The Death Master File (DMF) from the Social Security Administration (SSA) currently contains over 76 million records. The current update reflects the latest information provided by the SSA as of September 2005. The file is created from internal SSA records of deceased persons possessing social security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the SSA. [...]

When looking over the SS-5 forms you ordered from the Social Security Administration, check out the instructions your ancestors were given when they filled out the form.
Also, one of the best pieces of advice I ever got was to use enumerator instructions to help me interpret census entries. I now routinely look for instructions [...]

Most people search for obituaries and death notices but never think to look in the social columns. Many of the older newspapers, pre-1940 in particular, carried in their social columns all sorts of things that were going on the community. Many times, family relationships can be defined through these columns. Birth announcements, marriage write ups, [...]