Wednesday, December 7, 2011

SSDI Entries Not Always Precise

Remember that not all entries in the SSDI are created equally. My grandfather's SSDI entry only indicates a year and month of death.

Consequently if I enter his date of death-7 December 1968 in the search box, he will not be located as the "7" is not one of the fields in his entry.

Always consider making your searches less specific and keep in mind the reality of how many matches you are going to get. There won't be many Cecil Neills in the database to begin with. A death year of 1968 is most likely precise enough.

2 comments:

  1. In come cases, last residence is not given. Not realizing this, I assumed my aunt was not listed in the SSDI. By leaving the last residence blank, I found her (after scrolling through all 50 states).

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  2. The last residence is not always the place the person died. The entry for my grandmother lists the place her son lived as he was her power of attorney and last living child. She never lived in that town and died in a different state. That is why I don't rely on the location as a death location.

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