Kansas State Census, 1885 - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Kansas

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of a name index of the Kansas state census taken in March 1, 1885. The census enumerates all household members.

Sample Image
Kansas became a state in 1861 and later passed a law requiring a state census every ten years to number the population of the various counties in order to determine apportionment of the state legislature. The first state census was taken in 1865 and continued until 1925, as the law was repealed in 1933.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The census generally gives the following information:


 * The names of all household members
 * The gender of each household member
 * The age of each family member
 * The race or color
 * The place of birth for each person
 * The relationship of each person to the head of household
 * The birthplace of parents
 * The place they lived prior to arriving in Kansas
 * The military conflict they may have served in

How Do I Search the Collection?
To search the collection it is helpful to know the following:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The place they lived in Kansas
 * The names of other family members

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: 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.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s birth record, 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 Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information found on the census to locate your ancestors in additional county records
 * If the census indicated your ancestor's were immigrants, look for immigration and naturalization records
 * Search for the marriage record for your ancestor
 * Search for military records for your ancestor

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for another index. 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 that may be your ancestor.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):