HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MEDFORD, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT, IN 1630, TO THE PRESENT TIME, 1855.
Charles Brooks, Ed.

To judge accurately of taxes paid by our ancestors after 1710, it is needful to know the rate of depreciation in the “Province bills,” which were taken in payment for taxes. In 1710, one ounce of silver was equal to 8s. of these bills; in 1722, 14s.; in 1732, 19s.; in 1742, 28s.; and in 1752, 60s.

In July 20, 1720, the General Court ordered, that taxes might be paid in live-stock and merchandise, instead of money; and, from 1720 to 1750, live-stock in Medford was valued, on an average, as follows: Oxen, four years old, £ 2 each; horses, three years old, £ 2; bulls and cows, three years old, £ 1 10s.; swine, above one year old, 8s. each; sheep and goats, 3s. each.

In those towns which had vessels, a decked vessel was valued, for taxation, at £ 1. 10s. per ton; and undecked vessels [Medford lighters], at £ 1 per ton. Stock in trade was valued at one-quarter of its worth; male Indian and negro slaves, at £ 15 each; female, at £ 10.

To show a list of tax-payers in 1730, and their relative rates, the following town-tax for £ 50--the half-yearly pay of Rev. Ebenezer Turell--is inserted:--