Customer Reviews

State Census Records

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Once a family historian has exhausted all Federal census records and worked through all the vital records available to them, they must use alternate sources to hunt their elusive ancestors.

State census records are one of the under-utilized alternate sources for American genealogical research and Ann Lainhart's book is designed to make finding state census records easier.

Organized on a state-by-state basis, "State Census Records" tells you for each state WHEN non-Federal censuses were conducted. In cases where the state censuses did not cover the entire state, the counties which were included are listed.

The book describes WHAT questions were asked by that particular census so that a researcher may estimate the research value of each.

Finally and most importantly, "State Census Records" tells you where these censuses are available: various state archives, the Family History Library and its associated Centers, other libraries, or in published form. Publication information for printed census records is given in full.

If you have ancestors who moved around the United States between the decennial Federal censuses, this book is the essential reference you require to figure out where to look next for them.

There are other benefits in using state censuses as well. They asked questions different from those on the Federal censuses - some of which are genealogical gold mines. For example, one Iowa census asked for mother's maiden name. State census records may not be restricted by the 72-year closure rules that apply to the Federal censuses. Some state censuses taken as recent as the 1940s are already available.

Perhaps the most common reason that state censuses are consulted is due to the near-complete loss of the 1890 Federal census. There were, however, many state & territorial censuses taken in the years 1885, 1892, and 1895 which can help make up for this loss of the Federal census.

"State Census Records" is one of the primary reference works for American genealogy. It is the only work of its kind to provide a guide to the diverse records of state censuses.

While there are other books on the market concerning census records, Ann S. Lainhart's "State Census Records" is an excellent and reliable resource. She provides detailed listings of all state and territorial census records that were taken, what is still available, the format in the records are stored, and where to locate them. Her compilation is accurate (as opposed to the numerous errors in Thomas Kemp's new book) and thorough, and the price ($17.00) is right for a book you will refer to from time to time. A good book and a good buy.

A previous reviewer states that she "didn't buy this item as it wasn't specific enough. There was no description of which states, or year of Census included."

The book description states very clearly what's included:
"State by state, year by year, often county by county and district by district, she shows the researcher what is available in state census records, when it is available, and what one might expect to find in the way of data."

This is not a book of actual state censuses, which should be thouroughly obvious from the book description, the price, and the fact that it is only 116 pages. This is, instead, a finding aid to help researchers see what state census info may be available for their areas of interest. A resource like this is very valuable to genealogists and other researchers, who then know whether a census may be available through LDS or other libraries/archives.

This is a great book. The information is compiled in a very orderly manner.

This book is very helpful as to which state records are available. I would have liked to see some information about where to obtain these state censuses, but otherwise, I really liked the book, and it does have a lot of helpful information.

I find this book to be a big waste of money. I thought for $ 17.00 I would get some useful information, I found it to be lacking in anything useful or worthwhile. Do not waste your money on this one. If I could give it a zero rating that is what it would have.

I didn't buy this item as it wasn't specific enough. There was no description of which states, or year of Census included. I don't want to waste my money on something that may not help in my research.