Please Note: During the year 1780, as was the case during the previous year, the Indian incursions into the region that had been created as Bedford County continued unabated. Only five of the tax assessment returns for the county's townships are in existence, and maintained at the Bedford County Court House Archives. Note that the return for Turkeyfoot was stated as "Turkeyfoot and Milford"
None of the returns that have existed were included in the published Pennsylvania Archives.
Describing the situation in Bedford County is the following entry from the minutes of the County Commissioners, dated 05 June 1780.
The Board met agreeable to adjournment and the assessors of cumberland Valley, Air, hopewell and Turkey Foot attended with their returns. Those from the other Townships do not attend. The board, upon examination, find that some of the Townships have made returns to different Periods, of the depreciation, & that in some others no assessment has been made since the Revolution began. That the frontier Townships being some of them altogether depopulated & others mostly so & that on account of the present distressed situation of the County by the ravages of the Indians, it is impossible to procure any return from them. This being the case, the Board find it utterly impossible to lay the Taxes which, as the whole county is invaded & in a state of war, they trust will be sufficient excuse to the Legislature.
During certain years there might be more than one copy of the return for the tax assessment. The returns were sometimes written out prior to the tax collector making his rounds, copying the previous year's return (assuming that the families that were there the previous year, would still be there this year). Then, when the tax collector made his rounds, he would add names in for the settlers who had moved into the region since the previous year, or cross out the names for residents who had left the region. If more than one return is in existence, the return from which the Pennsylvania Archives were transcribed will be included on the primary pages of the township, with the additional returns shown on an auxiliary page.
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