He has not been verified as belonging to this family of siblings butis p laced here because of the proximity of residences and events inhis lif e.
Residences & events:
1786 Nelson Co, KY. He and brother John along with brother-in-law,En och Berry, lived in the same neighborhood at tax time, "where thecount y road crosses Salt River on the north side of the roadincluding all w aters of Coxes Creek." Their father had probablymoved out of the area t o the land grant he had recently received.John must have been the old er brother with a bigger estate since histithe was 2 while John's and E noch's were only 1.
From Nelson Co, Pioneer is the following:
4/1/1787 "Isaac Cox, wife Mary, to James McMachan, 100 pounds, 200acr es on Coxs Creek where McMachan lives."
1787 And yet by next tax time his assets had shrunk to only 1 tithe.J ohn and Enoch were still neighbors.
1788 Apparently the McMahans were missed by the county tax collectora s their names were not there.
1790 At tax time, their father was back as was James but John wasmiss ing. James' tithe was 2 again.
1791 James lived next door to Enoch Berry and brother John was backbu t their father was then gone.
10/9/1792 James was appointed Tax Commissioner over "the residue" oft he county that was not already defined. He was to follow thePermanent R evenue schedule that had been established in the Junesession of court:
For every 100 acres in proportion for greater or smaller quantity 2 s hillings
For every slave, except those exempted because of age orinfirmity 2 s hillings
For every horse, mare, colt, or mule, except covering horses 8p ence
For covering horses, "the sum which such horse covers one marethe s eason, which rate or sum the owner shall note downwhen he de livers in his list of property to the com-
missioners"
For every head of cattle 3 pence
For every wheel on every coach or chariot 6shil lings
For all other riding carriages with 4 wheels,
except those used for agriculture 4 shillings/wheel
For all other riding carriages with 2 wheels 6s hillings/wheel
For every ordinary license 3 pounds
For every retail store within the state 10 pounds
12/12/1792 From court records: "Ordered that.... Benjamin Fry andJam es McMahan be allowed for forty days Service each as Commissionersof t he Tax." Considering the table above, their pay was skimpy tosay the l east.
1793 James was probably the "John" living next door to his father att ax time. He owned only 3 horses and 12 cattle and his familyincluded 1 m ale over 21 (himself) and 2 males age 16-21. Down theroad was brother J ohn.
1794 By that tax time, James had acquired an estate. His tax wasbase d on 200 acres, 4 horses, 19 cattle, and 1 stud horse.Apparently one o f the sons had moved out as there were only 1 maleover 21 and 1 male 1 6-21 in the house.
