----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Bestrom" <rbestrom@earthlink.net> To: <nsmith67@columbus.rr.com> Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 12:07 am Subject: Re: [PSRoots] Re: Welcome to PSRoots! (was Re: ) > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Nancy Smith (by way of Cyndi Howells > > ... I am interested in finding the roots of > the Cole family... in the Pacific Northwest. > > ...my friend's grandparents were Perry Cole...and Violet > nee Snow. ...my friend's father (Brian) was born in > Tacoma in 1942, his brother (older) was named > Michael; his younger sister...is named Cathy. They > moved to the Portland area shortly after Brian's birth. > > Does anyone know how to start from there? Ordering > Brian's birth certificate seems the next step. Seeing the > closest Census is the next. Did Washington do a state > census in 1940? The next WA census will be available in about 2012...as the census are held back due to "personal information" Your best bet is have someone check the city directories (Polk Directories, not a phone book but list of residents) of Tacoma for 1942 back. That will (hopefully) show Perry and Violet living there. If they did live there long enough, it might show Perry living with a "John" Cole at a different address a year/two before he is living there with Violet. It might even show Perry and Violet living at the same address as "John" and "Mary" Cole, or "John" and "Mary" Snow. But, if they only lived here after being married and just shortly, they might not show in any of the city directories. I checked the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) and found Brian Cole, born 8 Sep 1942, died August 1972. His SSN was 541-46-4103. You can order his SSN application that he made on an SS-5 by using the attached SSN letter (This will not make the PS ROots list. It'll cost you $27.00 for a copy of the original application or $16.00 for just a typed name list. Your other options are marriage records for WA. That will show the year that Perry and Violet married...if in Washington. You just might have some Canadians moving into the US after marriage. You could try Birth records, but since the person is living, you may not be able to order them; but your friend could. Good luck Ron Bestrom