Research Note: A Bit of Info about SSDI

A poster on the APG public mailing list recently asserted that she had come across an error in the date of death listed for a person on the SSDI. She questioned how this could happen when the entry was supposedly verified by a family member.  In response another poster said that as far as she knew, the Social Security Administration does not accept death reports from private individuals.

Unfortunately, the second poster’s information that SSA does not accept death reports from private individuals is incorrect.

it is useful to understand what we refer to as the Social Security Death Index is and is not.  For the best understanding of just about anything, an old rule that we baby boomers learned in the 1960s applies: go right to the source and ask the horse!

As a result of a [1980] Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, SSA maintains a record of reported deaths known as the DMF.  The terms of the related consent judgment required that SSA make available to the [public], the SSN, surname, and date of death of deceased numberholders.  As of June 2007, the DMF database contained detailed information on more than 82 million numberholders.  SSA provides DMF data to the Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS).  NTIS, in turn, sells the DMF data to customers we broadly categorize as follows: (1) Federal, State, and local government customers; (2) industry customers including financial, investigative, credit reporting, and medical research organizations; and (3) public customers, including genealogists, individuals, etc.  Customers can purchase the complete data file for $1,725 and subscribe to monthly electronic updates for another $2,600.  The electronic updates provide subscribers with DMF additions, corrections, and deletions.

[Source:Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Quick Response Evaluation:Sources of Erroneous Death Entries Input to the Death Master File, Audit Report Number A-06-09-29095, February 4, 2009 (available at http://www.ssa.gov/oig/ADOBEPDF/A-06-09-29095.pdf)]

The DMF is not available directly from SSA. That which we civilians refer to as the SSDI (Social Security Death Index) is one of the commercially repackaged versions of the DMF that a vendor has obtained from the NTIS.

The DMF contains nearly 89,000,000 records of Social Security recipients who have passed away since 1936. Most of these records date from 1962 to the present.

Each year SSA adds more than 2 million records to the file. The records include both beneficiary and non-beneficiary records and verified and non-verified data. Sources of death data are: family members; funeral homes; States, Federal agencies (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Veteran’s Affairs, etc.), postal authorities, institutions and internal sources from SSA’s payment records. Ninety percent of the file includes reports from family members and funeral homes.

[Source: Ray Wessmiller, Using Audit Software and the Death Master File to Catch Crooks, Newsletter of the Information Systems And Audit Control Association – National Capital Area chapter, September 2002, available at http://tinyurl.com/3jajwhm.

As depicted on the chart below, SSA receives most death reports from funeral homes or friends/relatives of the deceased.  SSA considers such first party death reports to be verified and immediately posts them to the DMF.

[Source: Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Benefit Payments in Instances Where the Social Security Administration Removed a Death Entry from the Beneficiary's Record,  Audit Report Number A-06-07-27156, June 19, 2008, available at http://www.ssa.gov/oig/ADOBEPDF/A-06-07-27156.pdf].

So indeed most death reports come from private individuals.  In our next post will talk about how the SSA verifies DMF information and how you can correct errors if you find them in the SSDI.

Tags: Research Note, Resources, SSDI

. . . So you’ll still find the things you’ve always liked about this blog, with some enhanced features.  These features include:

• The GeneaBlogie Library–where you’ll find links to e-books and important  documents.  These will be downloadable. And yes, credit for the first library of this sort based in a blog goes to Taneya, who recently unveiled her Genealogical Bookshelf. But I’d been thinking for awhile about how share my collection of e-books.  I doubt that you’ll find any overlap between our libraries.  The GeneaBlogie Library will also contain:

1. Craig’s Filing Cabinet, a collection of research notes and source documents, including maps, charts, reports, and graphs.
2. The GeneaBlogie Wiki: This you’ll have to see for yourself. Coming in June 2011.
3. The Orkney County Law Library, which will contain legal information of interest to genealogists. Coming in July 2011.
4. The Family History Story Corner, a repository of the family stories you like so much on GeneaBlogie.

