Genealogy Blog Family History

Even More About Social Security Records – George G. MorganPosted by Administrator on June 14th, 2005

Since the first column about Social Security and Railroad Retirement on 11 June,
readers of this column have inundated me with e-mail concerning the unusual
occurrences they have run across while working with these records. The column
of 27 June, More About Social Security and Railroad Retirement provided some additional examples of the types of these records and
experiences trying to obtain and work with them.

I received several more e-mail messages containing interesting information
that might be of interest to you as you work with Social Security records, so
this week’s column is one final edition of Social Security information. As you
will see, there are lots of unusual things to be learned from other researchers’
experiences.

Military Records
One reader wrote to tell me about another scenario that might throw researchers
off track when attempting to match relatives and their Social Security numbers
with their birth place. She wrote, “In the early part of 1950, the military
(at least the Air Force) changed from their own set of identification numbers
to Social Security numbers. Prior to the early 1950s, military members were
not part of the Social Security System. When the active duty military started
to pay into the system they were given a Social Security number according to
the state where they were based at that time. Although my husband was born in
Massachusetts, his first three digits are for the state [of] Louisiana, where
he was stationed. You can imagine how much confusion this could cause family
members if they tried to look for a number that they thought was issued in Massachusetts
and could only find one for Louisiana. When the surname is a common name, that
makes the search even more difficult.”

Suffix Letter On Social Security Number
Another reader wrote that her grandfather’s death certificate had a Social Security
number followed by a letter. She wanted to know what that signified or whether
it was a mistake. I did some research on the Internet, searching for the terms
“social security number” + suffix. I located a comprehensive Web site at members.aol.com/rechtman/ssafaq.html
containing a great many Frequently Asked Questions. Quoting from that site,
“Not until the mid-1970s, did SSA routinely assign SSNs as part of the benefit
application process for dependents of the worker, such as spouses, widows, and
dependent children without an SSN. Dependents had a claim number, which was
the worker’s SSN plus a letter suffix. Thus, the husband’s SSN sometimes appears
on the death certificate of a wife or widow who never had one.”

I suspect that the appearance of the suffix letter on the Social Security number
of the writer’s grandfather’s death certificate was an error. The person providing
the information for the death certificate, perhaps even her grandmother, may
have taken the number and suffix from a Social Security record for the wife.
My advice to the woman who sent me the e-mail was to search for her grandfather’s
records under the simple Social Security number, and for any records of her
grandmother under the number with the suffix.

Rate Increases
One reader wrote about how appalled he is at the Social Security Administration’s
increase in the price of SS-5s. He wrote, “I recently received some SS5s from
the SSA with a notice that as of 1 July 2001 the fees have changed from $7 to
$27, that’s almost a 400 percent increase. I’ve been reading all my e-zines
and watching the BBs but haven’t seen any comments on this excessive increase.
If any other service quadrupled their rates there would be a major riot. Just
because you can, doesn’t mean you have to.”

I would agree that the price increase is astronomical. However, this is not
the only governmental entity to raise its prices for copies of records. The
Railroad Retirement Board, another governmental agency, clearly states that
“Effective October 1, 2000, the fee for searching our records increased to $21
for each employee on whom records are requested. The fee is payable before any
search is attempted.” Therefore, this group preceded the SSA in increasing its
costs. As readers of the Ancestry Daily News and frequent users of the
National Archives and Record Administration’s research and copy services will
have noted, prices have increased in that organization as well. While agreeing
that the price increases are staggering and especially burdensome to genealogists
on limited incomes, I know that a typical search for records, pulling and copying
them, replacing them in a file, addressing an envelope, and paying for the envelope
and postage is a substantial personnel expense. And let’s face it, none of our
government employees doing this work is making minimum wage. Therefore, some
increase may certainly be merited, especially at NARA where files may consist
of many physical pages or microform images.

Railroad Retirement: Pass The Word
One reader wrote to say, “Another very good article, (Railroads). Some of the
younger researchers do not know much about the things you have written in this
article. Great work. THANK YOU.” She is certainly correct. Railroad Retirement
has been in the process of being phased out for almost thirty years, and younger
genealogists need to know about this segment of the federal retirement security
system.

Father Isn’t in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
One gentleman wrote that his father died in 1953 and that his mother received
benefits from Social Security for herself and her two children. He reported
that there is no record of his father in the SSDI, and he thought there should
be. He asked how he would go about solving this problem as his father had a
Social Security number issued to him and he knows the number.

I wrote back to suggest that if his father died before he collected benefits
himself, i.e., prior to a normal retirement age and without receiving a benefit
payment, his name will not be included in the SSDI. The conditions for inclusion
in the SSDI are: 1) the person had to have paid into Social Security; 2) the
person has to be deceased; 3) the person had to have filed for and collected
a benefit prior to death; and 4) the SSA had to have been advised of the person’s
death (at which time benefits would have ceased). If a person paid into Social
Security and died prior to receiving a benefit, his or her spouse (and/or children)
may have been entitled receive benefits based on the deceased individual’s earnings.
If there is an omission in the SSDI, however, you can always contact the SSA
to discuss it with them.

States’ Old Age Pensions
Another reader wrote, “I have been doing genealogy for several years and have
been to many seminars, but I have never heard any mention of the State’s Old
Age Pensions that were inaugurated in the 1930s to help old people until Social
Security kicked in. Both my grandparents, one in Texas and one in Louisiana,
drew these pensions. It was short lived for sure, but surely those records were
kept somewhere. I am just curious as to what information was contained and where
to go to find it. Just mention it in your column someday as I am sure other
people could be interested. I am 74 years old and I remember the 1930s fairly
well.”

This lady is correct. There apparently were some state-sponsored retirement
security programs, although I have read little about them over the decades I’ve
been involved in genealogy. A search of the Web using the terms Texas + “old
age pension” yields results describing the transfer of funds from the earlier
pension fund created in the 1930s into another account and the payment of interest
on the monies there. Using the same search, substituting Louisiana for Texas,
yields search results concerning that state’s old age funding from 1935. There
have been transcriptions of Old Age Pension lists placed online at RootsWeb
for such areas as Monroe County, Iowa, and other places. An article posted at
the “Free Republic” Web site on 10 April 2001 titled “Life
Before Social Security,” by Sandra K. Gorin, states that “30 states had
some form of old-age pension program by 1935. However, these programs were generally
inadequate and ineffective. Only about three percent of the elderly were actually
receiving benefits under these states plans, and the average benefit amount
was about sixty-five cents a day.”

A good place to begin searching for records from these early pension plans
would be with a state’s archive or library, with the state’s comptroller, or
with the state government department responsible for state retirement plans.
You may find some additional information in these pensions’ records.

Thank You, Readers!
Although it is impossible for me to respond to the many, many e-mail messages
I receive each week, I sincerely appreciate the kindness and generosity with
which so many are filled. You can probably tell that the people whose information
I’ve included this week are eager to share their knowledge and experiences.
This is certainly one of the joys of doing genealogical research — you meet
the nicest people. Let me extend a sincere thank you to the hundreds of readers
who wrote in regard to the columns about Social Security and Railroad Retirement
records. I have learned much from you and thank you for your kind words about
the column and your generosity in sharing information.

Happy Hunting!
George

More About Social Security and Railroad Retirement Efforts – George G. MorganPosted by Administrator on May 14th, 2005

My recent “Along Those Lines . . .” column concerning Social Security and Railroad
Retirement records generated a lot of e-mail from readers, some positive and
some not so positive. As a follow-up to that column, I wanted to share some
feedback I received from that column and from conversations I’ve had with several
researchers.

Records Not Included In The SSDI
One reader wrote to say that I omitted another reason for a person’s name not
being included in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). He pointed out that
persons who received benefits but who were deceased before the SSA began keeping
electronic records would not be included in the SSDI. As you search and review
the results from the SSDI (www.ancestry.com/ssdi),
you will see the “Issued” field contains a state and a year. The year is actual,
back to 1951. SSA lists anything prior to electronic assignment records as “Prior
to 1951″ and determines place of issue based on its area chart. Even though
deceased individuals are not included in the SSDI, you can still obtain a copy
of their SS-5 application for a Social Security number by contacting the SSA.
As indicated in my column of 11 July 2001, the current price for a copy is $27
where you can provide the number and $29 where you can only provide the person’s
name, date, and place of birth, and any other information other than the number
to help them locate the record.

