New York State Census, 1915 - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
New York began taking formal state censuses in 1825 both to determine representation in state government and to produce statistics the government might find useful. The state took a census every ten years from 1825 through 1875, another in 1892, and then every ten years again from 1905 to 1925. Unfortunately, many of the early census records have been lost. Two copies were made of both the 1915 and 1925 census. One copy was retained in the County and the other copies were sent to the New York State Archives.

State censuses like the 1915 census are useful because they fall in between federal census years and provide an interim look at a population. The 1915 New York census also took place during an era of heavy immigration; between the 1910 and 1920 federal censuses, the state would add almost 1.3 million inhabitants.

The records are handwritten on preprinted forms. The records are arranged by County, Assembly District, Election District and Block.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Census
 * Name of street and house number
 * Name of each person living in home on 1 June 1915 (Children born after 1 June 1915 were not recorded)
 * Relationship of each person to head of household
 * Color or race, gender and age on last birthday
 * Place (country) of birth
 * Citizen or alien
 * Number of years in the United States
 * Occupation
 * Inmates of institutions
 * Address where living at time of admission and date of admission

Collection Content
This collection is a cooperative project with Ancestry.com and the New York State Archives. FamilySearch is publishing an index which links to images at Ancestry.com.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The full name of your ancestor
 * Other identifying information such as their residence and age
 * Other identifying information such as their birthplace or the names of other family members

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * 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 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
 * 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 a county
 * Additional searches may be needed to locate all members of a particular family in the census

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Look for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties
 * There is also the possibility that a family was missed in the census
 * Consult the New York Record Finder to find other records

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of New York.
 * New York Guided Research
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.