Rensselaer County, NY GenWeb site

Rensselaer County
Census Transcriptions

This page was last updated 16 July 2011.

In the tables below, we provide links to all the available online searchable free censuses for Rensselaer County, NY. We also indicate all those censuses for which we know of no free online access but for which there is online access on a subscription basis at Ancestry.com. We also indicate all those NY State Censuses which can be browsed online at the LDS Church's website FamilySearch.org.

Albany County Colonial Censuses
of locations that were later in
Rensselaer County

City, Town or Village	Year
Schaatkooke (Schaghticoke)	1720*
Colloney RenselaersWyck (Rensselaerwick)	1720*

* You'll need to scroll down to the end.

Rensselaer County US Federal Census Transcriptions
CODES:

None = no such census exists;
1850 = census does exist, so click on the date to view it;
Fee = census does exist and is accessible online but only for a fee, at Ancestry.com.

City, Town or Village 1st
1790 2nd
1800 3rd
1810 4th
1820 5th
1830 6th
1840 7th
1850 8th
1860 9th
1870 10th
1880 11th
1890 12th
1900 13th
1910 14th
1920 15th
1930

Berlin None None 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee 1860 Fee 1880 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Brunswick None None 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee 1860 Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Clinton* None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None

East Greenbush* None None None None None None None 1860 Fee 1880 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Grafton None None 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee 1860 Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Greenbush* None 1800 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee 1860 Fee Fee 1890 None None None None

Hoosick Fee 1800 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Lansingburgh* None None 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1890 Fee None None None

Nassau None None 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1880 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

North Greenbush None None None None None None None 1860 Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Petersburgh None 1800 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Pittstown Fee 1800 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Poestenkill None None None None None None Fee Fee Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Rensselaerwick Town* Fee None None None None None None None None None None None None None None

Rensselaer* None None None None None None None None None None None Fee Fee Fee Fee

Sand Lake None None None Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Schaghticoke Fee 1800 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Schodack None 1800 1810 Fee 1830 Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Stephentown Fee 1800 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1890 Fee Fee Fee Fee

Troy None 1800 1810 Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee Fee 1880 1890 1900 Fee Fee Fee

City, Town or Village	1st 1790	2nd 1800	3rd 1810	4th 1820	5th 1830	6th 1840	7th 1850	8th 1860	9th 1870	10th 1880	11th 1890	12th 1900	13th 1910	14th 1920	15th 1930
Berlin	None	None	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1860	Fee	1880	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Brunswick	None	None	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1860	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Clinton*	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None
East Greenbush*	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	1860	Fee	1880	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Grafton	None	None	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1860	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Greenbush*	None	1800	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1860	Fee	Fee	1890	None	None	None	None
Hoosick	Fee	1800	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Lansingburgh*	None	None	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	None	None	None
Nassau	None	None	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1880	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
North Greenbush	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	1860	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Petersburgh	None	1800	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Pittstown	Fee	1800	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Poestenkill	None	None	None	None	None	None	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Rensselaerwick Town*	Fee	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None
Rensselaer*	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Sand Lake	None	None	None	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Schaghticoke	Fee	1800	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Schodack	None	1800	1810	Fee	1830	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Stephentown	Fee	1800	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1890	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee
Troy	None	1800	1810	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	Fee	1880	1890	1900	Fee	Fee	Fee

* Rensselaerwick Town ceased to exist in the 1790s, after it was divided into Troy, Greenbush and Schodack. The town of Clinton existed only from 1855 until 1858; up to 1855, it was part of the town of Greenbush; in 1858, it was renamed East Greenbush. The town of Greenbush became the city of Rensselaer in 1897. The town of Lansingburgh ceased to exist in 1900.

Rensselaer County NY State Census Transcriptions
CODES:

None = no such census exists;
1855 = census does exist, so click on the date to view it;
Need = census does exist but still needs to be transcribed.