Not My Social Security Number
One e-mail I received was from a woman reporting that Social Security number
586 was used in Mississippi and that she had never lived in any of those [other]
places. (Those places being Guam, American Samoa, and the Philippine Islands.)
My source for the information in the column was Loretto D. Szucs’ and Sandra
H. Luebking’s book, The Source, published in a revised edition by Ancestry,
Inc., in 1997. To corroborate their information, I located a Social
Security Administration Web page with a complete chart of area number assignments.

I have had two experiences with this type of thing in the past. In one instance,
a researcher couldn’t understand why his Social Security number began with 586.
He requested a copy of the SS-5 completed when he was a baby by his father and
found that the application was filed when his parents were living in the Philippines
after World War II.

In another case, one of my employees visited the SSA office in Chicago a year
before she planned to retire to have a calculation of benefits run for her.
To her amazement, it was found that someone else was also using the same Social
Security number. It turned out that the other person had gotten a number incorrect
on an employment form almost twenty years before and had been paying into the wrong
Social Security account. It took the SSA almost six months to sort the problem
out and reallocate the payment amounts into the correct accounts. The point
here is that if you have any questions about the assignment or origin of a Social
Security number, contact the SSA for a copy of the SS-5. You may find that an
unusual area number is actually a clue to where the person was living and/or
working at the time the number was assigned.

According to The Source and the SSA Web site, 586 was not assigned to
Mississippi. I responded to the writer, referred her to these resources, and
suggested she might want to obtain a copy of her own SS-5 to verify the information
on the application and the number that was assigned. (It is not unusual for
numbers to get scrambled over time, and now is as good a time as any to straighten
out any problems.)

Railroad Retirement Board—Positive Experience
Another reader wrote to state that she had seen a number of examples of the
records from the Railroad Retirement Board and generously offered to allow me
to quote her about her experience. She wrote, “One of my grandfathers worked
‘on the railroad’ from about 1906 to 1953 and received railroad retirement until
his death in 1966; his wife, my grandmother, received her survivor’s benefits
until her death in 1983. Although I had searched every record I could find (and
there are four generations of genealogists and historians in my family who save
records plus my own research), I did not have his social security number, nor
does his name appear in the social security death records. It was not even on
his death certificate.

“I sent the Railroad Retirement Board copies of his and my father’s death
certificates, copies of their birth certificates, and a copy of my own birth
certificate to prove relationships. In addition, I sent birth dates and places,
parent’s names, city of residence, the years of suspected employment, which
proved to be “off” by several years on each “end,” and the years I believed
that he had received the pension. I included similar information for my grandmother
and gave them contact information if they needed more. I sent the fee, of course,
and my cover letter was specific in telling who I was.

“Within about six weeks, I had twenty-one pages of information and it was far more
complete than you suggested for the Social Security information (which is why
I am writing to you.) What I received was the most complete record of employment
and income that I have for any individual. It showed his employment back to
1915 and stated that he had been employed from August 1906. But it also showed
his income by month for many years, through 1938, when he applied! All of his
application seemed to be there and it included every job, every promotion, every
increase in pay, and the dates of each. Also included was my grandmother’s registration
before he retired, his application for retirement, the amount of pension, when
he died, her information after he died, and when the pension ended. It even
noted the exact time he was serving in World War I including month, day, and
years. It included birth information even noting that it was “not verified.”
Repeatedly, different forms are signed by either or both of my grandparents.
In short, it is the most complete document I have ever seen for a single individual.

“For my grandmother, they have detailed information as to her birth, because
she did not have a birth certificate at that time. (She did get a delayed birth
certificate, which she proved by getting the family Bible and her certificate
very helpfully lists the aunt who owned the Bible at the time!) According to
the information, she took the Bible to the “State Registrar” who made a certified
copy. The registrar described it as yellowed, with faded ink and said “eight
births ranging from 2/20/82 to 11/30/99 together on a page headed ‘births’.”
It did not include a reproduction of the pages, nor the dates of the Bible,
however.”

As this researcher indicates, the records from the RRB may, indeed, be a treasure
trove. Even Social Security earnings records, when they can be obtained through
a separate request to the SSA (and an additional fee), can provide a full earnings
history. This history is, after all, what the SSA uses to calculate benefit
amounts. In any event, as this researcher indicates, records can be obtained
from the RRB, but be prepared to present ample proof of your identity and your
relationship to the individual whose records you are requesting.

Railroad Retirement Board—Not So Positive Experiences
While Railroad Retirement can provide some extensive records, in other cases,
they are sketchy and incomplete, with only a copy of an initial application,
an application for benefits, proof of age, and a copy of a benefits statement.
In two other cases, I’ve have discussions with researchers who are the proven
and documented children of the railroad employees where the RRB has informed
them that there are NO records for their fathers. In both cases, these children
had the card with the RRB number on it and copies of benefit statements. Still,
when these were presented to the RRB, along with proof of relationship, the
RRB still asserted that there were no records in their files for these employees.

In another case, an African American woman told me that the RRB refused to
give her copies of her father’s records, even when she provided a copy of her
birth certificate showing him as her father and her father’s death certificate.
The RRB advised her in writing that they would not release any records except
to the individual or his spouse, both of whom were deceased at that time. Two
subsequent appeals were denied. I’ve seen all the correspondence myself on this
instance, and I advised the woman to contact her Congressman for assistance.
Almost a year later, she called me to say she had finally obtained the records
she sought.

Another woman told me at a seminar that she had requested her uncle’s Railroad
Retirement records and that the RRB refused her request because she was not
a blood relative. She was told that a request would have to be made by the railroad
employee, his spouse, or one of his children.

If all of these cases sound contradictory and confusing, they are. The
RRB’s Web site and its Web page specifically geared for genealogical researchers
provides general guidelines for requesting records. However, there are no qualifications
listed regarding relationship of the requestor to the person whose records are
being requested. Therefore, if you are making an inquiry, be prepared to prove
your relationship in the event the RRB official handling your request requires
it.

Managing Your Expectations
The point of all of this is that sometimes we hit the mother lode and sometimes
we are disappointed. Call me a skeptic, but I know we need to learn how to manage
our expectations, especially regarding what we may or may not receive when we
write away for records. To quote a speech from one of my favorite plays, John
Patrick’s The Curious Savage, “It’s best to believe the worst. If you
believe the worst, then the worst is only half bad at best. And the best is
no worse than expected. So it’s best to believe the worst.” In the case of the
records for which we send away, if you expect little, you are seldom disappointed;
but if you receive a bonanza, you can rejoice and ride the euphoria of discovery.
With Social Security and Railroad Retirement records, I wish you all a bonanza.

Happy Hunting!
George

The Social Security Death Index – Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, Ph.DPosted by Administrator on March 14th, 2005

The Social Security Death Index (also known among genealogists as the SSDI) is a valuable tool for individuals researching the death information of a recently-deceased (after 1962) family member. Approximately 98 percent of the individuals in the database died after 1962.

The fact that the Social Security Administration required proof of birth to issue a number is a boon to genealogical researchers. This requirement has generated a tremendous amount of relevant genealogical data in the Social Security Administration as well as at the state level.

Because early recipients of social security were born in years before civil registration of births was required, many of the delayed birth certificates filed at the state level were a result of needing proof of birth to apply for social security benefits. People also used a variety of other sources to prove their age to the Social Security Administration, such as family Bibles, church records, testimony from friends and family, and the 1880 and 1900 federal census enumeration lists. In fact, it was the frequent use of the federal censuses for birth information that resulted in soundexing the enumerations for easier access.

The application for social security benefits, known as the SS-5 form, contains a wealth of information and is provided in your ancestor’s own words and handwriting. If your ancestor was working in the United States in 1937 or later, there is a good chance he or she completed an application. Once you find your ancestor in the SSDI, you can submit a form to the Social Security Administration, along with a fee, and receive a copy of the application. Visit <www.ancestry.com/ search/rectype/vital/ssdi/main.htm> and follow the steps for obtaining a copy of your ancestor’s application.

Who has a Social Security number?

