Genealogy Blog Family History

Death Certificates and Where to Find ThemPosted by Administrator on October 14th, 2011

By Sherry Stevens, professional genealogist

October is upon us again, the month when all things “deathly” are fun! And what could be more fun than finding your long-lost ancestor’s death certificate? Here is my handy guide for “haunting” it down:

These sites offer free death certificates:

Arizona- http://genealogy.az.gov/. Includes 1844-1960 & Birth Index 1855-1935. Also includes images of the certificates, although the early years are incomplete.
California- http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi?cj=1&o_xid=0000584978&o_lid=0000584978. Includes 1940-1997.
Georgia- http://cdm.sos.state.ga.us/cdm4/gadeaths.php. Includes 1914-1927. The years 1928-1930 are available at http://cdm.sos.state.ga.us/cdm4/nondeath.php.
Kentucky- http://kyvitals.com/. Project is ongoing and not complete at this time.
Michigan- http://seekingmichigan.org/discover-collection?collection=p129401coll7. Includes 1897- 1920.
Missouri- http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/#searchdeath. Includes 1910-1960 and free downloadable images of each death certificate.
Utah- http://www.archives.utah.gov/research/indexes/20842.htm. Includes 1904-1958
West Virginia- http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_select.aspx. Includes 1853-1970.

These sites offer free indexes, but charge a fee for a copy of the original certificate:

Idaho- http://abish.byui.edu/specialcollections/. Includes 1911-1956.
Illinois- http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/idphdeathindex.html. Includes 1916-1950.
Indiana- http://www.genealogycenter.info/search_pre1882deaths.php. Includes pre-1882 deaths.
Kentucky- http://ukcc.uky.edu/vitalrec/. Includes 1911-1986.
Louisiana- http://www.sos.la.gov/tabid/640/Default.aspx. Includes 1911–1960, certified copies only.
Maine- http://portal.maine.gov/death/archdev.death_archive.search_form. Includes 1960-2009.
Maryland- http://mdvitalrec.net/cfm/index.cfm. Includes the twenty-three counties other than Baltimore City for 1898-1944, and for Baltimore City from 1875 to 1972.
Michigan- http://www.mdch.state.mi.us/pha/osr/gendisx/search2.htm. Includes 1867-1897.
Missouri- http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/birthdeath/default.asp. Includes pre-1910 birth & death records.
Montana- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mtmsgs/death_records.htm?cj=1&o_xid=0000584978&o_lid=0000584978. Includes 1882-2002. Incomplete.
New Jersey- http://www.nj.gov/state/darm/links/databases.html. Includes June 1878-June 1887.
New Mexico- http://www.usgwarchives.org/nm/nmdi.htm. Includes 1899-1949.
North Dakota- https://secure.apps.state.nd.us/doh/certificates/deathCertSearch.htm. Includes 1881 to one year ago.
Ohio- http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/death. Includes 1913-1944.
Oregon- http://www.heritagetrailpress.com/Death_Index/. Includes 1903-1930.
South Carolina- http://www.scdhec.gov/administration/vr/vrdi.htm. Includes 1915-1960.
Tennessee- http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/vital/death2.htm. Includes 1908-1932.
Texas- http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-584978-10471554?url=http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/tx/death/search.cgi. Includes 1964-4998.
Washington- http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Collections/TitleInfo/472. Includes 1907-1960.

If your state is not listed above:

Check the following free sites: http://www.deathindexes.com/or FamilySearch.org. Death certificates are also available at Ancestry.com for a subscription fee, but access to some of Ancestry’s records is free at your local library or FamilySearch center. Also try Googling the name of the state in which your ancestor died, followed by “death certificates”. You will usually be able to find the website of the state’s department of heath or vital statistics in this way, where you can order a copy of your ancestor’s certificate. Fees usually range from $5.00-$25.00 for uncertified copies, and slightly more for certified copies.

Sherry Stevens is a professional researcher, writer, lecturer, and the owner of GenPro’s, a genealogical research firm. A descendant of Danish immigrants, she specializes in the records of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, as well as the United States. For more information on research services in these or other locations, please contact Sherry at:http://mygenpro.com/.

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

Social Security Death IndexPosted by Administrator on July 13th, 2007

(SSDI) is an invaluable tool for the genealogy aficionados. The SSDI is an extremely important database that contains all the critical data about mainly deceased Americans and indexes more than 79 million people (and growing) who have filed for their social security numbers and received benefits from the same and their deaths have been registered with the Social Security Administration or SSA.

The inaugural year for social security was 1935 and the first payments were given out after 1 Jan 1937. Thus you will be able to locate your relatives if any of your relatives died in 1937 and after. You can search a vast combination of data depending on the amount of data you already have you will be able to narrow down your search to just a few branches. The contents of the SSDI are as follows:
Name ( for females use maiden names and married names to make your search more relevant)
Date of Birth
Date of Death
Residence (this will give you zip code, city and county)
Last benefit received

Everyone who filed for social security had to fill an SS-5 form and thus you will be able to locate some basic information from it and for obtaining a copy you have to contact the SSA. One of the problems is that you must know the full name of the person you are searching for that the person had during death that is for women who are listed by their married names of their current marriage.

Also make sure that you write the person you are searching for is “DECEASED” and you can provide a printout from the Social Security Death Index as proof because if that is not the case and you are looking up a relative who is alive you must not only sign this form but also get it attested by two witnesses. Another reason is that the SSA might deny you the information if the death of your relative has not been registered on grounds of the Freedom of Information Act provisions for unwarranted invasion of privacy.

One of the best things that the SSDI search can give you is a cross checking benefit. You may have gone to a particular site to look up a social security number and then you can check the information you receive with the SSDI database again. So it is not just for double checking but in a few cases you might find that certain details like a birth date or just one of the numbers, either the day, month or year could be different and it could be error in the database or sometimes you might find alternative birthdates because of the sources might differ.

In fact you could also land up finding some other information that you haven’t seen listed anywhere before like an unknown spouse or child. Now though it is a rare occurrence but you must have patience and persistence and who knows what the results might yield.