New Jersey State Census, 1905 - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
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This collection is an index of the 1905 Census of New Jersey including all residents in all counties.

The state of New Jersey took a state census every 10 years, beginning in 1855 and continuing through 1915. The census was compiled to obtain a count of the population of the state to determine how many representatives would be sent to Congress.

The information in this record is generally reliable. However, use the information with some caution, since the 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.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Census
 * Name
 * Gender
 * Age
 * Estimated birth year
 * Names of those in the household, along with gender and age
 * Residence
 * Race
 * Date of birth
 * Marital status
 * Birthplace
 * Birthplaces of parents
 * Citizenship
 * Occupation
 * Literacy
 * Home ownership

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

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.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor in the census, 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.

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

 * Use the age listed to determine an approximate birth date
 * If they are foreign born, look for immigration and naturalization 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

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
 * Look for a different index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities
 * There is also the possibility that a family was missed in the census

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

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * New Jersey state census records, 1905
 * Census of the state of New Jersey, 1915

FamilySearch Historical Records

 * United States Census, 1900

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.