The tax records from Fayette County Georgia for the years 1833-1851 are in rough shape. The years 1839 and 1840 seem to be bound in the December 13, 1836 edition of the Southern Reporter, published in Milledgville. And tucked into the back of the 1840 tax records, this poem appears in a hand different than William Sparkman, the tax assessor. [Spelling preserved from the original.]
Our Taxes increase so Evry Year
We Surely cannot pay
For we are getting in debt tis clear
And have to move away
Unless we get our Martin Van
To rule our nation right
He will do justice to every man
And Keep his ends in sight
That good Old William Henry H.
Who fought at Tippacanoe
Will Beat our Van in Spite of fate
& inspite of all we can doe
But God will not suffer man to fall
Who lives by his hard labour
But at the Judgement day h__ call
For our Whig friends & Neighbours
A[nd] Say depart ye – – I know you not
T. Slick
A brief dive into history finds that President Martin Van Buren maintained the austere government policies of his predecessor, deepening the financial crisis in 1837. And during that time he continued to live a wealthy lifestyle in the White House, staffed by both free people of color and enslaved people. William Henry Harrison, a hero from a battle in Indiana against the Native people living there, defeated him in the election of 1840.
This little treasure scribbled onto a page in the back of a tax book provides a glimpse into the feelings of the citizens of Georgia in 1840. Take a look for yourself, the tax records are available online at FamilySearch.