• The GeneaBlogie Multimedia Vault: The inspiration for this came from a guy who identified himself only as “Vonny.”  He wrote me a while ago after having read one of my posts on African American Military History. Vonny suggested that I make a video of the post.  And so was born the Multimedia Vault which will contain original GeneaBlogie video and audio productions as well as public domain videos and photographs.

• New topical pages containing essays, written family history, perhaps even a draft of some books in progress.  The first of these pages will The Gines Diaspora, which currently exists in placeholder form. The final version will be based on the presentation I’m preparing for the Gines family reunion in Dallas in July 2011.

• Surname and Places pages, which I think you’ll find interesting and useful.

These are some of the things to be rolled out between now and September, which  will be GeneaBlogie’s seventh anniversary.

LCRs know our motto here is Learn, Share, Enjoy, Appreciate! With this remodel, we hope to live up to that.

Tags: Blogging, Blogs, Genea-blogging

The title of this post can be taken as an imperative or an observation. It’s true either way. Things will change at Nature’s caprice or by one’s own volition. Most often, however, change is the result of volition compelled by nature or Nature reacting to volition.

That’s why GeneaBlogie is changing!

Without belaboring the point, let’s face two facts:

1. GeneaBlogie hit its zenith in 2009, being named one of the top 25 blogs by ProGenealogists and a strong nominee for Family Tree Magazine’s top 40.
2. GeneaBlogie  stalled out beginning in January 2010, falling off nearly every radar screen.

As every pilot knows, many aerodynamic stalls are the result of an angle of attack that is too high (nose-up attitude), causing the wing to lose lift. If not properly handled, a stall can result in a spin or an uncontrolled free fall.  Pilots recognize that, with the proper response, most modern airplanes can literally fly themselves out of the ordinary aerodynamic stall.

But the pilot has to do something other than just continue to yank the yoke back to resume straight and level flight.

So that’s what is happening here in a way.

We don’t  use external metrics around here that much, really.  But we know when we’ve fallen below our own standards–that’s what bugs us the most.

Change is inevitable. GeneaBlogie has constantly changed throughout the last 6-1/2 years.  So, to you remaining two LCRs (Loyal & Constant Readers), this won’t be worrisome.  To those who have left, come on back, because . . . [see next post]

Tags: Blogging, Blogs, Genea-blogging, The Aerodynamics of the Bloogosphere

Tags: Blogging, Genea-blogging, GeneaBlogie

Here are 25 books on the Civil War era with perspectives you can’t find anywhere else. They are postbellum 19th century and early 20th century products. And they’re all free Google e-books!

1. Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps (United States Navy Bureau of Naval Personnel, 1853)

2. Numbers And Losses in the Civil War in America,1861-65. Thomas Leonard Livermore (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. [The Riverside Press, Cambridge] 1901

3. A Dictionary of All Officers: who have been commissioned, or have been appointed and served, in the Army of the United States, since the inauguration of their first president in 1789, to 1 January, 1853,–with the commission of each,–including the distinguished officers of the volunteers and militia of the states, and of the Navy and Marine Corps, who served with the land forces. Charles Kitchell Gardner (New York: GP Putnam & Co., 1853)

4. The Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War in the United States of America. Benson John Lossing (T. Belknap, 1874)

5. Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America 1861-1865. United States of America (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905)

6. De Bow’s Review of the Southern and Western States, Volume 10. James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow. (J. D. B. De Bow, 1851)

7. A Soldier’s Story of the War, including the Marches and Battles of the Washington Artillery, and other Louisiana troops. Napier Bartlett (New Orleans: Clark & Hofeline, 1874)

8. The Civil War from a Southern Standpoint. William Robertson Garrett and Robert Ambrose Halley (Philadelphia: George Barrie & Sons, 1905)

9. A History of Louisiana, Volume 3. Alcee Fortier. (Paris: Goupil & Co., Manzi, Joyant & Co., successors, 1904)

10. A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians. Lucian Lamar Knight. (Chicago & New York: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1917)

11. List of Officers of the Army of the United States, from 1799 to 1900. William Henry Powell. (Philadelphia: Henry T Coates & Co., 1900)

