mselves alone, having no servants, slaves or dependent sons over 16;
fifteen were liable for one other person, eight for two others, and only
one, Lieutenant-Colonel Jordan, for so many as seven.[3-47]

In other districts the story is the same. In one there were forty
taxpayers, 75 tithables and 25 persons who paid for themselves alone; in
another 28 taxpayers, 62 tithables, fifteen who had no servants or
slaves; in a third 48 taxpayers, 83 tithables, 28 who paid only for
themselves, eleven who paid for two, five who paid for three; in a
fourth district 29 taxpayers, 63 tithables, fourteen who had no servants
or slaves; in a fifth 25 taxpayers, 45 tithables, 12 who paid only for
themselves.[3-48] Thus in Surry county in the year 1675 there were in
all 245 taxpayers and 434 tithables. In other words the men who paid
their own tax outnumbered all those whose tax was paid for them, whether
servants, slaves or relatives, at the ratio of about 4 to 3.

A study of the records of the same county ten years later leads to
almost identical results. At that time Surry seems to have been divided
into four districts. In the first there were 78 taxpayers, 132
tithables, 30 persons who paid only for themselves; in the second, 63
taxpayers, 133 tithables, 33 persons who paid for themselves alone; in
the third there were 38 taxpayers, 74 tithables and 22 persons paying
only for themselves; in the fourth 125 taxpayers, 201 tithables and 81
persons having no dependents to pay for. Thus there were 540 tithables
in all and 304 taxpayers. In the entire county there were about 122
persons who paid the poll tax for others. The largest holders of
servants or slaves were Mr. Robert Randall with seven, Lieutenant-Colonel
William Browne with nine, Mr. Robert Canfield with seven, Mr. Arthur
Allen with six, Mr. William Edwards with six, Mr. Francis Mason with
seven and Mr. Thomas Binns with eight.[3-49]

Here again is proof that the popular conception of the Virginia
plantation life of the Seventeenth century is erroneous. Instead of the
wealthy planter who surrounded himself with scores of servants and
slaves, investigation reveals hundreds of little farmers, many of them
trusting entirely to their own exertions for the cultivation of the
soil, others having but one or two servants, and a bare handful of
well-to-do men each having from five to ten, or in rare cases twenty or
thirty, servants and slaves.

A further confirmation of these conclusio