Social Security Records, What Genealogists Should Know

When becoming skilled about anything, learn first about its meaning and components. We all think we know what are ’Social Security Records’ but there is more to the rest of the story. It all begins when an individual first applied for their Social Security card. This new social government program did not become law until August 1935, so all information contained in the Social Security Records is from 1935 forward. The initial cards with an individual’s number were issued in 1936. By the 1960s, social security numbers were starting to be used for all types of identification, including in the military and the Internal Revenue. In 1972, legally registered immigrants / aliens were issued social security numbers. By the 1980s, even newborn babies are issued a social security number.

Up until 1972, the first three numbers of a social security number were an indicator of which state the applicant lived in when he had his card issued. After 1972, the first three numbers only indicate the mailing zip code to where the card was sent. Knowing an ancestor’s social security number, at least the first three numbers can help provide an idea of region of the country they once lived.

One of the first items a family researcher will want is a copy a deceased ancestor’s original application of a social security number (form SS-5). A photo copy (for a fee of $27, if you provide the SS number and $29, if you do not have the SS number) of the application can be obtained from Social Security Administration, OEO FOIA Workgroup, 300 N. Green Street, P.O. Box 33022, Baltimore, Maryland 21290-3022. If your ancestor was born before 1865, the SS Administration does not research that individual. If you want a copy of the application of a living person, written consent by that person will allow you to get the copy.

Any family researcher will find the information provided directly by the actual ancestor invaluable. On the simple application would be applicant’s full name, a woman’s maiden name, date - place of birth, parents’ full names, the individual’s sex and race, their residence when the application was filled out and name - address of the applicant’s employer. Since this was a very important vital government record it is less likely there was any fibbing about names and dates, so a good documentation for your files.

The Social Security Administration also manages the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), also known as Death Master File. You may think this will have listed any deceased individual since 1936 but not the case. The SSDI is based on names, birth and death dates of individuals with SS numbers whose deaths have been reported to the Social Security Administration. It may have been the funeral home, a family member or the person’s lawyer reporting to the Administration on the recent death. As it turns out the large majority of individuals listed on the SSDI, died after 1962, very few listings for deaths in the 1940s and 1950s.

So the SSDI is a great source to first check for a listing of an ancestor, it does not contain all individuals with a SS number who have died in the last 50 years. However, if you were unsure of a death or birth date and did locate a listing for an ancestor, it can help lead you in the right direction, even to where their last residence was to receive SS benefits. If you didn’t have the social security number the index can provide that also. You search by full name and add the state you believe they last lived in or if known the state they lived in when they were issued their social security number.

Don’t be discouraged if you can not locate a relative’s name on the index. First, they may have never been employed or were self-employed and never applied for a social security number. This would have been true in the early years of the system. Also when they died they or their survivors may have never have received any form of SS benefits.

Another reason you are having trouble finding the individual could be the spelling of the names. Use an alternative spelling or version, especially for a given name. If a person always used as their given name ‘Dick’ but on social security application they placed the original version ‘Richard’, then on the index it will have ‘Richard’. Try also using a person’s full middle name instead of their first name, the name could have been switched.

With a surname, many are written with a form of punctuation, like “O’Malley”. Try searching using this spelling “omallery”, leaving out the apostrophe.

It is recommended that you don’t place a birth or death year unless you know the date for sure. In searching the index place one year; like 1960, it won’t search a range of years, say 1958 - 1962.

Also be aware of when a death date on the index is located, it may not have the day of death for the individual. Prior to 1988, the day of death was not recorded by the administration on the index, just the month and year.
The SSDI is updated quite frequently, only a few months behind the present date. If you located an error on the index and you have the proof, like the death certificate with the correct death date, do notify the local Social Security office. They will then make the correction and so benefit future genealogists in their search.

The SSDI database can be located on the Internet, using one of several different sources. The FamilySearch at http://www.familysearch.org or at their Family History Centers across the country have the free index. This site will have the listing of those Americans with social security numbers, whose death was submitted to the SS Administration and who died overseas (Europe, Asia, South America, etc). A database is also free at Rootsweb http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi .

If you have a relative who has passed away in the last few years, you can also request a copy of their packet of claims over the last five years. Anything older, those documents were destroyed by the SS Administration. In the packet can be any information (certificates, military, naturalization, etc) submitted by the individual to secure benefits and at the time of death that verified the death date. A copy of the claims packet can be ordered from the above Baltimore address of the SS Administration for a fee of $14, plus ten cents per photocopy page of the packet.

So the Social Security Records can truly serve as a gold mine of new information that each genealogist will want to explore. Remember to check direct ancestors’ siblings, aunts, uncles, etc. You never know what can be uncovered.

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