State Census Years – A valuable list

The Elkhart County Indiana Searcher, Volume 45, Number 4, a quarterly of the Elkhart County Genealogical Society published a listing of if/when each state census was done.  Receiving this newsletter underscores the importance of supporting local genealogical and historical societies.  For searching Elkhart County ancestors this issue alone also has the 1909 Elkhart School Enrollment Part 17 R-S, List of 1883 Pensioners, Tidbits from the Past, 1911 county commencement names, and Hiding in Plain Sight.  We value and support the small libraries, genealogical and historical societies in the localities where our ancestors lived. We encourage you to do the same. 

State Censuses

State censuses can be as important as the federal census to genealogists but, because they were taken randomly, remain a much under-utilized resource in American genealogy.  State censuses often can serve as substitutes for some of the missing federal census records - most notably the 1790, 1800, 1810, and 1890 censuses.  Many state censuses also asked different questions than the federal census, thus recording information that cannot be found elsewhere in the federal schedules.

While not all states took their own censuses, and some have not survived, state and local census records can be found in many locations.  Most states which took censuses usually did so every 10 years, in years ending in "5" (1855, 1865, etc.) to complement the federal census.  These state census records are most often found at the state archives or state library.  Many are also on microfilm through a local Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and online via commercial genealogy databases.

Alabama - 1818, 1820, 1821, 1823, 1850, 1855, 1866, 1907.

Alaska - 1870, 1878, 1879, 1881, 1885, 1887, 1890-95, 1904-07, 1914, 1917.

Arizona - 1866, 1867, 1869, 1872, 1874, 1876, 1880, 1882.

Arkansas - 1823, 1829, 1865, 1911.

California - 1788, 1790, 1796, 1797-98, 1816, 1836, 1844, 1852.

Colorado - 1861, 1866, 1885.

Connecticut - No state census records are known to exist.

Delaware - 1782.

District of Columbia - 1803, 1867, 1878

Florida - 1825, 1855, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1935, 1945.

Georgia - 1798, 1800, 1810, 1827, 1834, 1838, 1845, 1852, 1853, 1859, 1865, 1879.

Hawaii - 1878, 1890, 1896.

Idaho - No state census records are known to exist.

Illinois - 1810, 1818, 1820, 1825, 1830, 1835, 1840, 1845, 1855, 1865.

Indiana - 1807, 1853, 1857, 1871, 1877, 1883, 1889, 1901, 1913, 1919,

1931.

Iowa - 1836, 1838, 1844, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1851, 1852, 1854, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925.

Kansas - 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925.

Kentucky - No state census records are known to exist.

Louisiana - 1853, 1858.

Maine - 1837.

Maryland - 1776, 1778.

Massachusetts - 1855, 1865.

Michigan - 1837, 1845, 1854, 1864, 1874, 1884, 1888, 1894, 1904.

Minnesota - 1849, 1853, 1855, 1857, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905.

Mississippi - 1801, 1805, 1808, 1810, 1816, 1818, 1820, 1822, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1830, 1833, 1837, 1840, 1841, 1845, 1850, 1853, 1860, 1866.

Missouri - 1797, 1803, 1817, 1819, 1840, 1844, 1852, 1856, 1860, 1864, 1876, 1880.

Montana - No state census records are known to exist.

Nebraska - 1854, 1855, 1856, 1865, 1869, 1885.

Nevada - 1862, 1863, 1875

New Hampshire - No state census records are known to exist.

New Jersey - 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915.

New Mexico - 1790, 1823, 1845, 1885.

New York - 1790, 1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925.

North Carolina - 1786.

North Dakota - 1885, 1915, 1925.

Ohio - No state census records are known to exist.

Oklahoma - 1890, 1907.

Oregon - 1842, 1843, 1845, 1849, 1850, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858, 1859, 1865, 1870, 1875, 1885, 1895 1905.

Pennsylvania - No state census records are known to exist.

Rhode Island - 1774, 1777, 1782, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935.

South Carolina - 1825, 1839, 1869, 1875.

South Dakota - 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1945.

Tennessee - 1891.

Texas - 1829-1836.

Utah - 1856.

Vermont - No state census records are known to exist.

Virginia - 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786.

Washington - 1856, 1857, 1858, 1860, 1871, 1874, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1891, 1892, 1898.

West Virginia - No state census records are known to exist.

Wisconsin - 1836, 1838, 1842, 1846, 1847, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895,

1905.

Wyoming - 1875, 1878.

Courtesy of: Elkhart County Genealogical Society Elkhart County, Indiana

Volume 45 Number 4 Winter 2013

Surname Saturday – Cutter, Davenport and Butterfield Families of Elkhart, Indiana

My hubby just finished a monograph on the Cutter, Davenport and Butterfield families who lived in the Elkhart, Indiana area from the 1860s to the early 1900s.  Utilizing a variety of sources he documented the lines of this family as well as their occupations in running a livery stable, building Napanee Dutch Kitchenets, and running a company that developed Alka Seltzer. The appendix is seventeen pages of obituaries, wedding announcements and photos of tombstones.  Copies of this monograph will be sent to several historical societies and libraries in the Elkhart area. 

Tuesday's Tip - Indiana Marriages Companion Book

Marriage Record for Dwight Hawks and Estella Burns
5 June 1884

We were in Elkhart, Indiana this week doing some research for my hubby’s monograph on the Cutter family. 

Family lines to be researched in Elkhart and Goshen were the Davenports, Butterfields, McCutchens and Hawks.  On Sunday afternoon we visited the Grace Lawn Cemetery, the Violett Cemetery and the Oak Ridge Cemetery.

Early Monday morning we visited the Goshen Vital Records department where we found a marriage record for Mary Louise Butterfield and Martin Van Buren Starr who were married 25 June 1895, and for Georgiana Butterfield and Charles McCutchen, married 6 June 1894. Both were married in the St. James Church by Rector Charles Stout.   

But it was the Hawks marriage that had us stumped. Doing due diligence prior to our trip, my hubby had called and talked with the staff of each department to ascertain exactly what information was available.  At one point he was bounced over to the Goshen Vital Records Archives where he talked with a knowledgeable and helpful woman. She reported that her microfilm had Estella Burns Hawks’ father as Floyd Burns.  But when we viewed the marriage record for Dwight Hawks and Estella Burns, there was no mention of a father. So where was this information? The vital records clerks had no idea.

We drove to the Archives to find the answer:  the Indiana Marriages Companion Book for the years 1882-1907.  According to the archivist, because of staff turnover knowledge of available information like the Companion Book is lost. The Companion Book information is not online and it has not been filmed by the Mormons.  

The Companion Book recorded as to whether it was a first or second marriage, and if second, depending on the year, it might say if it was because of divorce or death. It showed parents names, and ages of the couple.

At this point we don’t know how many counties within Indiana and/or how many states might have Marriage Companion Books.  But it would be wise to ask, and in this case, if my hubby’s phone call hadn’t been transferred to this particular woman, we would never have known.