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Michigan Research Group

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Latest Activity: Apr 23, 2022

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HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GREATER LANSING

Started by James P. LaLone. Last reply by James P. LaLone Sep 23, 2013. 5 Replies

BASIC GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH IN MICHIGAN

Started by James P. LaLone Mar 5, 2012. 0 Replies

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Comment by Corey Lasley on February 7, 2012 at 10:45am

Just thought I would let anyone know who may be interested, over the past 10 years I had been researching and writing a book on my family. The book is called “The Lasley Family of Old Mackinac : 1775 - 2011” and is now available at www.lasleybook.com

Comment by Nancy Featherly Stump on February 5, 2012 at 11:23am

Thank you so much for this information Debby and Catherine, I have been searching forever finding this family.

Comment by Debby Parkinson Worden on February 5, 2012 at 9:25am

1852 census Ontario York Co., York 39d 40a (79)John Coleman 35 born Eng, Isabella 33 Eng, John 12, Thomas 10, Robert 9, Wm 7, Margaret 4 (all children born Eng)

Comment by Catherine Davis on February 4, 2012 at 4:01pm

Nancy--If you go to familysearch.com, and search for Franklin Coleman, with spouse Jennie Graham, you can find a a transcription of Franklin and Jennie's Canadian marriage record and also several marriage records for their children.  Frank's and Jennie's/Jane's marriage info is:

Name: Franklin Coleman
Event: MARRIAGE
Event Date: 05 Mar 1878
Event Place: Huston, Wellington, Ontario
Age: 24
Estimated Birth Year: 1854
Father: John Coleman
Mother: Isabella Coleman
Spouse: Jane Graham
Spouse's Age: 21
Spouse's Estimated Birth Year: 1857
Spouse's Father: James Graham
Spouse's Mother: Rachel Graham
Registration Number: 011522
Film Number: 1863654
Digital Folder Number: 4529124
Image Number: 00063
Comment by Nancy Featherly Stump on February 4, 2012 at 2:40pm

Hi everyone, I am researching the Coleman Family from Charlevoix Michigan, have been unable to get information. My gr grandmother is Blanche Coleman she married Gerald Featherly, they had 5 children, Blanche died in 1926 during childbirth, I know her father is Franklin Coleman and her mother is Jenny Graham. They were both from Canada, Frank's father is John Coleman from Cananda I believe, and his mother is Isabella Turner not sure if she is from Canada or Ireland...I have been researching this part of my family for sometime, can't seem to get past this point.

Comment by James P. LaLone on January 29, 2012 at 8:43pm

From Mary Beth Powers:
"The Michilimackinac Historical Society  is sponsoring a project through their new St. Ignace Heritage Center. So far we have been donated the equipment to scan, print and archive photos, documents, etc., and to record and digital oral histories and that work is in beginning stages. I am proposing that we form a working committee to collect our rich area history archived and published for future generations. I have spoken with several individuals who are eager to help with the project, and it looks to me like there are many more who share this interest.  It would be great to have help and a community project, then we can have a "show and tell" in the Heritage Center room at Fort de Buade during St. Ignace Heritage Week in August."

Besides, the Heritage Week, the Derusha family will be having a family reunion and at the end of the week there will be a PowWow  Other families from the Mackinac area are encouraged to have family reunions. This is scheduled for Aug. 19-26. Will post more info as I get it. Jim.

Comment by James P. LaLone on January 29, 2012 at 8:18am
Comment by Catherine Davis on January 28, 2012 at 6:57pm

@Jim, regarding the DMF

     It seems to me that there are at least 3 issues that Congress needs to consider here:  identity theft and security, reliability of the data, and the costs of running what seems to be duplicative files, namely the DMF and the EDR.  I have no suggestions as to how to stop theft but feel there must be some way short of removing the information from the public.  It seems like overkill to punish legitimate users when the problems, real as they are, concern only a few rotten apple users.  Also, a file that is not available to legitimate public users is not necessarily protected from hackers.  Think of the number of internal credit files that are breached each year, even though they are supposedly "secure."  Therefore, I'm not sure a hearing that isolates the DMF from the bigger discussion of government internet security is particularly germane.  (But, then I'm not running for office and need a photo op.)

     As for the reliability of the data, the 14,000 incorrect reports of death each year:  it seems like this could be taken care of by only accepting information directly from the states, which apparently is already being done via the EDR.  The states would have to provide the data in a timely manner of course, which may another issue.  Perhaps the solution to both reliability and costs would be to eliminate the DMFand maintain only the EDR.  I would then encourage Congress to consider the EDR as public record, as death records have been historically deemed because of their many valid uses by legitimate organizations (not to mention genealogists).

