Social Security Death Index

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has long kept records of reported American deaths. This effort is part of their fiduciary responsibilities for cardholders. Their database is called the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

The general public is unaware that this index first became publically available in 1991. A free online version of the database is available at http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi.

President Franklin Roosevelt worked for the passage of legislation to help needy Americans during the Great Depression. The enactment creating the Social Security Administration passed Congress in 1935. The law assisted to the disabled and family members when the wage earner was no longer able to work. This law still serves American today.

The legislation also established an insurance program in which workers identified by a nine-digit number contributed to a retirement fund. Upon death of the cardholder, SSA staff created an entry in a separate database recording the closure of the account under that number. Financial data for an individual remains confidential.

The SSA began keeping track of cardholders' deaths electronically in 1962. Today there are more than 82 million names in the database. Statistically, however, most of the deaths before this date are not part of this collection. This is because the earlier years were not recorded electronically. As older files are reopened for some purpose, deaths before 1962 are belatedly added to the death index.

The information in the death index includes the cardholder's name, social security number, state where the number was issued, date of birth and date of death. Many genealogists use this public information to help locate distant family members.

It helps if the name being searched is an uncommon one. If you wish to locate a record of a deceased family member who has a more common name, it may be best to use the advanced search feature. This will help to limit the search results to those with a similar name and have some other detail in agreement with known facts. It is amazing how many people have similar names, but resided in different parts of the country.

Even though my name is not very common, if someone made a search for Wallace Waits, three names come up. Two of the names are of my grandfather and father. They died in 1964 and 1974, respectively. I have never heard of the Wallace R. Waits who died young in life.

There is a low error rate in this data because the SSA staff works hard to maintain file accuracy. Joseph Seller is one case in point where an error crept in. The Social Security Death Index reports him being born in 1899. According to the database, Joseph died at a very young age in 1900. This is an obvious error since the death index was not created until sometime after 1935.

I learned this from the SSDI: Joseph Caudillo died in May 1967. He was my Company Commander during basic training when I first joined the US Army. Further research showed that he was killed in combat in Vietnam. I would have never know this if I had not checked the death index.

Here are some ways a person may make use of the Social Security Death Index. With the first payment occurring in 1937, it is possible your Civil War ancestor lived long enough to benefit from this Depression Era program. Or, your high school reunion is coming up and you can not find all of your classmates. Maybe several have already passed away. The Social Security Death Index may have the answers to these possibilities.