Red River and Property Assessment: 1863

Red River empties into Green Bay, 2010

Assessment and reassessment are always enough to raise one’s blood pressure. It is understandable. Seldom do taxes go down. Property owners look at their assessments and their neighbor’s, and then wonder about fairness.

How fair is it if a cow born on June 2 is assessed to be worth more than the cow born on May 31? Who judges whether a cow is a good or fair producer? How fair is it when a pig 5 months and 30 days is worth less than a pig 6 months and 1 day old? How accurately are animal birthdays recorded? At what point do animals become too old to be worth much? During the 1860s, it appeared that those with more animals were assessed a bit less than those with few animals. Did assessors in the 1860s think like one recently who told property owners that amount of property was just like buying a gross of pencils rather than just one: the price for one pencil is greater than for the same pencil if one buys all 144.

Red River’s assessor in 1863 was Joseph Wery. Wery was the man, who nearly ten years later, applied for and got a post office for Darbellay which he ran from his store at the crossroads that today is Highway S and SS. A glance at the town's tax questionnaires provides a glimpse into the early farming community. Assessors throughout the Kewaunee County used the same questionnaire.

Joseph Demuese’s statement of property included 4 cattle valued at $50 in total because they were over 2 years old on June 1, 1863. His 3 hogs, over 6 months old on the same date, were valued at $6.00. Rosalie Motard was assessed $40 for her 3 neat cattle.* They were over 2 years old. Victor Moreaux was listed as having no property. He might have been a boarder, hired man, or one without animals over 2 years old, but that was not explained. Pierre Martin had one pig to declare.

Jean J. Lemieux appears to have been quite prosperous. He had a horse over 2 years old that was valued at $25. The 5 neat cattle were valued at $60, the same value placed on his 5 sheep. His sheep and 3 hogs - valued at $2 each - were over 2 years old. Michael Braedal’s horse was valued as Lemieux’s, but his one head of neat cattle was assessed more at $15. His three hogs were over 6 months old and valued collectively at $4.50. Justin Barbiau’s 3 hogs were worth even less - $3.00. Michael DeGreve was another who appears prosperous with a horse, 5 neat cattle and 5 hogs, valued at $20, $80 and $15 respectively. DeGreve's cattle had to be some of the town’s finest, although not as fine as Constant Thiry’s whose cattle appear to be the highest assessed in town. With 7 horses, Thiry had more than anyone in Red River. Those horses were assessed less than his cattle. The horses were valued at $65 while his 3 neat cattle were worth $60. His 4 pigs came to $8.

Antoine Ricor had been in Red River since the town’s beginnings. His horse was valued at $20 while his 2 neat cattle amounted to $30. In a town where most residents had neat cattle and hogs, David Cezar was unusual. His assessment was just for two horses. Hubert Loeze also stands out. He had the only mule or ass in town, or at least the only one declared, however it was 1 ½ years old by June 1 and, therefore, not valued for tax purposes.

Henry Leurquin was assessed on June 29, 1863. He was a businessman whose “Moneys and Credit” was valued at $40. The term described “the aggregate excess of credits not secured by lien of real estate, above the aggregate indebtedness of the person or company listed.” Leurquin was also assessed for “Merchant and Manufacturing Stock” at $50. That was defined by law to mean, “personal property from which there is allowed no deduction for indebtedness.” Leurquin was also assessed $30 for 2 neat cattle.

Peter Muler’s Merchant and Manufacturing Stock was placed at $60.00. Muler (or Muller) and his brother Francis were located in the “Flemish Settlement.” Judging from Louis Van Dycke’s assessment, he was the richest man in Red River. His Merchant and Manufacturing Stock was assessed at $416.00.

It is possible that not all assessment papers were kept together, or that some were lost over time. Noteworthy in the valuations is the absence of Speer Brothers’ sawmill and Barrette’s Dock.

More than likely Red River had many more farm animals than assessment papers suggest. At the time the human population was not required by law to file birth certificates, how many kept accurate records of an animal’s birth?  And, if a few days made a difference in one’s taxes, who could remember?

Note: Neat cattle was an old term meant to indicate domestic cattle.