Back in 2008 or ’09, the Cayuga County Records Retention department went through and digitized many of their records, and then decided to toss all the original books. Happily they offered the original paper tax rolls to any town historian that may want them, so of course we grabbed at the Mentz records and brought them to the historical society. We did begin to photograph them to make our own digital files, but that was intensive and we only made in through a few years. Plus, the photos were not that great. But now that we have the CZUR overhead book scanner, we can take another crack at these records, perhaps making better copies then the Records Retention office has since we have a bit newer technology.
The oldest book we have is 1850 and then we have all up through the present years. You might not think of using the tax rolls, but they can serve as a gap filler for those in-between the census years. If your subject is in the 1852, but not in the 1853, maybe they moved? Or maybe they died? Also, the tax man was also responsible for collecting a “military tax” on each male. So even if your subject didn’t own land, they might be listed as paying this tax. And, don’t forget that the town of Montezuma was a part of Mentz up to 1867, so these records will cover both.
We will be adding books as we have time to scan them, but if you have a need for a certain year, be sure to contact us. These can be found on the digital resources page.
1851 Mentz Tax.
1851 Mentz Town Tax – each male had to paid a .50 military tax. This collector grouped the men by letter.
1855 Mentz Tax showing the widow Sara Baird owning five properties.
The 1855 Mentz Tax of men whose name began with C.
1855 Mentz Tax showing the widow Sophiah Carr.