Minnesota State Census, 1875 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
The official enumeration date of this census is May 1, 1875, and the census lists the inhabitants of the state of Minnesota as of that date.

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

Record Content


These are the key genealogical facts found in the 1875 Minnesota State Census:


 * Name of each individual in the household
 * Individual’s age
 * Individual’s gender
 * Individual’s color
 * Place of birth (state or territory if in the U.S., or country if foreign born)
 * If the individual’s father and mother were foreign born
 * If the individual served in the army during the Civil War

How to Use the Records
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 taken in Minnesota every ten years beginning in 1865 through 1905. Each census includes most individuals living within the counties enumerated.

Why This Record Was Created
The census was compiled to obtain a description and a count of the population of the state of Minnesota.

Record Reliability
The information is generally reliable. However, use it 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 of the facts and figures may be incorrect or be inadvertently false.

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
Minnesota Census Minnesota 1885 State Census

Sources of Information for This Collection:
Minnesota. State Library and Records Service. State Censuses 1865-1905. Digital images of originals housed in the State Library and Records Service, St. Paul, Minnesota.

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
"Minnesota State Census, 1875." database and images, FamilySearch: accessed March 25, 2011. entry for Esther Cole, age 12, citing Census Records, FHL film 0565718; State Library and Records Service, St. Paul, Minnesota.