South Dakota, State Census, 1915 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
Population schedules are handwritten entries on preprinted cards. The cards are arranged alphabetically by surname.

This information pertains to the census taken in the year 1915.

In 1885 the state legislature directed that a census be taken in June of that year and every 10 years thereafter. The last state census was conducted in 1945. The completed forms were sent to the Secretary of State. The census covers approximately 90% of the population.

The state census was taken in order to enumerate the population for representation purposes.

Censuses are usually reliable, depending on the knowledge of the informant and the care of the census enumerator. Information may have been given to a census taker by any member of the family or by a neighbor. Some information may have been incorrect or deliberately falsified.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the data and images published on FamilySearch.org Historical Records. It may include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.

Record Content


Key genealogical facts found in the South Dakota state census for the year 1915 are:


 * Name
 * Residence
 * Age
 * Birth place and ancestry
 * Birth place of parents
 * Sex
 * Race
 * Marital status
 * Occupation
 * Years in United States and in South Dakota and if naturalized
 * Able to read and write
 * If blind, deaf, idiotic, or insane
 * Extent of education
 * Military service with state, regiment, and company
 * Maiden name of wife
 * Church affiliation

How To Use The Record
Begin your search by locating your ancestor in the census. 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.

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 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 an 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.

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

Related Web Sites

 * South Dakota State Census
 * South Dakota Census Online

Related Wiki Articles

 * South Dakota Census
 * South Dakota 1905 State Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * South Dakota 1925 State Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * South Dakota 1935 State Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * South Dakota 1945 State Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * South Dakota Censuses Existing and Lost

How to Cite Your Sources
An example of citing these records is: South Dakota. Assessor. South Dakota State Census, 1915. Census page. From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org), April 23, 2010. Wilbur Smith, birth year 1890, religion Lutheran, image number 02486.

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

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: Help:How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.

Citation Example for a Record Found in This Collection
"South Dakota State Census, 1915." database and digital images, FamilySearch ([https://familysearch.org: accessed 7 April 2011). Walter North, age 32; citing Census Records, FHL microfilm 2,283,715; South Dakota Historical Society, Pierre, South Dakota.