficult to read, plus often one has to flip back some pages to find the headings, place, date, etc. But they can be interesting additions to the information we have about our ancestors, and they are worth the extra time in researching.

Coming up: some family tax records.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Technically the first federal income tax bill was passed by Congress in 1861. That bill called for a 3% tax on incomes greater than $800, but was never put into force.
2. “Taxation History of the United States”- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_history_of_the_United_States#Income_tax, accessed 6/26/16.
3. “The First Income Tax,” Civil War trust- http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/warfare-and-logistics/logistics/tax.html, accessed 6/26/16.
4. Images from Chronicling America/Library of Congress- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014306/1862-06-30/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1862&index=4&rows=20&words=income+tax&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Indiana&date2=1862&proxtext=income+tax&y=11&x=11&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

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Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Helbling Family, Beerbower Family, Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

We complete our series on the Springsteen Family Bible records with a sad and sweet piece of “Memoranda.”

Transcription:

Inds 9-12-1891

Anna M. Beerbower

Divorced from E. P. Beerbower

Sept. 12-1891 by Judge Harks

================================

Anna M. Beerbower & E. P. Beerbower

Remarried Dec. 26-1908, St. Charles, Mo.

These entries reference Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower, daughter of Jefferson and Anna (Conner) Springsteen, and her husband Edgar Peter Beerbower.

The family story is that “E.P.” Beerbower worked for the railroad, and would be gone for long stretches of time because of his job on the train. The story is that he also came home frequently without a paycheck- possibly due to a drinking or gambling problem or ?? per their granddaughter, Mary Theresa (Helbling) McMurray. Anna would have been left alone frequently, and would have needed to find a way to feed her 3 children. (Anna had 2 other children, one who only lived one day after birth, the other only about two months.) She had family nearby when they were living in Indiana, but after they moved to Illinois- they were in Urbana, Champaign, Illinois before November of 1885, and Cairo, Alexander, Illinois by 17 April 1887- she would have had to care for the family herself.

Less than three years after the death of their last son on the day after his birth, Anna was granted a divorce on 12 September 1891 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Son Robert W. was about 17, Edgar S. about 15, and Anna May just 10 years old. Anna Missouri moved to Indianapolis- probably to be near family- and was living with her sons Robert Warson Beerbower and Edgar Springsteen Beerbower in 1897, when she was listed as a widow in the Indianapolis City Directory. (Anna May was probably there too, but daughters would not have been listed i the city directory.)

By 1900 Anna and her three children had moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Could the move have been to be closer to E.P.? We do not know, and know of no other family in St. Louis but it was a railroad hub. As per the entry above, the two were remarried in 1908. A marriage record has possibly been found for the couple, although it is a hard to read. A marriage record for 28 December 1908 (2 days later than the bible entry) with the husband as “E P Beerbower” and the wife’s name “Mrs. Mae Clore” is in Ancestry’s Missouri Marriage Records 1805-2002 database. Interestingly, the record states that EP Beerbower was from Indianapolis, and “Mrs. Mae Clore” from St. Louis. The wife’s name on this record my have been copied incorrectly, as their granddaughter, who was very close to her grandmother who lived with them, did state that they had remarried, and lived together until EP’s death in 1916.

Don’t you just love happy endings?

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Family treasure chest.
2. Missouri Marriage Record for EP Beerbowere and Mrs. Mae Clore: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=MOmarriages&h=100516

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Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.