Mother was estranged from parents, I know their name&loc, what next?

[Ron Martell]

Fred <fr...@noaddress.com> wrote:

>When I was growing up, her parents were never mentioned. She refused
>to talk about them, even when terminally ill last Winter. She passed
>on last December.
>
>I'm interested in finding the obits for her parents, and maybe a
>little about them. I found her older brother's (never married) SS
>death record (B1930-D1989) and his original filing address at age 17,
>along with the death cert.
>
>Any of you knowelgeable folks lead me to the best source of
>information?
>

There is no one "best source". You need to take the shotgun approach
and try everywhere, hoping to get a lead from one of them.

Try www.familysearch.org of course.

And also the surname related forums at www.rootsweb.com as well as the
location ones.

Plus you should post the names, location, and dates to this newsgroup
because someone may have something relevant.

Good luck.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

[dave...@spamcop.net]

Fred <fr...@noaddress.com> pressed random keys until the following was produced:

> When I was growing up, her parents were never mentioned. She refused
> to talk about them, even when terminally ill last Winter. She passed
> on last December.

> I'm interested in finding the obits for her parents, and maybe a
> little about them. I found her older brother's (never married) SS
> death record (B1930-D1989) and his original filing address at age 17,
> along with the death cert.

> Any of you knowelgeable folks lead me to the best source of
> information?

Her brother's SS-5 (or hers, for that matter) will list the parents.
For 27 dollars, you can get a copy of that document. There is a
SSDI lookup page at Rootsweb.com, which will even write the letter
for you - just print it, include the check, and wait a couple of
months or so.

If she and he were born around 1930, then it's likely that their parents
also had social security numbers, and would therefore also have filled out
SS-5 forms (with *their* parents listed). Check the SSDI for as many
folks in this line that you know the names of; each SS-5 can get you a
full generation further back.

If you already know the names of your mother's parents, then her SS-5
would be of limited interest if you only want it for that purpose,
but it will have her address at the time, place of birth, and signature.

Hope this helps,
Dave Hinz