City, Town or Village 1855 1865 1875 1905 1915 1925

Berlin 1855 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Brunswick 1855 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Clinton* 1855 None None None None None

East Greenbush* None 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Grafton 1855 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Greenbush* 1855 1865 Need None None None

Hoosick Need 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Lansingburgh* Need 1865 Need None None None

Nassau Need 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

North Greenbush 1855 1865 Need 1905 Need 1925

Petersburgh 1855 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Pittstown Need 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Poestenkill 1855 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Rensselaer* None None None 1905 Need Need

Sand Lake 1855 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Schaghticoke Need 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Schodack 1855 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Stephentown Need 1865 Need 1905 Need Need

Troy Need 1865 1875 1905 Need Need

City, Town or Village	1855	1865	1875	1905	1915	1925
Berlin	1855	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Brunswick	1855	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Clinton*	1855	None	None	None	None	None
East Greenbush*	None	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Grafton	1855	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Greenbush*	1855	1865	Need	None	None	None
Hoosick	Need	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Lansingburgh*	Need	1865	Need	None	None	None
Nassau	Need	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
North Greenbush	1855	1865	Need	1905	Need	1925
Petersburgh	1855	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Pittstown	Need	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Poestenkill	1855	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Rensselaer*	None	None	None	1905	Need	Need
Sand Lake	1855	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Schaghticoke	Need	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Schodack	1855	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Stephentown	Need	1865	Need	1905	Need	Need
Troy	Need	1865	1875	1905	Need	Need

* The town of Clinton existed only from 1855 until 1858; up to 1855, it was part of the town of Greenbush; in 1858, it was renamed East Greenbush. The town of Greenbush became the city of Rensselaer in 1897. The town of Lansingburgh ceased to exist in 1900.

US FEDERAL CENSUSES - Rensselaer County, NY is lucky in that records survive of all 14 of the US federal censuses that have been taken (and have been released into the public domain) since the county was created, with the exception of the 1890 US Census. Records for Rensselaer County, NY survive of the 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 US Censuses. Links appear in the table above to all the US federal censuses for towns in Rensselaer County that have been digitally transcribed.

1890 VETERANS' SCHEDULE - Most of you already know that the whole of the 1890 US Census was destroyed by fire and that only tiny fragments survive, apart from the schedule of US Civil War veterans or their widows; this veterans' schedule survives for most of the USA, including Rensselaer County, NY. Links appear in the table above to the entire 1890 Veterans' Schedule for Rensselaer County.

1790 US CENSUS - In addition, the first US federal census - which was taken in 1790, a year before Rensselaer County, NY was created from Albany County, NY - also survives. In 1790, Albany County, NY was quite a bit larger than it is now. This census covers Hoosick, Pittstown, Schaghticoke, Stephentown and Rensselaerwick town, all of which the following year became part of the new Rensselaer County, NY. The printed schedules of the 1790 US Census are now available online, at the US Census Bureau.

1840 CENSUS OF PENSIONERS' REVOLUTIONARY OR MILITARY SERVICES for the state of New York - This schedule is online and searchable at http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/census/1840/1840ny_a.html.

FREE ONLINE SEARCHABLE 1880 US CENSUS - The LDS Church has made available online - and for free - the entire 1880 US Census for the whole of the USA, as well as the entire 1881 Canadian Census and the 1881 British Census. These censuses are searchable by every name, enabling researchers to find the millions of people who were in the 1880 US Census who were not previously indexed because their households did not contain a child age 10 years or under. To access these censuses, go to http://www.familysearch.org, then click on SEARCH RECORDS, then click on ADVANCED SEARCH, and then click on CENSUS. If you don't find what you are looking for, don't give up. There are a few odd mistranscriptions. I've overcome this by entering "Smith" as a search value and narrowing down the geographical area to the town I want, and on the search results page, I click on any Smith in that town, and when the household comes up, I click on "previous household" repeatedly until I come to the end of that town, and then I click the "back" button repeatedly until I'm back at the original Smith family, and then I click on "next household" repeatedly until I've searched the whole of the census for that town. I did find the Fullers I was looking for - they had been mistranscribed as Fallon.

