My Ancestors in the SSDI

Every so often, I practice with a database--usually because that's how some discoveries are made.

Today it was the Social Security Death Index. I located only direct line ancestors in this database:

NEILL, CECIL	29 Oct 1903	Dec 1968	65	62321 (Carthage,Hancock, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Paternal grandfather
NEILL, IDA	01 Sep 1910	21 Jul 1994	83	62321 (Carthage, Hancock, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Paternal grandmother
UFKES, JOHN H	27 Jan 1917	02 Dec 2003 (V)	86	62321 (Carthage,Hancock, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Maternal grandfather
UFKES, DOROTHY HABBEN	12 Apr 1924	09 Sep 2008 (P)	84	34205 (Bradenton,Manatee, FL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Maternal grandmother
NEILL, FANNIE	16 May 1883	May 1965	81-82	(Illinois)	(none specified)	Illinois	Grandpa Neill’s mother
UFKES, TENA	17 Apr 1895	Nov 1986	91	62321 (Carthage, Hancock, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Granddad Ufkes’ mother
HABBEN, MIMKA	11 Nov 1881	Feb 1969	87	62321 (Carthage,Hancock, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Grandma Ufkes’ father

I have seven ancestors in the database. I always thought it neat that my grandparents were seven years apart, being born in 1903, 1910, 1917, and 1924. Interestingly enough my parents are only a year apart in age. I searched for all my great-grandparents in the database--except for great-grandfather Trautvetter who died in 1934. I figured he was not in the SSDI.

The search results even listed an age range for my great-grandmother Neill as her date of birth is given as 16 May 1883, but the death date is only as specific as the month of May of 1965.

I decided to search for my wife's ancestors in the SSDI as well. There were not quite as many.

JOHNSON, WILBUR W	17 Oct 1912	Apr 1991	78	(HC)	(none specified)	Illinois	Wife’s paternal grandfather
JOHNSON, GRACE M	05 Dec 1913	12 Jun 2000 (V)	86	61201 (Rock Island,Rock Island, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Wife's paternal grandmother
LAKE, OLA	10 Jun 1906	Apr 1969	62	61265 (Moline, Rock Island, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Wife's maternal grandfather
LAKE, ANNA	08 Mar 1913	Nov 1987	74	61265 (Moline, Rock Island, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Wife's maternal grandmother
MORTIER, HENRY	20 Feb 1885	Dec 1966	81	61201 (Rock Island,Rock Island, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Father of Grace Johnson--above.
MORTIER, COROLINE	13 Feb 1884	Apr 1981	97	61201 (Rock Island,Rock Island, IL)	(none specified)	Illinois	Mother of Grace Johnson-above

Caroline Mortier's first name is spelled incorrectly. I also discovered a number of relatives in the file (particularly on my wife's families) because of how the searches were conducted.

I had a difficult time searching for Wilbur Johnson because there is no death place listed. A quick search did not reveal what (HC) stands for, but I'll look and post a follow up if a reader doesn't first.

From the Rootsweb site's section on fields:

(V) indicates the SSA verified the report with a family member or someone acting on behalf of a family member. (P) indicates the SSA saw the death certificate.