Minnesota Territorial Census, 1857 - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Minnesota

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of indexes and images to the population schedule listing inhabitants of the Minnesota Territory in 1857.

NOTE: "All entries for the following newly created [23 May 1857] counties were fabricated to cover voter fraud: Cottonwood, Jackson, Martin, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, and Rock. (For further information see Robert J. Forrest, 'Mythical Cities of Southwestern Minnesota,' Minnesota History, 14 (1933), pp. 243-52)." This collection coincides with NARA publication T1175.

Collection Content
The census information was handwritten on pre-printed sheets. It is arranged by county (counties are in alphabetical order), then by smaller jurisdictions.

Minnesota became a territory in 1849, in which year a territorial census was taken. Territorial censuses were also taken in 1853 and 1855. The 1853 and 1855 censuses are very incomplete. The federal government had a territorial census taken in 1857, just before Minnesota became a state. However, there was some fraud involved in this census. Ballot boxes were stuffed with ballots that had names of fictitious voters. In addition, there are some localities within the counties of Cottonwood, Jackson, Martin, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, and Rock which may be entirely fictitious.

The census was compiled to obtain a count of the population of the territory to determine how many representatives the state would send to Congress. Accuracy 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. As stated in Collection History, some information in this census was deliberately falsified.

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

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Information found in this collection may include:


 * Name of each person who resided with family on 21 September 1857
 * Age
 * Sex
 * Race
 * Place of birth
 * Individual native to U.S. or was a naturalized citizen
 * Occupation, if male and over 15 years of age

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The place where your ancestor lived.
 * The age of your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in your ancestor’s name in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: If you did not find the person you were looking for, you may need to search the collection image by image. ⇒Select the Browse link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "County" category ⇒Select the "Township/City/Town/Village/Ward" category which takes you to the images

Look at each image 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.

With either search 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.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
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.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age listed to determine an approximate birth date.
 * 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 with records at the port of entry into the United States.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals with the same family number.
 * There is also the possibility that a family was missed in the census.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation