New York State Census, 1865 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
These records are for the year 1865.

Record Description
The record is a printed form that was filled in by hand by the enumerator. The records are usually arranged by county and town.

This census includes several other sections, beyond the population schedules, that contain useful information. It includes two schedules with information of officers and enlisted men currently in the military and officers and enlisted men who had served in the military. This census contains information on when and where the individual first entered the military, their rank, how long they were in the service, their present health, as well as several other items. The census also includes tables on marriages and deaths occurring during the year ending June 1, 1865. These tables contain typical marriage and death information. One other table that contains valuable information is entitled deaths of officers and enlisted men. This table contains deaths of individuals which had occurred while in the military or naval service of the United States, or from wounds or disease acquired in said service since April, 1861, reported by the families to which the deceased belonged when at home. It includes the name of the deceased, age at death, if married or single, if a citizen, several items relating to military information, date of death, place of death, manner of death, survivors of the deceased, place of burial and any remarks.

Record Content


Key genealogical facts found in the population schedules of the 1865 New York State Census are:


 * Name of every person whose usual place of abode was in the family on the 1st day of June, 1865
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Color
 * Relation to the head of the family
 * In what county of New York, or in what state or country born
 * Parent of how many children
 * Number of times married
 * Current marital status (married, widowed, or single)
 * Occupation
 * Citizenship (native, naturalized, or alien)
 * If owner of the land
 * If currently or formerly in the Army or Navy

How to Use the Records
A census can provide you with names and ages of family members, which can then be used to calculate birth or marriage dates. It can provide the county and town where your ancestor lived, people living with (or gone from) the family, and relatives that may have lived nearby. The census may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.

Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the census index. Use the locator information in the index (such as page number or family number) to locate your ancestors in the census. Some on-line indexes, such as indexes to FamilySearch Historical Records, will take you directly to an image. Compare the information in the census to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information of more than one family or person to make this determination. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

When you have located your ancestor in the census, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the age listed to determine an approximate birth date. This date along with the place of birth can help you find a birth record. Birth records often list biographical and marital details about the parents and close relatives other than the immediate family.
 * Birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * Use the race information to find records related to that ethnicity such as records of the Freedman’s Bureau or Indian censuses.
 * Use the naturalization information to find their naturalization papers in the county court records. It can also help you locate immigration records such as a passenger list which would usually be kept records at the port of entry into the United States.
 * If they are subject to military service they may have military files in the State or National Archives.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as school records; children’s occupations are often listed as “at school.”

It is often helpful to extract the information on all families with the same surname in the same general area. If the surname is uncommon, it is likely that those living in the same area were related.

Be sure to extract all families before you look at other records. The relationships given will help you to organize family groups. The family groupings will help you identify related families when you discover additional information in other records.

Some other helpful tips to keep in mind are:


 * Married family members may have lived nearby but in a separate household so you may want to search an entire town, neighboring towns, or even a county.
 * You may be able to identify an earlier generation if elderly parents were living with or close by a married child.
 * You may be able to identify a younger generation if a young married couple still lived with one of their sets of parents.
 * Additional searches may be needed to locate all members of a particular family in the census.
 * The census may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.

For a summary of this information see the wiki article: United States, How to Use the Records Summary (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Record History
State censuses were created by the state of New York and were taken about every ten years beginning in 1795. This census does not cover the entire population of the state of New York because the counties of Clinton, Franklin, Genesee, Hamilton, New York, Putnam, Queens, Seneca, Westchester, and Wyoming are missing.

Why This Collection Was Created?
The census was compiled to obtain a count and description of the population of the state of New York.

Record Reliability
Use the information with some caution, since the information may have been given to a census taker by any member of the family or by a neighbor. Some information may have been incorrect or deliberately falsified.

Related Web Sites
This section of the article is incomplete. You can help FamilySearch Wiki by supplying links to related websites here.

Related Wiki Articles
New York Census

Known Issues With This Collection

 * 1) 1 - Kings, Brooklyn, Ward 12: There is a section of Ward 11 (bounded by Myrtle, Hudson, Willoughby Bridge Streets) incorporated in the Ward 12 image database (images 52 thru 88). #2 - Images for Niagara County are not available for publication online; the corresponding film 1577675 can be ordered into FamilySearch centers for viewing.

Sources of Information for This Collection:
New York Census, 1865, database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org/); from various County Clerks throughout New York. FHL microfilm, 75 rolls, Family History Library Salt Lake City, Utah

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection
New York State Census,1885. digital images, From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: January 21, 2011). Census Record for Warren Lawrence, age 27, Browse: Sarataoga, Edinburg, Image 1.