Minnesota, Clay County, School Census Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Minnesota Clay County

What is in the Collection?
This Collection will include records from 1909 to 1962 with many errors with some years incorrectly identified and in particular the 1960's.

The listing of school-aged children is a common practice throughout the United States. The records are usually compiled on a yearly basis and help local governments determine funding needs for individual schools. The information is usually reliable although the ages are sometimes off by a year and legal guardians may be confused with parents.

Sample Image
Information found in the records may include the following:


 * Name of county
 * School district
 * Name of child
 * Gender
 * Age of child
 * Date of birth
 * Name of parent/guardian
 * Home Address

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:
 * Name of the child
 * Age or approximate birth date
 * Parents' names
 * Residence

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors 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 compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select Browse through images on the initial collection page ⇒Select the "School District and year range" 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. 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.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, 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 ancestor. For example:


 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date.
 * Use the age or birth date along with the parents’ names and residence to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile the entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents.
 * Continue to search the birth records to identify other relatives such as cousins who attended the same school or other nearby schools.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after 1885.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.

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

 * 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.

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:

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