New York State Census, 1915 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection is a cooperative project with Ancestry.com and the New York State Archives. FamilySearch is publishing an index which links to images at Ancestry.com.

The records are handwritten on preprinted forms. The records are arranged by County, Assembly District, Election District and Block.

New York State took a census every ten years from 1825 to 1875; another in 1892; and again every ten years from 1905 to 1925. Unfortunately, many of the early census records have been lost. Two copies were made of both the 1915 and 1925 census. One copy was retained in the County and the other copies were sent to the New York State Archives.

The census was compiled to obtain a count of the population of the state to determine how many representatives the state would send to Congress.

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.

This census covers residents of New York in 1915.

Record Content
The census includes the following information:


 * Name of street and house number
 * Name of each person living in home on 1 June 1925 (Children born after 1 June 1925 were not recorded)
 * Relationship of each person to head of household
 * Color or race, gender and age on last birthday
 * Place (country) of birth
 * Citizen or alien
 * Number of years in the United States
 * Occupation
 * Inmates of institutions
 * Address where living at time of admission and date of admission

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know


 * The name
 * Identifying information such as age and where they lived

Search the Collection
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. 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.

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

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Make a photocopy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors. The following examples show ways you can use 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. Child and teenage 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.
 * 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.

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. 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.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals with the same family number.
 * 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 Websites
1915 New York State Census New York State Census

Related Wiki Articles

 * New York Census
 * New York Censuses Existing and Lost
 * New York Census State Censuses

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
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.

A suggested format for citing FamilySearch Historical Collections, including how to cite individual archives is found in the following link: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections