Minnesota State Census, 1905 - FamilySearch Historical Records

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Collection Time Period
This census covers the residents of Minnesota in 1905.

How to Use the Record
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. 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. • 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.

You should also be aware that the census may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.

Record Description
The record is a printed form that was filled in by hand by the enumerator. It is arranged by county and by community within each county. The census does not include schedules for the counties of Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen and Pennington. These counties were not yet organized at the time the census was taken.

Record Content


Key genealogical facts found in the 1905 Minnesota State Census are: • Name • Address • Gender • Age • Color • Place of birth (state or territory if in the U.S., or country if foreign born) • Parents’ place of birth (state or territory if in the U.S., or country if foreign born) • Length of residence in the state and enumeration district • Occupation • Whether a soldier or a sailor in the Civil War or the Spanish-American War

Record History
Minnesota became a territory in 1849 and took territorial censuses in 1849, 1853, 1855, and 1857. After statehood in 1858, Minnesota took state censuses in 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, and 1905.

Why This Record Was Created
The census was compiled to obtain a count of the population of the state to determine how many representatives the state would send to Congress.

Record Reliability
The information is generally reliable. However 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.

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Related Web Sites
Minnesota State Census Index

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Related Wiki Articles
Minnesota State Census

Sources of This Collection
Minnesota State Census 1905, database, FamilySearch; from State Library and Records Service, St. Paul. FHL microfilm, 58 reels. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

A full bibliographic record is available in the Family History Library Catalog.

Why Should You Cite Your Sources?
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where the information came from so that you or others can find it again. If you keep a list of the searches you make, be sure to include the name you looked for even if you didn’t find any information so that you won’t repeat the search unnecessarily.

Samples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection
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