Successful research depends on attention to details. That maxim certainly applies to genealogy and census records.

When I look at a census page, I'm sometimes so excited to find the names of my research subjects that I fail to look closely at the actual date of the enumeration or to consider what the official date was for that particular census-taking. The law specifies that the census should reflect people living on a specific date. If the official census date was April 1, an individual who died on March 25 should not be included, nor should a baby born April 8 - even if the census-taker conducted the count on April 10. Knowing the rules may help explain discrepancies (although there will always be human error).

Thanks to a Family Tree Magazine article on "The U.S. Census" and an April 23 blog posting by Paula Stuart-Warren (http://genealogybypaula.com/), I've been able to combine official U.S. and Minnesota census dates into one table:

Official Census Dates

U. S. Federal	Minnesota State	Official Date
1790-1820		August 2
1800		August 4
1810		August 6
1820		August 7
1830-1900		June 1 (In 1890, June 1 was a Sunday so census-taking began June 2.)
	1865	June 1
	1875	May 1
	1885	May 1
	1895	June 1
	1905	June 1
1910		April 15
1920		January 1
1930-2010		April 1 (In 1930, the census date for Alaska was Oct 1, 1929.)