NY STATE CENSUSES - The state of New York also took censuses every 10 years and, conveniently for us, timed them to take place half way between the federal censuses. Different years survive for different counties. For a table showing which state censuses survive for which counties of NY state, click here. The six New York State Censuses that survive for Rensselaer County, NY are the 1855, the 1865, the 1875, the 1905, the 1915 and the 1925. Unlike the federal censuses, which give more detail in later censuses than in earlier ones, the state censuses of the 20th century give less information than those of the 19th century. The 1855 NY State Census gives relationships within households, a full 25 years before the federal censuses began doing this. The state censuses also give the county of birth of every individual, whereas the federal censuses give only the state of birth. Links appear in the table above to all the NY State Censuses for Rensselaer County that have been digitally transcribed or indexed. More specifically:

1855: We have transcriptions of the 1855 NY State Census for most of the towns of Rensselaer Co NY here on our GenWeb site; the table above has links to them. In addition, Pat Lawrence has made a digital transcription of every name in the 1855 NY State Census for Greenbush, so that search engines can now find the names - many thanks, Pat!
1865: Images of the original census pages for all the cities and towns in Rensselaer Co NY for the 1865 NY State Census are accessible online for free at the LDS Church's Family History Library website's record research pilot. These are "browse-only" and are not indexed. However, Walter Bruetsch of Stuart, FL has kindly contributed indexes to them for several of the towns in Rensselaer Co NY. If you click here, you will be taken to a page on our GenWeb site featuring Walt's indexes; from that page, you can click on the link to the actual census pages. NOTE: On the record research pilot page's clickable list of towns, Castleton village is listed separately from Schodack. If you click on a town in the table above, if we have an index for it, you will be taken to the index page, from whence you can continue to the census images themselves; if we do not have an index for that town, you will be taken straight to the record research pilot where you can access the census images.
1875: As far as I know, this census is not yet online, apart from the one for Troy at Pat Connors's page; the link to that is in the table above.
1905: Images of the original census pages for all the cities and towns in Rensselaer Co NY for the 1905 NY State Census are accessible online for free at the LDS Church's FamilySearch.org website. This census, previously unindexed, now has a search engine which enables you to find entries you could not find before.
1915: As far as I know, this census is not available online.
1925: As far as I know, this census is not available online so far. However, we do have a transcription for the town of North Greenbush; see the table above.

HOW TO ACCESS CENSUSES ONLINE - A nationwide census transcription project offers an inventory of the censuses so far transcribed at The USGenWeb Census Project. This website makes its census transcriptions available for free. There are no Rensselaer County, NY censuses on this website, but there is the 1790 US Census for Albany Co NY, which in 1790 included the areas that one year later became Rensselaer Co NY. And there are numerous censuses for other counties in all 50 states of the USA. Fee-based online access to census records is available at Pro-Quest, which in 2001 acquired Heritage Quest. And, of course, fee-based online access to US Federal Census records for all states and territories for all years is available at Ancestry.com, which is now the parent company of Rootsweb, our GenWeb host.

HOW TO ACCESS CENSUSES NOT ONLINE - If you prefer to access censuses offline, you can buy or borrow microfilms for all these federal and state censuses and search them yourself. They can all be viewed for free at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Family History Library in Salt Lake City, at the New York State Library in Albany and at the Troy Public Library in Troy. Federal-census microfilms and state-census microfilms can all be ordered for a small fee from your local LDS Family History Center (FHC) and, when they arrive, can be viewed at the FHC on their readers. You do not have to be a Mormon to use their facilities; I'm not a Mormon, and I've used their facilities extensively for years. All federal-census microfilms, but no state-census microfilms, can be viewed for free at any branch of the National Archives . Federal-census microfilms, but not state-census microfilms, can be bought or rented from the National Archives. Federal-census, but not state-census, microfilms and DVDs can be purchased from Census Microfilm Expeditors. If you know of any other sources for buying or borrowing census microfilms or DVDs, please email me, and I'll post that information here, too. If you don't own a microfilm reader, don't let that deter you; you can take the census microfilms you have bought or borrowed to your local public library and read them on their microfilm readers.

HOW YOU CAN HELP - If you have access to any census pages and would like to donate your time to transcribe them for us, we would be most grateful! Before you start, it would be a good idea to email me, just to be sure that someone else is not already transcribing the same census - we wouldn't want you to be duplicating each other's efforts!

Send comments or suggestions to:
Debby Masterson

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