12. Men of Mark in Georgia. William Northen and John Temple Graves, eds. (Atlanta: A. B. Caldwell, 1907).

13. Picture of the Desolated States and The Work of Restoration 1865 to 1868. J. T Trowbridge (Hartford: L. Stebbins, 1868)

14. The South: A Tour of Its Battlefields and Ruined Cities. J. T. Trowbridge (Hartford: L Stebbins, 1866)

15. Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville. John Worrell Northrop (Wichita: 1904)

16. The Black Phalanx: A History of the Negro Soldiers of the United States in the wars of 1775-1812, 1861-’65. Joseph Thomas Wilson. (Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1890)

17. A History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865. George Washington Williams (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1888)

18. A Political Textbook for 1860. Horace Greeley and John F Cleveland (New York: The Tribune Association, 1860)

19. History of the American Civil War. John William Draper (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1867)

20. Hungarians in the American Civil War. Eugene Pivany (1913)

21. The American Indian as Participant in the Civil War. Annie Heloise Abel (Cleveland: The Arthur H Clark Company, 1919)

22. Reminiscences of the Civil War. John Brown Gordon (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1904)

23. Deeds of Daring by the American Soldier, North and South. D. M. Kelsey (Rev.Ed.) (New York: The Saalfield Publishing Company, 1901)

24. The Popular History of the Civil War in America, 1861-1865. George B. Herbert (New York: F.M. Lupton)

25. The Photographic History  of the Civil War: Forts and Artillery. Francis Trevelyan Miller and Robert Sampson Lanier, eds. (New York: The Trow Press, 1911)

Tags: Civil War, Google Books

Preface: A while ago, there was dialogue in the blogosphere about the future of the large genealogy companies such as Ancestry.com, FamilySearch Inc., and others. Notable writers such as James Tanner, Thomas MacEntee, Randy Seaver, and the Ancestry Insider, have written about this issue. Many more experts have commented on the blogs of those who have written on this issue. Two figures familiar to Geneablogie readers, lawyers Patricia Lust, of the firm Gried Avarice Mammon & Lust, and Noe Udont, a sole practitioner, have a slightly different take on the future of genealogy: that is the prospects for professional genealogists You may recall that the last time we saw them, they were in court, arguing over the designation of a genealogist as an expert witness in a probate case. They sat down with me recently to discuss the issue “Whither Professional Genealogists?”

Note: The views expressed  by the participants are theirs alone and do not reflect the views of GeneaBlogie or any other person or entity.

GeneaBlogie: Welcome back, ladies. You know, at the outset people are going ask what business either of you have discussing this topic. Can you address that?

Lust: Well, it’s been an eventful year. Right after trial in December 2009, I went on sabbatical from the firm. I had been so energized by working with Jean Runner [the genealogist that Lust convinced the court to accept as an expert witness]. I got very much taken in by the idea of researching family history. And you know me–it’s gotta be all or nothing. So while I was researching, I was also studying. I mean, you know, I was used to working 70 hours a week at Gried Avarice, and I couldn’t slow down. So within about seven months, I felt ready for the BCG. And, ta-da, I’m a Certified Genealogist!

GeneaBlogie: Congratulations! So what are you doing now?

Lust: After my sabbatical, I went part-time with the firm and I do genealogy with the rest of my time. I opened my business called Lust for the Past as soon as I was certified.

GeneaBlogie: I recall that you had been a high school history teacher before you went to law school.

Lust: That’s right. And I earned an MLS degree, originally intending to be a law librarian, not a litigator, as it turned out.

Geneablogie: Any surprises in your own family history?

Lust: Not so far. I had a pretty good idea of my Irish, African-American, and Native American roots as I grew up . [laughs] I know, I know . . . I was the only red-haired, green-eyed black Indian in Milwaukee! By the way, I am an enrolled member of a Wisconsin tribe.

Geneablogie: So what about you, Noe? I’ve always been fascinated by your name.

