Nebraska Census

Portal:United States Census &gt;Nebraska

Availability
Federal

Many federal census records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The United States Research Outline provides more detailed information about these records.

The Family History Library has the U.S. Federal censuses of Nebraska from 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930. The 1890 census was destroyed, but the schedule of Union veterans is on microfilm at the Family History Library. The library also has a published index.

The Federal Government took a special census of Nebraska in 1885, which is on 56 microfilms at the Family History Library and at the Nebraska State Historical Society. The society also has the State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1886 and a card index made from the directory that provides a partial index to the census. The Family History Library does not have the directory or the card index.

Published transcripts of the 1860 census and for 35 of the 48 counties in the 1870 census are available.

 Historical Background
 1803--Nebraska was part of the Louisiana Territory when it was purchased by the United States from France.

1813-1827--Trading posts and forts were established near present-day Omaha.

1830-1854--Nebraska was part of an area designated as Indian Territory. Between 1833 and 1876, Indian tribes ceded all Nebraska claims to the United States government.

1854--The Kansas-Nebraska Act established the Nebraska Territory. The creation of Colorado and Dakota territories in 1861 and the Idaho Territory in 1863 reduced Nebraska to nearly its present size.

1867--Nebraska becames a state.

Indexes
Published indexes are available for the 1860 and 1870 censuses. Soundex (phonetic) indexes are on microfilm for part of the 1880 and all of the 1900 and 1920 censuses. The Nebraska State Historical Society also has a complete head-of-household index for the 1880 census. A street index for Omaha that can help you use the 1910 census is on FHL fiche 6331481.

Special Censuses
Mortality schedules for 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1885 are at the Nebraska State Historical Society at http://www.nebraskahistory.org/. The National Archives and the Family History Library have copies on microfilm. The library also has copies of published indexes for the 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1885 schedules.

Territorial Censuses
Territorial and State

Territorial and state censuses exist for parts of Nebraska for 1854, 1855, 1856, 1860, 1865, and 1869.

The county enumerations of several eastern Nebraska counties, taken during 1854, 1855, 1856, 1865, and 1869, were published in the Nebraska and Midwest Genealogical Record, vols. 13-22, 1932-44 (FHL film 162018). (See the "Periodicals" section of this outline.) The existing records are at the Nebraska State Historical Society.

The Nebraska territorial censuses of 1854 to 1856 have been transcribed, indexed, and published in Eunice Evelyn Cox, 1854, 1855, 1856 Nebraska Territory Censuses (Ellensburg, Washington: Cox, 1977; FHL book 978.2 X2p 1854-1856; film 1036024 item 2; fiche 6051283). The State Archives at the Nebraska State Historical Society has a card index for the 1865 and 1869 censuses.

A detailed census of German immigrants from Russia living in Lincoln was taken from 1913 through 1914. The information is similar to that found in the 1900 census, but the town or colony of birth is also given. It is arranged by street and is listed in the Family History Library Catalog under NEBRASKA, LANCASTER, LINCOLN—CENSUS (FHL film 833157)

Web Sites
Ancestry: http://www.ancestry.com

Heritage Quest Online: http://www.heritagequestonline.com

Census Online: http://www.census-online.com/links/NE/

Genealogy Today: http://dir.genealogytoday.com/usa/ne/census.html

Access Genealogy: http://www.accessgenealogy.com/census/nebraska.htm

Bibliographic Citations
Nebraska Research Outline. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1998, 2001.