Massachusetts State Census, 1855 - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection consists of an index and images of population schedules listing inhabitants of the State of Massachusetts in 1855. This project was indexed in partnership with the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS).

In 1855, the legislature directed that a census be taken on June 1 of that year and every 10 years thereafter. The census schedules were delivered to the State Secretary and eventually sent to the State Archives for safe keeping. The census schedules are well preserved at the Massachusetts State Archives and they have been microfilmed.

The state censuses of Massachusetts were 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.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:
 * Name
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Race
 * Occupation
 * Birthplace

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The approximate age or birth year of your ancestor
 * The residence of your ancestor
 * The names of other family members and their relationships

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the :
 * 1) Select the County
 * 2) Select the Town, Ward to view the images.

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.

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

 * 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
 * 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
 * Birthplaces 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
 * 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
 * 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

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

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Search for the marriage record of the marriage partner if known
 * Check for a different 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 counties
 * There is also the possibility that a family was missed in the census

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

Related Family History Library Holdings

 * Massachusetts state census, 1855-1865

Related FamilySearch Historical Record Collections

 * United States Census, 1850
 * United States Census, 1860
 * Massachusetts State Census, 1865

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.