1895 Oregon census

Background. In addition to the decennial censuses, states could take an optional interdecennial census. The Act of 3 March 1879 provided for interdecennial censuses by any state or territory. The states would be reimbursed for a portion of the enumeration cost. See  Kathleen W. Hinckley's Your Guide to the Federal Census for Genealogists, Researchers, and Family Historians (Cincinnati: Betterway Books, 2002.)

In 1895, the nation was in the midst of the economic depression caused by the financial panic of 1893, and money was tight. Neither the federal government nor the states would have much extra in the budgets for frills such as censuses. For further information about this financial panic, see "Panic of 1893" on Wikipedia.

Question: Where are the 1895 Oregon censuses located?

The custodian of state records is the Oregon State Archives, and the 1895 census falls under their control.

Question: What 1895 Oregon censuses are extant?

The Oregon State Archives lists the following 1895 censuses on their website;

The 1895 Multnomah County census is not complete for the entire county. Whether that is because portions were missing or that the tight money situation prevented the entire county for being covered, we don't know.

Index: The Oregon State Archives has an index to the 1895 Marion, Morrow, and Multnomah County censuses in their Oregon Historical Records Index. The Multnomah County index contains 53,003 names. As a matter of interest, the index contains all the information that is in the census, but a person should look at the microfilm page to verify this.

Further research. Researchers should make an onsite visit to the Oregon State Archives where they can actually see the censuses. The Genealogical Forum Library is another good place to visit. One of the GFO library volunteers created an inventory of the precincts that were enumerated in the 1895 Multnomah County census, and this will be available in the GFO library. In the process of creating the inventory, the volunteer found that the label on the box and the heading on the microfilm are identical. However, there are more precincts on the film! This illustrates the reason why we should always look inside of the box and read the film.

Resources:

A list of the Oregon census records in the GFO library is online on the society's website.

Ann S. Lainhart's State Census Records provides an inventory of state censuses.

There is also an article by Lainhart in the online Family Chronicle magazine.