Social
Security Death Index and the
Military Index
Submitted
by: HOST
GFS
Heather@aol.com
The
Family History Center (FHC), has
several different databases on
their computers, at each of their
branch libraries through out the
country. Two of the databases are
the (SSDI) Social Security Death
Index and the Military
Index.
Social
Security Death Index is a
collection of names of all those
who have died and received
benefits. There are over 50
million names, most of which are
of those who died after 1961.
There are some names for those
who died between 1937-1961. The
SSDI began at the year of
1937.
The
Family Search version of the SSDI
is arranged in alphabetically by
the name of the person. The data
for each includes the following:
birth date, the month and year of
death, the state where the Social
Security number was issued, the
state and zip codes for the
persons last known residence, and
where the death benefit was sent,
(that is if the information was
on file). You will also find the
what towns have the zip codes
given. Some folks won't have the
place of death listed, especially
if the person died before
receiving any Social Security
Death benefits or died at a place
other than the legal place of
residence. You will also find in
the SSDI a section for all the
addresses for each state where a
death certificate can be
obtained. (At the
FHC).
Other
companies such as Ancestry does
have the SSDI online where you
can do a search, however I don't
believe they give a list of
addresses where you can write.
The Website for Ancestry is:
http://www.ancestry.com
Even
though there are over 50 million
names listed in the databases,
not all 1962 deaths are listed
for one reason or another, they
being: Individuals were not
eligible for Social Security
death benefits, including federal
and government workers, who may
have had a different retirement
plan, many self employed
individuals, and spouses who did
not earn incomes. Other
individuals who may not be in the
database are those deaths that
were not reported to Social
Security, they died before
records were computerized or
incorrect information was on
file.
The
Family search version of the SSDI
is updated every few years,
however some commercial outfits,
such as Ancestry can update their
files up to 4 times a
year.
Military
Index at the FHC is a database of
the US military dead from the
Korean and Vietnam wars. What you
will find in the index will be
their name, birth date, home
residence, date, rank, and
service number for the tour of
duty, date and location of death,
religious affiliation, marital
status and race. The military
index does not include all
service personnel nor prisoners
of war (unless they have been
determined deceased); only those
who have died are included in the
database.
To
see what the FHC has online go to
their website at:
http://www.familysearch.org/
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2002 GFNEWS, a monthly
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