1905 Iowa Census DIRECTORY for Calhoun County, Iowa

Census Cards vs. Census Directory

Census Cards
The 1905 Iowa census was written on 3 X 5 inch cards with a card for each person.   A card number (in the upper left corner) was assigned to each card. When census takers came to a family, the father was given the first card number (for example card # 100).  The wife and children followed in numerical order; for example, the wife would be card number 101, and the children, card numbers 102, 103, 104, etc.  The cards were then filed in alphabetical order for the whole county (which means cards for family members were not together), and there is no way of knowing who was within each family. The original census cards included such information as: card #, name, address, sex, color, age, place of birth, parent’s birth place, number of years in the U.S., number of years in Iowa, occupation, and military service. The Census Cards are available on FamilySearch.org.

Census Directory
There was also a directory created in 1905 listing the card numbers in numerical order by county and township or town which included each person’s  name, post office address, and card number.  Using this directory is the only way to tell the members within a particular family.  This directory lists the names of the family members together, in numerical order (again, father first, then mother, then children). The census Directory is available on Ancestry.com.

1905 Census Examples - (to the right)

The Census Directory shows George E. Haney, Card #609, living in Manson, with wife, Olive L, Card #610, and thier kids: Mary A., Edward R., Irven, Crandell R., William P.,and Earnest A, with following card #s.

The Census Card #609 for George E. Haney shows his age, birthplace, occupation, number of years living in Iowa, etc.