Free People of Color Named: William (Billy) Maxwell, Harry, Tyrone
The following notices were found in antebellum records of the Liberty County Inferior Court. Free persons of color were subject to poll taxes but apparently were exempted from them on occasion.
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Chambers Monday 2d May 1814
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Ordered that the poll taxes of Tyrone a free negro, Harry, also a free negro, and Billy Maxwell, a free person of color (on account extreme indigence and infirmity) be remitted.
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Inferior Court and Court of Ordinary minutes 1799-1871, Liberty County, Georgia, p. 86; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-49HS-N : accessed 11 Sep 2026), image 86; FamilySearch Library Image Group Number (DGS) 008628878.
Liberty County Inferior Court Chambers, March 4, 1816
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“Ordered that the State, county and fifty per cent taxes now due by Tyrone a free person of color be remitted.”
Inferior Court and Court of Ordinary minutes 1799-1871, Liberty County, Georgia, p. 17; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-49QP-G : accessed 11 Sep 2026), image 153; FamilySearch Library Image Group Number (DGS) 008628878.
Liberty County Inferior Court Chambers, April 26, 1816
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Ordered, that the poll taxes due from William Maxwell and Harry, free persons of color, including also the fifty per cent taxes laid on their said poll taxes, remitted.”
Inferior Court Chambers, Monday, May 18, 1818
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Ordered that the poll taxes of William Maxwell, a free person of color, who is in very indigent circumstances be remitted, and also his 50 per cent taxes, viz. His poll taxes for the years 1816 & 1817, & his 50 per cent taxes on his poll taxes for the years 1815 & 1818.
Inferior Court and Court of Ordinary minutes 1799-1871, Liberty County, Georgia, p. 19; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-497S-Y : accessed 11 Sep 2026), image 154; FamilySearch Library Image Group Number (DGS) 008628878.
Inferior Court and Court of Ordinary minutes 1799-1871, Liberty County, Georgia, p. 41; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-49QR-T : accessed 11 Sep 2026), image 170; FamilySearch Library Image Group Number (DGS) 008628878.