Genealogy Blog Family History

What the Heck are Death Records? The Diary of a Born-Again GenealogistPosted by Administrator on August 19th, 2009

I remember hearing my parents talk about death records when I was a child and feeling a chill go down my spine. Death? All I knew about death was skeletons and graveyards and ghosts. It turns out my parents weren’t morbid at all, nor were they fans of Edgar Allan Poe. Rather, they were genealogists and finding death records for them was like striking gold.

Yeah, I grew up taking my genealogy for granted. Perhaps better than most average Americans, I knew my roots back to the Mayflower and into Europe on one side and back to Hawaii and Japan on the other. I knew I had a scoundrel of an Irish grandfather who sold away a huge piece of prime real estate on the North Shore for a ship full of rum. I had a Japanese grandfather who ran away with a Chinese circus (I’ve tried to talk my wife into letting me return to my roots and start a career as a lion tamer, but she has turned me down flat!). In short, the work was all done for me.

Lately, however, I’ve felt the need to do some digging of my own on my wife’s side and more on my own side. I am what you could call a born-again genealogist.

I’m hoping to document my progress in this blog. As I relearn all of the terminology and learn how to use a microfiche, I’ll chronicle my exploits in this blog. I just hope I don’t run into any skeletons, ghosts, or Edgar Allan Poe, for that matter.

How do I get started researching my family’s history?Posted by Administrator on August 15th, 2009

You may have heard your friends or co-workers talking about genealogy, or tried to do some searching on the Internet under your family name. Now you would like to do more research to see what you can learn about your family’s history.

PictureSeattle is a great place in which to begin working on your family history. There are several facilities in the greater Seattle area that will provide you with access to resources and assistance.

The Seattle Public Library owns the largest genealogy book collection in the Pacific Northwest, subscribes to major genealogy databases, and has two genealogy librarians on staff to assist you. The Genealogy Librarians offer basic genealogy classes and tours of the Genealogy Collection, which is located on Level 9 of the Central Library. Check the Library’s Web site for Calendar of Events for an upcoming class or tour: just search for “Genealogy.

Read the full article >>

Genealogy 101: Using the Social Security Death IndexPosted by Administrator on August 15th, 2009

by Meri Rees
Genealogy 101

The is a list of persons who had a Social Security number, who are deceased, and whose death was reported to the Social Security Administration. It has a few records of deaths prior to 1962 but is generally a listing of those whose deaths were reported to the Social Security administration after 1962. It is the closest thing we have to a national death index. The Federal Social Security Death Index is a valuable tool for genealogists. The index may yield the complete name, birth date and death date of the individual, the last place of residence, the social security number as well as the state it was issued in.

If you find a person in the Social Security Death Index that you feel may be the person you are researching you can order a copy of the Application for a Social Security Number (form SS-5). To obtain any information from SSA you will need to file a Freedom of Information Act Request.

The application is filled out by the applicant [or guardian if a minor] and may list the complete name, birthplace as well as the birth date, age at time of application, names of parents, address and phone number at time of application, sex, race and if the person has ever applied for a social security, railroad or tax account number.

The Social Security Death Index can be searched FREE at most genealogical records sites such as FamilySearch.org or . If your ancestor died before 1962 but you can’t find them in the Death Index and you believe they may have applied for a Social Security Card, you can still obtain a copy of their SS-5 (you will need to provide proof of death). The first SS-5s were used in late 1936. For details see… The Social Security Administration’s Guide to Freedom of Information Act Requests