South Dakota, State Census, 1925 - FamilySearch Historical Records

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

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.

This information pertains to the census taken in the year 1925

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 information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

{{{Collection citation | text= "South Dakota, State Census, 1925." Index and Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2013. Citing Assessor. State Historical Society, Pierre.}}

Suggested citation format for a record in this collection.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in this collection may include:


 * Name and age of person
 * Residence in county and post office or city and ward
 * Occupation
 * Birth place and ancestry
 * Birth place of parents
 * Gender, race and marital status
 * Maiden name of wife and year married
 * Extent of education
 * Military service in Civil War, Spanish War or World War I
 * Name of state, company, regiment and division
 * Number of years living in United States
 * Number of years living in South Dakota
 * Literate or illiterate
 * Physical impairments
 * Religious affiliation

How To Use The Record
To begin your search you will need to know


 * Name of your ancestor
 * Other identifying information such as age, residence or birth place

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals 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 look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them 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.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

Using the Information

 * 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 race information to find records related to that ethnicity such as records of 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.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Birth places 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 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.
 * Census may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.
 * 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.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for an 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.

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 1915 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
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.

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should 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 Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation Example for a Record Found in This Collection
"South Dakota State Census, 1925." database and digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed April 7, 2011). Margaret A Freeman, age 38; citing Census Records, FHL microfilm 2,368,370; South Dakota State Historical Society, Pierre, South Dakota.