{"id":176,"date":"2006-05-25T21:52:50","date_gmt":"2006-05-26T04:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/2006\/05\/25\/social-security-records\/"},"modified":"2016-05-22T11:43:47","modified_gmt":"2016-05-22T18:43:47","slug":"social-security-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/176","title":{"rendered":"Social Security Records"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social Security Records, including the Social Security Death Index and the SS-5 Application for a Social Security Account Number, are some of the first records I examined when I first started to compile my family tree .\u00a0 I used the information in the Social Security Death Index to discover or verify dates of birth and dates of death .\u00a0 I also requested copies of the SS-5 cards, the Application for a Social Security Account Number to discover or verify information such as names of parents, place of birth, occupation, and address at the time of application.<\/p>\n

The Social Security Death Index is generated from the Death Master File of the Social Security Administration (SSA) .\u00a0 The SSA does not generate the index itself .\u00a0 The Death Master File currently includes over 77 million records of individuals who had a Social Security Number and whose deaths were reported to the SSA, usually when someone applied for Social Security Death Benefits .\u00a0 In 1935 the Social Security Act was passed, and in 1936, the first Social Security cards were issued .\u00a0 However, the Social Security Death Index was not initiated until 1962, when the\u00c2\u00a0SSA began using a computer database to process benefit requests .\u00a0 For that reason, few individuals who died before 1962 are listed in the Social Security Death Index .\u00a0 More information<\/a> on the Social Security Death Index is available at Ancestry.com, and interesting information on the first Social Security Card and the lowest Social Security Number is available at the Social Security website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Social Security Death Index is available at Ancestry.com<\/a> for a fee, but it is also available for free from other sources, including FamilySearch.org<\/a> .\u00a0 I prefer to use the Ancestry.com version of the index because the information is formatted in a way that I can directly cut and paste the information into the source information area of my genealogy database .\u00a0 The RootsWeb version, however, has\u00c2\u00a0the most comprehensive search feature on the web;\u00c2\u00a0all the information in the Index is searchable .\u00a0 The FamilySearch version of the index is not as full-featured as either of the other two indexes .\u00a0 That said, if you can’t find someone in one index, you can always try the others .\u00a0 Differences in the search algorithms and in the search interfaces may provide different results.<\/p>\n

A copy of the original SS-5, the Application for Social Security Account Number, can be ordered from the Social Security Administration<\/a>, as long as the requestor is the individual named, or if the individual is deceased .\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0A copy of the SS-5 can be ordered whether or not the individual is listed in the Social Security Death Index .\u00a0 Currently, the\u00c2\u00a0SSA charges $27 for this copy, if the Social Security Number is provided, and $29 if the Social Security Number is not provided .\u00a0 The SSA also offers a Numident, a computerized Numerical Identification record for a reduced price, but the Numident doesn’t provide all the information on the SS-5 and may contain transcription errors, so it’s not as useful for genealogical purposes as the SS-5 .\u00a0 The SSA also offers a copy of the Claim File for $14, but these Claim Files are usually destroyed within a few years after the final decision on a claim is made .\u00a0 Once, instead of receiving the SS-5 I requested, I received a Form OAAN-7003, Employee’s Request for Change in Records instead.<\/p>\n

Well, back to my Great Aunt Mary .\u00a0 The information in the Social Security Death Index states:<\/p>\n

Name: Mary Golinski
\nSSN: 033-38-4218
\nLast Residence: 01527 Millbury, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
\nBorn: 12 Mar 1887
\nDied: Sep 1975
\nState (Year) SSN issued: Massachusetts (1964-1965)<\/p>\n

A couple of points to note here .\u00a0 Sometimes, as in this case, the complete date of birth or death is not included .\u00a0 If you search for\u00c2\u00a0a complete date, but don’t find what you’re looking for, try including only the month and year, or just the year .\u00a0 The second point is that the Last Residence is not necessarily the place of death.<\/p>\n

Finally, I obtained a copy of Mary’s SS-5.<\/p>\n

\"SS-5<\/a><\/p>\n

The SS-5 for Mary Golinski -1965<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0states that:<\/p>\n