Kansas

This week I thought I’d talk about the Kansas state censuses since they can be extremely helpful for researchers.  This post will only cover the state censuses (not the territorial) that occurred in the years 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, and 1925.  Not only do they provide data in between the federal census years, there are some great tidbits of information collected that may help you research ancestors that lived in, or passed through, Kansas.

Below is a list of information collected for each state census, taken from the column heading for each year.

1865

The 1865 state census is one page and has 16 columns of information as outlined below.

  1. Dwelling-house—numbered in the order of visitation
  2. Families numbered in the order of visitation
  3. The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of May 1865, was in this family
  4. Age
  5. Sex
  6. Color
  7. Regiment
  8. Company
  9. Profession, Occupation or Trade of each person, male and female, over 15 years of age
  10. Value of Real Estate
  11. Value of Personal Estate
  12. Place of Birth, Naming the State, Territory, or Country
  13. Married of Single
  14. Attended school within the year
  15. Persons over 20 y’rs of age who cannot read & write
  16. Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict.
1875

The 1875 state census is one page and has 21 columns of information as outlined below.

  1. Dwelling House, numbered in the order of visitation
  2. Families, numbered in the order of visitation
  3. The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of March 1875, was in this family
  4. Age at last birthday
  5. Sex
  6. Color
  7. Profession, Occupation or Trade of each person, Male or Female
  8. Value of Real Estate
  9. Value of Personal Property
  10. Place of Birth – naming State or Territory of U.S. or country, if of Foreign birth
  11. Where from to Kansas – naming State or Territory of U.S. or country, if a Foreigner
  12. Attended school within the year
  13. Cannot Read – Persons 10 to 15 yrs of age
  14. Cannot Read – Persons 15 to 21 yrs of age
  15. Cannot Read  – Persons 21 yrs of age and over
  16. Cannot Write – Persons 10 to 15 yrs of age
  17. Cannot Write – Persons 15 to 21 yrs of age
  18. Cannot Write – Persons 21 yrs of age and over
  19. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 10 to 15 yrs of age
  20. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 15 to 21 yrs of age
  21. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 21 yrs of age and over
1885

The 1885 state census spans two pages and has 17 columns of information as outlined below.

  1. Dwelling House, numbered in the order of visitation
  2. Families, numbered in the order of visitation
  3. The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of March 1885, was in this family
  4. Age at last birthday
  5. Sex
  6. Color
  7. Married
  8. Single
  9. Widow or Widower
  10. Profession, Occupation or Trade of each Person, Male or Female, 10 years old and over
  11. Place of Birth,  naming State or Territory of U.S. or country, if of Foreign birth
  12. Where from to Kansas, naming State or Territory of U.S. or country, if a Foreigner
  13. Trace or Profession being learned by each Person, Male or Female, under 21 years of age
  14. Attended school within the year
  15. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 10 to 15 yrs of age
  16. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 15 to 21 yrs of age
  17. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 21 yrs of age and over
1895

The 1895 state census spans three pages and has 20 columns of information as outlined below.

  1. Dwelling house, numbered in the order of visitation
  2. Families, numbered in the order of visitation
  3. The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of March 1895, was in this family
  4. Age at last birthday
  5. Sex
  6. Color
  7. Place of birth, naming state or territory of United States; or the country, if foreign birth
  8. Where from to Kansas, naming state or territory of United States; or the country, if a foreigner
  9. Profession, occupation or trade of each person, male of female, 10 years old or over
  10. Trade or profession being learned by each person, male or female, under 21 years of age
  11. Attended school within the year
  12. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 10 to 15 years of age
  13. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 15 to 21 years of age
  14. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 21 years of age and over
  15. Honorably discharged from the volunteer military service of the United States
  16. Name of state in which enlisted
  17. Letter or name of company or command
  18. Number of regiment or other organization to which attached
  19. Arm of service: Infantry (I), cavalry (C), artillery (A), or navy (N)
  20. Name of prison in which confined as a prisoner of war, if any
1905

The 1905 state census spans four pages and has 24 columns of information as outlined below.

  1. Owned or rented
  2. Owned free or mortgaged
  3. Farm or house
  4. Dwelling house, numbered in the order of visitation
  5. Families, numbered in the order of visitation
  6. The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the 1st day of March 1905, was in this family
  7. Age at last birthday
  8. Sex
  9. Color
  10. Place of birth, naming state or territory of United States; or the country, if foreign birth
  11. Where from to Kansas, naming state or territory of United States; or the country, if a foreigner
  12. Profession, occupation or trade of each person, male of female, 10 years old or over
  13. Number of months unemployed
  14. Trade or profession being learned by each person, male or female, under 21 years of age
  15. Attended school within the year
  16. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 10 to 15 years of age
  17. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 15 to 21 years of age
  18. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 21 years of age and over
  19. Honorably discharged from the volunteer military service of the United States
  20. Name of state in which enlisted
  21. Letter or name of company or command
  22. Number of regiment or other organization to which attached
  23. Arm of service: Infantry (I), cavalry (C), artillery (A), or navy (N)
  24. Name of prison in which confined as a prisoner of war, if any

1915

The 1915 state census spans four pages and has 25 columns of information as outlined below.

  1. Owned or rented
  2. Owned free or mortgaged
  3. Farm or house
  4. Dwelling-house, numbered in the order of visitation
  5. Families, numbered in the order of visitation
  6. The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the 1st day of March 1915, was in this family
  7. Age at last birthday
  8. Sex
  9. Color
  10. Place of birth, naming state or territory of United States; or the country, if foreign birth
  11. Where from to Kansas, naming state or territory of United States; or the country, if a foreigner
  12. Profession, occupation or trade of each person, male of female, 10 years old or over
  13. Number of months unemployed
  14. Trade or profession being learned by apprentices and students
  15. Attended school within the year
  16. Cannot Read or Write –  Persons 10 to 15 years of age
  17. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 15 to 21 years of age
  18. Cannot Read or Write – Persons 21 years of age and over
  19. Home Libraries (Containing 20 or more volumes, exclusive of school books) – No. of volumes.
  20. Honorably discharged from the volunteer military service of the United States
  21. Name of state in which enlisted
  22. Letter or name of company or command
  23. Number of regiment or other organization to which attached
  24. Arm of service: Infantry (I), cavalry (C), artillery (A), or navy (N)
  25. Name of prison in which confined as a prisoner of war, if any
1925

The 1925 state census spans two pages and has 23 columns of information as outlined below.

  1. Name of number of street, avenue, rural route, etc.
  2. Number of house or box, if on rural route
  3. Dwelling number, in order of visitation
  4. Family number, in order of visitation
  5. Surname
  6. Given name and initials
  7. Relation of person to the head of the family
  8. Home owned (o) or rented (r)
  9. If owned, whether free (f) or mortgaged (m)
  10. Sex
  11. Color or race
  12. Age at last birthday
  13. Single, married, widowed or divorced
  14. Where born? (State or country)
  15. Where from to Kansas? (State or country)
  16. Year of immigration to the United States
  17. Naturalized, alien or first papers
  18. If naturalized, year of naturalization
  19. Trade, profession or particular kind of work…
  20. Industry, business or kind of establishment…
  21. Attended school within year (yes or no)
  22. Able to read
  23. Able to write

I think one of the most helpful tidbits is the “Where from to Kansas” question, which was asked beginning in 1875.  It’s particularly helpful when the person moved to Kansas from a place other than where they were born, giving us another place to research.

Have you found any neat discoveries in the Kansas state census?  Please share in the comments of this post.

Genealogy By the States is a theme created by Jim Sanders over at the Hidden Genealogy Nuggets blog.