The Social Security Act was signed into law on 14 August 1935. The Act created a social insurance program that was designed to pay retired workers at age sixty-five or older a continuing income. Under the 1935 law, workers would begin acquiring credits toward old-age insurance beginning 1 January 1937. Benefits were to be based on the wage record of the individual and were of three types: 1) monthly benefits at age sixty-five, 2) lump sum payments, and 3) death benefits to the estates of individuals who died before drawing benefits.

Because the primary, but not exclusive, purpose of the social security system was to provide a retirement income to working people, the prevalence of social security numbers before 1960 was not as widespread as it is today. (Today, it is not unusual that young children acquire social security numbers.) But as the Social Security Administration’s scope grew, more and more people in the United States received Social Security numbers. Beginning in the 1960s, the use of the Social Security number as a national identifier became more prevalent. In 1962, the Internal Revenue Service adopted the Social Security number as its official taxpayer identification number. Similarly, when Medicare was adopted in 1965, it became necessary for most individuals over the age of sixty-five to have a Social Security number so they could obtain medical benefits.

At the outset, many workers were not covered by the program, including farmers, women who did not work outside the home, teachers, municipal employees who were covered by other pension plans, some government employees, unemployed people, and those with a separate retirement plan. The people who fit in these categories did not contribute to social security.

On the other hand, if an individual was self-employed most of his life, he may have taken a job for the minimum number of years to qualify for a pension.

Content in the Index

The Social Security Death Index has some 66 million names in it, but the individuals in the SSDI are only those who had a Social Security number and whose death was reported by surviving family members for the death benefit. In addition, this information has only been computerized since 1962. That year, the Social Security Administration began to use the database to process requests for benefits. If you don’t find a name right away in the index, try spelling variations of the name, use the soundex feature, truncate the name as much as possible, use wildcard searches, and search on different fields.

Generally, a search of the index will yield information in any of six areas: name of the deceased, birthdate, date of death, state in which number was issued, residence, and address of last benefit.

1. Name of the deceased. Be sure to check all names of the deceased, especially if you are searching for a woman. If you don’t find what you expect, do a soundex search to ensure that the name was not misspelled when the information was indexed.

2. Birthdate. This is the birthdate confirmed by the Social Security Administration. As mentioned previously, the person was required to provide a number of documents to prove his or her age. But the date may not match the information you already have in your records.

3. Date of death. This is the date the person was reported to have died. Usually only the month and year shows on the index since only the benefit month is the interest of the Social Security Administration. Before 1988, the death date was not routinely recorded, so these dates may be suspect. Leave the date off entirely if you don’t find a match.

4. State in which number was issued. This is not necessarily the birth state of the individual, it is the state in which he or she applied for a Social Security number. When searching the index, leave the state field blank if the person’s name you are seeking does not show up as expected. For example, I searched for my grandfather’s death date without luck until I decided to delete Kentucky as the state of issuance from the search. His name came up immediately since this field was left blank in the index.

5. Residence. The residence field shows the zip code, city, and county that the Social Security Administration has of the date of the last correspondence with the person. Or it may be the address where the benefit check was sent. Remember that zip codes often change over time, so don’t rely on that information as you search.

6. Address of last benefit. This is the last address where a check was directed, but it may be empty if the person did not receive benefits, or if it is the same address as the residence address.

Many people may not appear in the index simply because their relatives did not apply for the death benefit, even if they had a social security number and were eligible to receive benefits.

There are many exceptions to the Administration’s regulations, and your ancestor’s information may fall in that category. My father’s record is an excellent example. Although permanent railroad employees were covered under the Railroad Retirement Act rather than Social Security, my father’s only paid employment was with the C&O railroad, yet he appears in the index. These railway workers were sometimes enrolled in the same social security program, but with different benefits than the general population. Some railroad workers received social security benefits while others did not.

The Social Security Death Index is an incredibly rich data source. And because this information is part of the public record, you can find the index online free of charge at various websites including www.ancestry.com.

Hopefully, the information provided above will encourage you to use the SSDI as an aid in your family research. Remember, as with any record resource, be sure to verify the information you find in the SSDI with other documents.

Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, Ph.D., has been researching her family history since 1978. Her special interests include oral histories and social history.