Discover your ancestors from Minnesota today by searching through more than 500,000 names in the Minnesota State Census, recorded June 1, 1895. Find out where your ancestor was residing during America’s Progressive Era. The records will tell your ancestor’s ethnicity, birth year, birth place and residence.
Each record includes a transcript created from information found in the original records. The amount of detail in each record can vary but most will include a combination of the following information:
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The Minnesota State Census was recorded on June 1, 1895. At this time the President of the United States was Grover Cleveland. America was at the beginning of what is now known as the Progressive Era - a time period marked by social activism and political reform. The nation was disturbed by the corruption of the Gilded Age. The era also saw the rise of new political parties. One of these parties was the Populist Party.
One of the founding members of the Populist Party was Ignatius Donnelly, who is found in the census residing in Nininger Township. Donnelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but moved out to Minnesota in 1857 to expand his law practice. He allied with John Nininger to establish a new town, Nininger Township on the Mississippi River during the land boom. But the pair became victims of the Panic of 1857 and the town collapsed, but Donnelly continued to live there.
Donnelly began his political career as the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota from 1860 until 1863. Donnelly was also elected to Congress from 1863 until 1868 and then the State Senate from 1874 until 1878. During his political career he moved between all the political parties until he became a founding member of the Populist Party. He protested against corruption and called for more government regulation of industry.
Donnelly published a number of books on topics of science and history; such as Atlantis: The Antediluvian World and The Great Cryptogram: Francis Bacon’s Cipher in the So-Called Shakespeare’s Plays. Ignatius Donnelly died just after midnight on January 1, 1901 after suffering a stroke during a campaign speech for the vice-presidency.
Three years after the Minnesota State Census of 1895 the Spanish-American War broke out. On April 29, 1898 President McKinley requested volunteer troops from every state. Minnesota had the largest number of volunteers and quickly filled its state’s quota by May 7th. The state raised three regiments, the 12th, 13th and 14th with companies from Minneapolis, St. Paul, Red Wing, Stillwater and St. Cloud. The 13th regiment was sent to the Philippines to fight the Spanish. For many of the volunteer soldiers it was the first time they saw an ocean. The Minnesotans saw the worst of fighting and suffered the highest number of casualties of all the other regiments combined. The regiment remained in the Philippines for a time after the war. When they returned home President McKinley was among the thousands to welcome home the troops.