Kansas Genealogy FAQs

Question

How do you research your family using the U.S. Census?

Answer

How do I obtain a copy of a census film?

• The U.S. Census is available on microfilm at the following places

The National Archives
Many Public Libraries

 

What if my library doesn't have the census films?

• Ask your librarian to investigate borrowing films
  

What information can I expect to find in a census?

• From 1790 to 1840, the census was an index. It only gave the name of the head of the household, and how many males & females of various ages living there.
  
• The first real census was made in 1850. All members of the household were listed.
  
• The census data changed from census to census but, generally, the census gives the names of the family members, their ages, their sex, their place of birth, their occupation, if they were attending school, if they could read and write, and if they were deaf, dumb or blind.
  

How do I use the census?

• If you know the State and County where your ancestor lived in a census year, you look at the census film for that county. In the USGenWeb Census Project State Page,there are links to each state which will give you the film numbers for each county in each census year.
  

Is everything on the census correct?

• No, the enumerators were, human, sometimes they misspelled names, put down the wrong age, or if someone wasn't home, they left them out or just asked the neighbors!
  
• From 1850-1880, a copy of the census was made to go to Washington D.C., the original one to stay in the state were it was made. When the Washington D.C copy has been compared to surviving county copies a many errors have been found. Unfortunately, most of the microfilms were made from the copy that was sent to Washington D. C.
  

Can I go to Washington D.C. and see the original census?

• No, the censuses up to at least 1940 were destroyed by the Census Bureau after being microfilmed.

• Why isn't there a census for 1890?
  
• Almost all of the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire. Only a few records survived. They were from the following states: Alabama, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota and Texas. The best substitute for the 1890 census is the State Censuses for that period. Also, many states kept school records of educable children, many of these list parents and siblings of each child.

Why aren't the censuses after 1920 available?

• The census is not released until 70 years after the census is taken. However, the 1930 census will not be released until 2003.
  

Can I find out information from the 1930-1990 census?

• Some information is available to family members from the Bureau of the Census.

Is the Census available on the internet?

• There are some partial transcriptions of the census on the internet. Many of these can be found in the USGenWeb Archives.

What is the USGenWeb Census Project?

• The USGenWeb Census Project is working to transcribe all of the census information for all of the censuses on the internet. We invite you to join us in this ambitious project!

What about Kansas census information

• Check out the following:
  Kansas State Historical Society - Kansas census guide
  USGenWeb Census Project - Kansas
  USGenWeb Archives - Kansas

If you have a question you would like answered, please send it to KSGenWeb or one of the researchers below.

Tom & Carolyn Ward

Rebecca Maloney

Background and KSGenWeb logo were designed and are copyrighted by
Tom & Carolyn Ward for the limited use of the KSGenWeb Project.
Permission is granted for use only on an official KSGenWeb page.