Documenting recent deaths

We expect a great many new researchers will be trying to identify more about Civil War ancestors with this February's theme being "African American's and the Civil War"  for Black History Month.  We hope to be a great support to those who are starting out fresh.  The blog posts on this site are being entered so that if you start with the first post, you will be able to make better sense of this process.

This journey can be quite exciting, and very easy to get off track.  I have started anew many times in my research, and I am happy to do so again on your behalf this time.  Those of you who have mastered the basics, just stay tuned.  We are heading toward sharing resources and ideas for identifying ancestors who lived during the Civil War and Reconstruction Eras.

After you have filled out a pedigree chart, you may look at the empty spaces where names should be and feel overwhelmed by it all.  Don't be.

Also, some advise to pick an ancestor that you want to learn more about the most.  I suggest you focus on the first person on one of your ancestors that is missing information like birth or death dates and places.  You will discover that as you locate records to fill in those details, you will find links to the missing folks the previous generation.  So, start with yourself and work out from there.

Documenting the death would be the most logical place to begin researching your ancestor. Be sure you have relied on original documents.  There are primary and secondary documents.  Primary documentation originated at the time of the event.  A birth certificate is a primary document.  The birth information on a death certificate is secondary documentation.

Primary documentation is more reliable than secondary, but sometimes secondary is all we have.  One of the most popular resources used for documenting recent deaths would be the Social Security Death Index.

Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch Internet

 Let's search for my grandfather, Emory W. Vance, who died in Ohio:

I entered basic information, his first and last name, and the state.  It is best not to put too much information in at first.  This way you are certain of bringing up the record if it is there.

Search for Emory Vance from Ohio

Search results:

Results for search:  Emory Vance of Ohio

Here is the information gleaned from the SSDI:

Social Security Death Index for Emory Vance of Ohio.

"This index is a master index file of deaths reported to the Social Security Administration. It has been kept since 1962, when operations were computerized. The index includes about 50 percent of deceased persons from 1962 to 1971 and about 85 percent of the deceased persons from 1972 to 2005. It also includes a few deaths from 1937 to 1961. As of 2005, the index contained 76 million death records." See FamilySearch Wiki: United States Social Security Death Index  to learn more.

Next time, we will cover more information that you can glean from the original Social Security application and how to access that information.

Who is the most neglected person on the tree?

Many of us drive right into research forever neglecting the easiest and most important person to document for future generations.  After all your efforts, just imagine your grandchildren one day scrounging around looking for records to document your life.  What significance is your research if you do not link the past to future generations?

Man in the Box, By Joe Shlabotnik

Remember to document the history of your life, and it won't hurt to pose for a few extra photos either!  You should also write an autobiography.  It may seem like a difficult task, but just get a box.  Put it in a place where it gets in the way.  Spend time putting everything that you come across about you into this box.

Next, categorize everything according to time periods in your life (birth, childhood, adolescence, teens, young adult, adult, senior).  Then identify the significant events that occurred in each time period.  Be sure you have gathered records and photos to document significant events.

Create an outline which includes each time period and significant event.  This outline will become a great help in writing your history.  Be sure to include the reasons why you made certain decisions, lessons learned, and how you felt along the way.



As you research your ancestors, you can share your experiences for future generations and help them appreciate certain ancestors you feel you are most like.  Be sure to touch on historical events and how they impacted your life (9/11, African American president, the economy, etc.).  Discuss how the world that you lived in is different from that of your forebears.  Include a description of the particular challenges that you face.  Share the hopes and dreams you have for your future posterity.

Gathering records and photos, organizing them, and creating you outline will help you find the inspiration to begin writing.  Set a goal to write a little at a time on a regular basis.  Take small bites toward writing a complete history of your life.  Your children and grandchildren will treasure it more than anything else. 

Taking a look inside my research folders

Research Folder for George A. Tucker (1883-1932)

We began discussing the items that go into my research folders.  We have already mentioned that I use a the Resource Checklist to jog my memory about any items I may have in my possession or that a relative may share with me.  I make copies of all the original records and photographs and place them in the research folder.

I paste the CensusTools Genealogy Research Log to the inside of the folder to log the items that I have placed in it.  This helps me to be able to glance quickly at the items that should be in the folder, and I am able to know right away if I have found a record type already.  Remember that I mentioned that I create a folder for each person listed on a document, and I place a copy of the document into each person's folder.

Let's go over a few other items that I create for each folder.  I generate a Pedigree Chart and a Family Group Sheet for each individual that I research using a family history database.  These items are placed in the research folder and are easily accessible if I need to refer to information about a spouse, parent, children, or siblings.  If I am at the archives and my hunt for an ancestor turns up cold, I can quickly turn to researching the next obvious closely related person.  This has enabled me to make full use of my time.  I often spend an entire day at the archives where I am able to fully exhaust resources because of how well organized my research folders are.

I also really like the Biographical Outline at Family Tree Magazine.  They have many different free forms there to help you with organization. You can browse the different forms here.  I will be using several of them in articles forthcoming.  The Biographical Outline can be found under Basic Charts and Worksheets.

Basic Charts and Worksheets

I like to extract the events in my ancestor's life and record them here in the order that they occurred.  It is really important to have a visual when you are researching where you can refer to the time period and place where an event occurred.  If my ancestor moved around a lot, I still could easily identify when and where he went to school if it was previously recorded on the Biographical Outline.

It is really important to search systematically for documentation as well.  If you begin with the last event in an ancestor's life (burial usually) and move backward documenting events in order, it is much easier to locate documentation. Sometimes your sixth sense kicks in, and you can just about determine where to look for you ancestor or which records would be most helpful.  It is so much easier for someone else to help you if you are at the archives as well.

Armed with the above resources in your research folder, you can simply ask to know which resources are available to document your ancestor during a particular time and in a specific place.  Having asked that very same question often at my local archives, I always seem to learn about records that I did not know existed.

Research Trackers and Organizers

The Research Calendar, found under Research Trackers and Organizers, will help you keep track of the places you have looked for your ancestor and resources that you have discovered.  This is another form that I keep in the research folder.  After I began using the tracker, I stopped wasting time checking the same resource again, and I was even able look for more than one person at a time.