How would i go about finding information on a deceased family member?

Here's my situation: I want to found out about my grandfather that passed away but, the only information i have is his name, a picture, the approx. year he passed away and the first 5 digits of his Social security. I want to ask my grandmother but, any information she has isn't really reliable (Her honesty isn't to great)



How should i go about finding out about my grandfather?How would i go about finding information on a deceased family member?To start off with the Social Security Death Index is free on Rootsweb. You don't need his social security number. If he was drawing social security at time of death and on his own social security number, you will probably find him if he died anywhere from 1955 onward. There are some on social security death index that were never on it and never put into social security. In their old age they had to get Medicaid and they had to get a social security number. The two that I found the dates of death were wrong.



Anyway once you locate your grandfather on the SSDI, off to the right there is a little link or button you can click on and it will pull up a letter to the Social Security Administration. Put your return address on it and attach a $27 check and mail it.

They will send you a copy of his application for a social security number. This will give not only his place of birth, but the names of both parents including mother's maiden name. The two I got were for people who applied so they would social security would be drawn when it started on January 1, 1935. It gave both parents places of birth including the county within the states.



http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/



You could also get his death certificate but I believe the SSDI would be more reliable. Your grandfather provided the information. It did not depend on your grandmother remembering where her inlaws were born etc.How would i go about finding information on a deceased family member?glad you included the clue about the social security number.. so we know to look in the US.

http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

thus, he SHOULD BE in the above database. It gives date of birth, date of death, and last residence/ where benefits were sent.

Next.. with a location and date..you can work for either obit or his death certificate. The key thing is not everyone has obits, and if he does, it could be in a library (not online). You can still try for it.

Death certs depend on the date and state law. In most states, if you have something (ie parents birth cert or other proof that you are related), you normally can order the death certificate itself. SOME states (I emphasize *some*) will have older certs online. IE Texas, if died prior to 1975, is accessible through familysearch.org. A bit tricky, but I can walk you through that.

Next...IF grandpa was born pre 1930, he would be in the census (ancestry.com, but we here do lookups if you smile nice). The value here is finding possible relatives from his side. That can also be in an obit, if you find one.

Last.. post name and approx info here. You would be surprised what we can lookup/ find. Or, if unfindable, we will explain why.