Iowa State Census, 1895 - FamilySearch Historical Records

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Collection Time Period
This census counted and gathered information about the population in 1895.

How to Use the Collection
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the census index. Use the locator information in the index (such as page number or family number) to locate your ancestors in the census. Compare the information in the census 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 of more than one family or person to make this determination. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

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. For example:

• 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.

• Birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the 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.

• 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.”

• Use the information about religious beliefs find local church 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.

Some other helpful tips to keep in mind are:

• 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.

You should also be aware that the census may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.

Collection Description
The census information was handwritten on preprinted sheets.

Record Content
The census includes the following information: • Name of every person who resided in the family • Age range (18 or over, 5-18 years, under 5 years) • Marital status • Sex • Race • Place of birth (if in Iowa, the county of birth; if not in Iowa, state or country) • Religious belief • Whether subject to military duty • Whether entitled to vote • If a foreigner, whether or not naturalized • Births or deaths in 1894 • Whether literate or not (by age category, under or over 10 years old) • Children over 6 and under 17 not attending any school in 1894 • Any disabilities • Occupation • If a soldier in the Civil War, the company, regiment, state, arm of service, and rank • If a soldier in the Mexican war, the regiment and state

Collection History
Iowa became a territory in 1838 and a state in 1846. The state of Iowa conducted statewide censuses in 1847, 1849, 1854, 1856, 1859, 1862, 1865, 1867, 1869, 1873, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, and 1925.

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

Collection Reliability
Reliability of the information in the census is determined by the accuracy of the knowledge of the informant, which could have been any member of the family or even a neighbor.

Related Web Sites
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Related Wiki Articles
Iowa State, Territorial and Colonial Census

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
It is recommended that you cite the sources of information as you search genealogical records. Citing sources will allow you to avoid duplicate searches later and share your sources with other researchers. A citation with specific details about the source document should allow yourself or others to easily find the source document at a later time. You should cite all sources searched, whether new information is found, to avoid duplicating searches without findings.

Suggested Format

A suggested format for citations created to document information found in FamilySearch Record Search is: Collection title, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: date accessed or downloaded), items of interest. Items of Interest May Include• Name of the person mentioned in the document • File, folder or jacket number • Locality • Record type • Page number • Line number • Date of entry • Digital identification number • Film number

You are Invited to Add Source Citations for a Record in This Collection.

Examples: • United States. Bureau of the Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: September 29, 2006), Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base and Meridian; sheet 9B, line 71 • Mexico, Distrito Federal, Catholic Church Records, 1886-1933, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: April 22, 2010), Baptism of Adolfo Fernandez Jimenez, 1 Feb. 1910, San Pedro Apóstol, Cuahimalpa, Distrito Federal, Mexico, film number 0227023

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Style Guide
For guidelines to use in creating wiki articles that describe collections of images and indexes produced by FamilySearch, see: FamilySearch Wiki: Guidelines for FamilySearch Collections pages

Sources of Information for This Collection
“Iowa State Census 1895,” database, FamilySearch; from Iowa State Historical Society, Des Moines. FHL microfilm, 121 reels. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

A full bibliographic record is available in the Family History Library Catalog.