Kansas, State Census, 1885

What is in This Collection?

This is an image only collection of the Kansas state census taken in March 1, 1885. The census enumerated all household members. 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 The first state census was taken in 1865 and continued until 1925, as the law was repealed in 1933. The state censuses provide substantially different information than the federal censuses. The enumeration is divided into two schedules.

• Schedule 1 enumerates each household and its occupants. Each enumeration requires three pages for tabulating all information, and the enumerations are listed in 32 rows per page. Each entry has 20 columnar details.
• Schedule 2 enumerates each farm and its agricultural product. Thirty-two enumerations are listed on each page, and each enumeration requires eight pages for tabulating 88 columnar details.

Generally a reader will see a correlation from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2 easily, since each schedule is added to in the same household visit. Generally, also, only the Schedule 1 pages are indexed. Since the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed, this state census, together with the state census of 1895, can substitute for locating ancestors between 1880 and 1900.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

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What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records (Note that each census page spans three pages or two digital images):

Schedule 1

Schedule 2

Collection Content

Sample Image

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  1885 State Census