   

Comment by James P. LaLone on January 28, 2012 at 5:16pm

From the Michigan Genealogical Council
Subject:
MGC - Hearing on Social Security's Death Records: House Committee on Ways & Means

Good morning,
The following announcement pertains to HR 3475, Keeping IDs Safe Act of 2011 http://tinyurl.com/6uwu4aw  (If enacted, this bill would effectively end public access to the death file)

The document below is from the Committee on Ways and Means website
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=2....
Written comment is welcome from interested groups such as genealogical societies and individuals.  If you or your society plan to submit written comment, please read and follow the guidelines below.

Thank you,
Tom Koselka, Public Records Access
Michigan Genealogical Council
http://mimgc.org

Chairman Johnson Announces a Hearing on Social Security's Death Records
Thursday, February 02, 2012
U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security announced today that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the accuracy and uses of the Social Security Administration's Death Master File.  The hearing will take place on Thursday, February 2, 2012 in B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only.  However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Subcommittee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

BACKGROUND
The Social Security Administration (SSA) collects death information to administer its programs.  Approximately 2.5 million death reports are received each year from relatives, friends, funeral homes, financial institutions, postal authorities, States and Federal agencies.  Verified death information is then used to stop benefits to those who have died and provide benefits to surviving spouses and children. 

A 1980 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) court-mandated settlement required the SSA to make publicly available the surname, Social Security Number (SSN) and date of death of deceased SSN holders.  As a result, the SSA created the Death Master File (DMF), a file of all deaths reported to the SSA since 1936 from sources other than States.  The public file includes 84 million records and approximately 1.5 million records are added each year.  At subscriber request, the file also includes date of birth and first and middle name for each SSN holder, in addition to the information required under the settlement. 

The SSA makes the DMF, often referred to as the Public DMF, available to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) of the Department of Commerce through a contractual agreement.  There is a broad commercial interest in the DMF to prevent fraud, waste, abuse and identity theft.  NTIS sells the DMF to private and public sector customers, including government agencies, financial institutions, investigative entities, credit reporting organizations, medical researchers, genealogical researchers and other industries.  Workers' compensation, pension, annuity, unemployment and other benefit plans use the DMF to detect improper payments sent to those who are deceased. 

In 1983, Congress amended the Social Security Act (P.L. 98-21) to require the SSA to enter into contractual agreements to obtain death records from States, established the conditions under which the SSA may provide State information to other Federal and State agencies and exempted death reports the SSA receives from the States from disclosure under FOIA. 

States play a key role in the death reporting process.  The SSA is working with States who are building a streamlined death registration process known as Electronic Death Registration (EDR). 

Certain death records that appeared to be coming from non-State independent sources but were in fact State EDR data were for years included in the DMF.  Following a recent review of the EDR, the SSA determined that as of November 1, 2011, all death records received through the EDR will be removed from the DMF. It is expected that as the use of the EDR expands through the States, the mandated FOIA settlement will apply to less death information and the number of records that may be entered on the DMF will be further reduced.   

As many news reports have accounted, incorrect death reports have created severe personal and financial hardship for those who are erroneously listed as deceased, including the termination of benefits and the public disclosure of information that the SSA normally keeps confidential.  According to the SSA, each year approximately 14,000 individuals are incorrectly listed as deceased on the DMF.  Those affected have experienced termination of benefits, rejected credit, declined mortgages and other devastating consequences while their personal and private information is publicly exposed. 

Further, the DMF reportedly has become a source for thieves to capitalize on the identities of children and others who have died.  Criminals appear to be exploiting the easy access to death information to submit fraudulent tax returns that include the decedent's SSN.  Parents of the deceased child do not know their child's identity has been stolen until the IRS rejects their legitimately filed return and the theft has been exposed.  In fact, "The National Taxpayer Advocate's 2011 Annual Report to Congress," released on December 31, 2011, included a section entitled "The Federal Government Facilitates Tax-Related Identity Theft by Publicly Releasing Significant Personal Information of Deceased Individuals."

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) stated, "Since 1980, Social Security has been required to publicly make available Americans' personal information through the so-called Death Master File.  Nearly anyone can get this information, including identity thieves. Identity theft affects swindled businesses, American taxpayers and grieving families.  Also any one of us could find ourselves on that list by mistake - a mistake which could cause severe financial hardship.  Americans deserve better so I introduced H.R. 3475, the 'Keeping IDs Safe Act of 2011,' a bill that would stop Social Security from making this information public."

FOCUS OF THE HEARING
The hearing will focus on the history, accuracy, use and impacts of the Death Master File along with options for change.   

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Please Note: Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms. From the Committee homepage, http://waysandmeans.house.gov, select "Hearings."  Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, "Click here to provide a submission for the record."  Once you have followed the online instructions, submit all requested information. ATTACH your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by the close of business on Tuesday, February 16, 2012.  Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings. For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-1721 or (202) 225-3625.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.  As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee.  The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines.  Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below.  Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

1.     All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments. Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2.     Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased.  All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3.     All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.  A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone, and fax numbers of each witness.

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities.  If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested).  Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.

Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at http://www.waysandmeans.house.gov/

Comment by James P. LaLone on December 27, 2011 at 3:52pm
 

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