Udont: Yes . . . well that was a little joke that my dad from Burma, who went by the single name of Dont, played on my Swedish mother. “U” is a form of honorific in Burma, somewhat equivalent to “Rra” in Botswana or “Mr.” in the West. So when my mom wanted to name me “Noe,” a good but unusual Scandinavian name, Dad started using “U” before his name. And my birth certificate says “Noe Udont.” When I was a teenager, Dad said my name was a prompt to good behavior!

GeneaBlogie: That’s quite a story. But tell us why you have any cred discussing professional genealogists?

Udont: Well, way before that probate trial with Pat, I was into genealogy. But there’s only so much I could do on my own from America given my background: first-generation Burmese-American. My mother did have several distant cousins in the States. I signed up for every Internet I came across and spent thousands of dollars on my search. I actually turned up a couple of Burmese relatives in the States. But I was frustrated, so I went out and hired a professional genealogist to help.

GeneaBlogie: So you have a perspective on this . . . .

Udont: Yes. Let me say first that the professional genealogist that I used was very good. I met her at a meeting of our local society. Again, because of the distance, and cultural and political issues in Burma, what she could do was limited. But what she did do was fabulous. Turns out I have some Chinese ancestors who came to America in the 19th century.

GeneaBlogie: So what’s your perspective on the future of professional genealogy?

Udont: Well, you have to start in the not-to-distant cultural past! Fifty years ago, I would venture to say that the majority–a super-majority of people who were engaged in genealogy were rich people, or social elites or religiously-motivated folks. Many did it themselves, despite the rigors of research in the pre-digital era. I would posit that only the very rich actually hired professional genealogists back then.

Lust: I’d agree with Noe from the historical perspective. Unlike her, I’m over fifty years old [laughs] and nobody I knew growing up in Milwaukee had a formal interest in their family history. Oh, they knew it alright–far better than kids today know their family history. But they knew it because they’d been taught it by their elders. The idea of hiring a professional genealogist would have been as ludicrous in my middle-class neighborhood as hiring a chauffeur!

Udont: All of which goes to my point–the market for professional genealogists historically was pretty limited.

GeneaBlogie: But what about today? “Roots” was supposedly a great turning point–and that was almost thirty-five years ago.

Lust: Well, I think the market for professional genealogists remains limited. There are a couple government jobs, a few museum and society jobs, a handful of corporate jobs and that’s about it. Everybody else is trying to take private clients and basically end up making most of their income such as it is, from teaching, writing, and speaking.

Udont: If that’s so, why are so many people trying to become professional genealogists?

Lust: Because it’s fun and challenging and some think it’s easy money. Every other stay-at-home mom and her sister want to be genealogists. Just like every waiter in New York City thinks he’s going to Broadway and every used car salesman in the San Fernando Valley has a movie script to sell.

Udont: Well, that’s a bit nasty!

Lust: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to trash SAHMs. Some of the best researchers I know are stay-at-home moms. Anyway, we’ve strayed from the point. I just think the majority of professional genealogists are not making a lot of money from private clients. And for those who are, their margins are awfully slim.

GeneaBlogie: Is that likely to change once we far clear of the economic doldrums?

Lust: I don’t think so. I think that when people have more money to spend, they’re not going to rush out and spend it on genealogists. On genealogy itself, perhaps, but not on genealogists as such.

Udont: What do you mean?

Lust: I believe there is a market for genealogical information, but that’s because people want to do it themselves. And they want to do it themselves for a whole lot of reasons.

GeneaBlogie: What are some of those reasons?

Lust: Some are almost metaphysical or spiritual–a desire to get in touch with the ancestors on a very personal level. With others, they want to hear the stories first hand and find the artifacts themselves. They’re not interested in publishing a hard-cover bound book, The History of the Lusts in America. We’re far more informal than that today. And people still think that professional researchers are too expensive.

Udont: Well, I’ve told my story. I think professional genealogists are great when you have a pretty complex problem.

Lust: That’s true, But these days with information relatively more available to everyone, nobody’s looking to have a complete 10 or 12 or more generation genealogy handed to them on a silver platter by a pro.

