Iowa State Census, 1895 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This census counted and gathered information about the population in 1895.

The census information was handwritten on preprinted sheets.

Iowa became a territory in 1838 and a state in 1846. The state of Iowa conducted statewide censuses in 1847, 1849, 1854, 1856, 1859, 1862, 1865, 1867, 1869, 1873, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, and 1925.

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

Reliability of the information in the census is determined by the accuracy of the knowledge of the informant, which could have been any member of the family or even a neighbor.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Records collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.

Record Content
The census includes the following information:






 * Name of every person who resided in the family
 * Age range (18 or over, 5-18 years, under 5 years)
 * Marital status
 * Gender
 * Race
 * Place of birth (if in Iowa, the county of birth; if not in Iowa, state or country)
 * Religious belief
 * Whether subject to military duty
 * Whether entitled to vote
 * If a foreigner, whether or not naturalized
 * Births or deaths in 1894
 * Whether literate or not (by age category, under or over 10 years old)
 * Children over 6 and under 17 not attending any school in 1894
 * Any disabilities
 * Occupation
 * If a soldier in the Civil War, the company, regiment, state, arm of service, and rank
 * If a soldier in the Mexican war, the regiment and state

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know your ancestor's name and other identifying information such as the residence and age.

Search the Collection
To begin your search it is helpful to know the name and some other identifying information such as age or parents' names.

Search the Collection
To search the collection by name fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches.

Look at the names in the list one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

Using the Information
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.
 * Use the race information to find records related to that ethnicity such as records of the Freedman’s Bureau or Indian censuses.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * 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.
 * 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 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.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Related Web Sites
State Historical Society of Iowa

Related Wiki Articles

 * Iowa Census
 * Iowa Censuses Existing and Lost

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 citing FamilySearch Historical Collections, including how to cite individual archives is found in the following link: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections