Michigan State Census, 1894 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This census counted and gathered information about the population in 1894.

The collection contains population schedules for a few counties in Michigan from the state census taken in June 1894. This collection contains the following 16 of 83 counties:


 * Barry
 * Bay
 * Benzie
 * Dickinson
 * Emmet
 * Gratiot
 * Ingham
 * Iosco
 * Kalamazoo
 * Kent
 * Keweenaw
 * Lapeer
 * Leelanau
 * Menominee
 * Montcalm
 * Washtenaw

Michigan began collecting census information in 1710 with the colonial census of Detroit. Censuses were conducted periodically throughout the colonial and territorial periods. The fist state census was compiled in 1837. Most state, territorial, and colonial censuses are at the Michigan State Archives. For additional information see the wiki article Michigan Census. The census information was handwritten on preprinted sheets.

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.

Record Content
The census includes the following information:


 * Name of every person who resided in the family
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Color or race
 * Marital status
 * Married within the census year
 * Mother of how many children
 * Mother of how many children (living)
 * Birth place
 * Birth place of father
 * Birth place of mother
 * Number of male children born during census year
 * Number of female children born during census year
 * Number of months old
 * Occupation
 * Whether in military
 * Sick or disabled on day of census
 * Nature of disability
 * Attended school within the year
 * Number of months
 * Literacy
 * Whether speaks English; if not, language spoken
 * Length of residence in Michigan
 * Length of residence in United States
 * If prisoner, pauper, or homeless child

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * Identifying information such as names of other family members and their approximate ages

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them 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.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

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

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestors 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.
 * Use the residence information to help you locate immigration records (such as a passenger list) which would usually be kept at the port of entry into the United States.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * 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.
 * If they are subject to military service, they may have military files in the State or National Archives.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment or 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 the 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.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * 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 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 that may be your ancestor.
 * There is also the possibility that a family was missed in the census.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Michigan Census Records
 * Access Genealogy

Related Wiki Articles

 * Michigan
 * Michigan Census
 * Michigan Census Existing and Lost

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. 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. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection Citation: Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):