GeneaBlogie: So what is that professional genealogists are doing these days?

Lust: As I said, they’re mainly teaching writing and making in presentations to the wannabes and the serious family historian; and they go to conferences where they see the same faces over and over again. They’re preaching to the converted.

Udont: That sounds pessimistic.

Lust: It is. I think the bell has tolled for the professional genealogist who expects to make money from private clients, with the exception of a handful of top names the field for a handful of wealthy or wealthy-wannabes.

GeneaBlogie: I want to approach this next question with all due respect. Pat, to what extent is your viewpoint informed by your own business, Lust for the Past?

Lust: I came into the business with my eyes wide-open. I do what I do because it’s my passion and frankly I could survive without the income. Notice how many professional genealogists have more than one household income?

GeneaBlogie: Is that true?

Udont: Well, I certainly don’t know. In fact, this whole discussion has been a bit light on empirical data.

Lust: Here’s some data: in the metro area where I live, there are about 2.5 million people. There are only four listed members of APG and one of those takes no clients. Worldwide, APG has got only about 2,000 members.

Udont: That’ s just one data set. It doesn’t necessarily prove anything about the profession in general.

Lust: I knew you would say that!  So I looked up some more data; this stuff is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  They publish a quarterly occupational outlook which forecasts employment trends for particular occupations.  And BLS has just recently published its 2010-2011 Occupational Outlook Handbook, which assesses employment opportunities over the 2008-2018 decade.

Udont: So what do they say about genealogists?

Lust: Well, I took notice first of all  that they lump genealogists with historians, who are further tossed in the category of “Social Scientists, Other.” That category covers archaeologists, anthropologists,  and geographers, in addition to historians.  The government projects that anthropologists and archaeologists will see a 28% growth in employment by 2018 and that geographers will experience a 26% growth. But for historians, the projected job growth is only 11%, which is about average for all  occupations.  The BLS says this slow rate of growth “reflect[s] the relatively few jobs outside of [government].” Keep in mind that the figure is for all “historians” including genealogists.

Udont: So how would you summarize your point?  Are you saying that there’s no future in genealogy? With the growth of interest in the field, I think there will be more jobs outside of government as companies continue to enter the market and genea-tourism begins to take off as the Baby Boomer generation retires. That shows the flaw in the government data.

Lust: I’m making a very narrow point: that the market for genealogists taking on private clients will grow very slowly, if not decline.  There will, if not already, an oversupply of genealogists.

GeneaBlogie: Ladies, why don’t we leave it there for now and see what our readers have to say?

So what do you say? What’s your perspective?

Tags: Ancestry Insider, Association of Professional Genealogists, Board for the Certification of Genealogists, Genealogy Business, James Tanner, Professional Genealogist, Randy Seaver, Thomas MacEntee

After we had finished our primary business, the cute voice on the telephone asked if I would like to meet a friend of hers.  No, said I, I already have a primary relationship and two exes. But, she said, you’ll really like my friend.  And she began to describe her.  Alright, I said, I hate blind dates, but I’ll be open to this just this once.  No promises.  Fine, said the cute voice, you two have a date in 5-7 business days at your place.

In fact, she arrived a bit early.  I was impressed with the way she was dressed, but I couldn’t wait to get her out of her wraps and into my hands.  I was probably a bit too aggressive, but she didn’t complain.

She purred a bit as I got her started.  I explored as much of her as I could at a time.  I was amazed and pleased for sure. She could do things that no other could.  In just a few hours, I was in love!

And I meant every word I said
When I said that I love you
I meant that I love you forever

And I’m gonna keep on lovin’ you
Cause it’s the only thing I wanna do
I don’t wanna sleep
I just wanna keep on lovin’ you

And I meant every word I said
When I said that I love you
I meant that I love you forever

And I’m gonna keep on lovin’ you
Cause it’s the only thing I wanna do
I don’t wanna sleep
I just wanna keep on lovin’ you

Baby I’m gonna keep on lovin’ you
Cause it’s the only thing I wanna do

I don’t wanna sleep
I just wanna keep on lovin’ you

But finally, weariness overtook me, though she could have gone on all night.  I turned out the light and said, “Good night.  See you in the morning, Family TreeMaker 2011!”

