Minnesota State Census, 1905 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The collection consists of indexes and images of the population schedule listing inhabitants of the State of Minnesota as of June 1, 1905

The census is a printed form that was filled in by hand by the enumerator. The record is arranged by county and by community within each county. The census does not include schedules for the counties of Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, or Pennington, as they were not yet organized at the time the census was taken.

Minnesota became a territory in 1849 and took territorial censuses in 1849, 1853, 1855, and 1857. After statehood in 1858, Minnesota took state censuses in 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, and 1905.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. The information 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.

Record Content


Information found in the 1905 Minnesota State Census usually includes:


 * Name of each person who lived with this family on 1 June 1905
 * Residential street/avenue address or RFD
 * Gender, age and color of each person in household
 * Place of birth (U.S. state or territory or country, if foreign born)
 * Father's place of birth
 * Mother's place of birth
 * Length of residence in state
 * Length of residence in enumeration district
 * Occupation
 * Whether an individual had served in the Spanish-American War

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


 * Your ancestor's name.
 * Other identifying information such as age and where they lived.

Search the Collection
To search the collection by name fill in your ancestor’s name in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

If you did not find the person you were looking for, you may need to search the collection by image. ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "County" ⇒Select the appropriate "Township/City/Town/Village/Ward" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

With either search 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 article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

Using the Information
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.
 * 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.
 * 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 alias names, 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 localities.
 * 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.
 * There is also the possibility that a family was missed in the census.

Related Web Sites

 * Minnesota State Census Index
 * Minnesota Census Online Index

Related Wiki Articles

 * Minnesota Census
 * Minnesota Censuses Existing and Lost

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. 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. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection Citation

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation