This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Ostrander, Lathrop, Green Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/CCC.2ACE/2946.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2.1 Message Board Post: I have found birth records to be a lot more useful than death certificates for finding parents' names and data. The validity of death certificate information depends on whether the informant knows anything or not. Often they don't especially if the person is very old. You are more likely to get better information on a birth record, although those can be fudged if the parents are so inclined. The validity of the data on the SSN application does depend on what that person used for proof. It at least gives you a place to look for the birth record, also parents' names and other data. It fixes the person in a place and time since you get the date of the application as well as the person's residence at that time.