Tags: Technology

I came across this book on Google Books:

Tags: Military History, Military Records

The Genealogist ‘s Google Toolbox, by Lisa Louise Cooke (2011)

If we were all in junior high school, I doubt that anyone would hang the moniker “Geek Girl” on Lisa Louise Cooke.  She just seems so socially well-adjusted.  But there has to be a little bit of  geek  in anybody who could write such a clear and cogent guide to expert use of Google.

Although titled The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, just about anyone who uses a computer would find it useful and fascinating.  The book exposes little-known tips about Google and shows how to better utilize some of the well-known aspects of this more-than-a-search engine.  She has a great idea about turning your IGoogle page into a genealogical “dashboard” and discusses the gadgets available with which to do that. The book begins with the basic Google search and goes right through to cover Gmail, Youtube, and Google Earth, among other things.  Novice and expert alike will find something to enjoy about this book.

Lisa also highlights some sources that that can sometimes be overlooked, such as Google Books.  I’ve long been a fan of Google Books as a source of historical background and sometimes specific individual genealogical information.  I was glad to see it included in the book.

Google’s capacities are probably far under-utilized by many genealogists. This book will excite you about Google’s many  services, and perhaps even  help you break down a brick wall, or two.

It’s available from Lulu.com in both electronic form and hard copy. I bought the hard copy book, the first time I’ve ever purchased anything from Lulu.com.  I found the process easy and the shipping was swift.

Tags: Book Review, Google, Research, Resources

Online State Resources for Genealogists by Michael Hait (e-book) (2011).

Even novice genealogists know where to find the basic documents needed for research: the census, for example, can be found on several pay services as well as on free sites like HeritageQuest. But everyone also knows that to do a sufficient job of research, one must look high and low and near and far for other resources.  The question that novices sometimes have is, what are these other resources? And more experienced researchers may ask, where do I find these other resources?

Michael Hait provides answers to both of those questions, in his new e-book, Online State Resources for Genealogists. This is a fairly thorough treatment of not only the types of other resources available, but their locations as well.  The title is somewhat less than fully descriptive.  In fact, in addition to state resources, Hait treats a host of nonstate, but publicly owned, resources. There are also some privately owned resources, such as the records of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Del., some state society sites, and Gwendolyn Midlo Hall’s Afro-Louisiana Slav e Database.   And although the title refers to “online” resources, the variety and scope of the resources he highlights will have most readers hankering to go to the brick-and-mortar locations.

Beginning researchers and even some experienced researchers sometimes will overlook the wealth of genealogical resources at State archives and state libraries.  He lays out state-by-state, the online location of state libraries and State archives.  And he also indicates the contents of the online sites.  He includes university libraries, state health departments, a number of local libraries, and County Clerk’s and County registrar’s offices.

I do a lot of research in state archives and local libraries in Texas, Missouri and Georgia in particular.  So, cyber – “ground truthing” this book was fun for me.  Michael mentions some of my favorite places such as the Texas State Library and Archives and the Portal to Texas History.  In Missouri, he describes the Kansas City Public Library ‘s Missouri Valley Special Collections Digital Gallery and the St. Louis County Public Library, also two of my favorite places. (In his next edition, I hope he will tell us about the Jackson County Government site and The Midwest Genealogy Center at the Midcontinent Public Library.).

His book is easy to use because the table of contents is linked to the specific resource that he is examining and the links to the resources are active links themselves.  He’s also given us an index by frequently used record types that indicates by state where they may be found.

This is a must-have reference for genealogists of any level of experience.  It’s well-organized and may serve as a prompt when one gets stuck.  The electronic format with active links is especially convenient for user and author alike because he intends to update the book.

The book is available for purchase at Michael Hait’s web page, http://haitfamilyresearch.com/OnlineStates.aspx

Tags: Archives, County Clerks, Libraries, Public Records, Research, Resources, States