State Censuses Can Add to Your Research

Although our August monthly meeting, Understanding and Working with the U.S. Federal Census, presented by StLGS librarian, Judy Belford, concentrated on the federal census, taken every ten years, mention was also made of state censuses, and what they can add to our research. Many states conducted population censuses in "off years," that is years in which the federal census was not held. Although taken randomly and in odd years, state censuses can often serve as substitutes for some missing federal records, and, for the most part, they asked different questions than the federal censuses, so you might learn additional information on your ancestors.

For the longest time, it was very difficult to find state and territorial censuses, and when they were located, they were not indexed. Luckily for us, that situation has dramatically changed, and now, most of the censuses that still exist are online at FamilySearch, Ancestry, and other websites. 

Here is an example of the 1905 New Jersey state census for Bayonne, Hudson County. Our family, Harry and Dora Perlmutter, is marked with a red arrow. 

This state census shows us that Harry was a tailor and his son Solomon was a cap maker. It gives month and year of birth for each member of the family except for the youngest child, Martha, who was just eleven months old. She was the only one born in New Jersey; the rest were immigrants. The census also tells us that Harry had filed his declaration of intention, first papers (PA), and that he had been in the country six years before his wife and older sons arrived. All of this is welcome information for a genealogist!

Many of the early state censuses have been lost, but what does exist is the following:

Alabama: 1818, 1820, 1821, 1823, 1850, 1855, 1866, 1907

Alaska: 1870, 1878, 1879, 1881, 1885, 1887, 1890–95, 1904–07, 1914, 1917

Arizona: 1866, 1867, 1869, 1872, 1874, 1876, 1880, 1882

Arkansas: 1823, 1829, 1865, 1911

California: 1788, 1790, 1796, 1797–98, 1816, 1836, 1844, 1852

Colorado: 1861, 1866, 1885

Connecticut: No state census records are known to exist.

Delaware: 1782

District of Columbia: 1803, 1867, 1878

Florida: 1825, 1855, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1935, 1945

Georgia: 1798, 1800, 1810, 1827, 1834, 1838, 1845, 1852, 1853, 1859, 1865, 1879

Hawaii: 1878, 1890, 1896

Idaho: No state census records are known to exist.

Illinois: 1810, 1818, 1820, 1825, 1830, 1835, 1840, 1845, 1855, 1865.

Indiana: 1807, 1853, 1857, 1871, 1877, 1883, 1889, 1901, 1913, 1919, 1931.

Iowa: 1836, 1838, 1844, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1851, 1852, 1854, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925.

Kansas: 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925.

Kentucky: No state census records are known to exist.

Louisiana: 1853, 1858

Maine: 1837

Maryland : 1776, 1778

Massachusetts: 1855, 1865

Michigan: 1837, 1845, 1854, 1864, 1874, 1884, 1888, 1894, 1904

Minnesota: 1849, 1853, 1855, 1857, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905

Mississippi: 1801, 1805, 1808, 1810, 1816, 1818, 1820, 1822, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1830, 1833, 1837, 1840, 1841, 1845, 1850, 1853, 1860, 1866

Missouri: 1797, 1803, 1817, 1819, 1840, 1844, 1852, 1856, 1860, 1864, 1876, 1880

Montana: No state census records are known to exist.

Nebraska: 1854, 1855, 1856, 1865, 1869, 1885

Nevada: 1862, 1863, 1875

New Hampshire: No state census records are known to exist.

New Jersey: 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915

New Mexico: 1790, 1823, 1845, 1885

New York: 1790, 1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925

North Carolina: 1786

North Dakota: 1885, 1915, 1925

Ohio - No state census records are known to exist.

Oklahoma: 1890, 1907

Oregon: 1842, 1843, 1845, 1849, 1850, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858, 1859, 1865, 1870, 1875, 1885, 1895 1905

Pennsylvania: No state census records are known to exist.

Rhode Island: 1774, 1777, 1782, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935

South Carolina: 1825, 1839, 1869, 1875

South Dakota: 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1945

Tennessee: 1891

Texas: 1829–1836

Utah: 1856

Vermont: No state census records are known to exist.

Virginia: 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786

Washington: 1856, 1857, 1858, 1860, 1871, 1874, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1891, 1892, 1898

West Virginia:- No state census records are known to exist.

Wisconsin: 1836, 1838, 1842, 1846, 1847, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905

Wyoming: 1875, 1878

(This list comes from the United State Census Bureau website: https://www.census.gov/history/www/genealogy/other_resources/state_censuses.html)

Additional Resources

Did you miss Judy's talk? Find it on the Monthly Meeting page on our website.

Want a complete list of all the censuses, including federal schedules? Find it on the FamilySearch wiki "United State Census" page. Links to every state are here, and they will tell you where each state and territorial census is located.