Most of you are aware that the Social Security Death Index Records are available free on-line at: http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ and other sites. I am constantly looking at these records and trust you are taking advantage of them also. But questions are raised about the records which I’m going to show below.

First of all, Mistakes Are Made!!!!! Again, as with all records, names might be spelled incorrectly, someone who is still quite alive might be shown (hopefully not too often!), or birth and death dates might be off kilter. Perhaps some records are missing. Family members can contact the local social security office and hopefully get the records corrected; sometimes it can be a nightmare. But, we, as genealogists, need to recognize that sometimes errors do occur.

My relative isn’t there!!! There might be several reasons of course with the obvious one meaning that the person hasn’t died! But, when you’re looking for someone a few years back who could not still be alive, there is frustration when you can’t find them.

Did they have a Social Security Number?
Was their death reported?

If you answer was yes to the above questions, it’s time to play detective again.

1 – Try alternate spellings, you might even have to resort to Soundex checking. Was their name shown as Smythe when it was Smith? Did the name get indexed backwards? Was the name James Williams and it was indexed as William James? Was a Clark shown as a Clack? Remember human beings input data and humans can get it wrong!

2 – If you’re hunting for a particular date, play with the date a little. To me this is one of the most common mistakes because people write dates in different ways. To most genealogists, a date would be written such as 15 February 1850. But some write the date as February 15, 1850, 2-15-1850 or even 15-2-1850. Maybe the indexer simply wrote the date wrong. Also numbers can easily be transposed so that someone who died in 1940 might accidentally be typed 1904.

3 – If the name has an apostrophe, this can cause problems. We know her name was Sally O’Clintock but the indexer might have typed it Oclintock without the apostrophe, or even Clitock, Sally O.

4 – First names can give a problem too. If one is looking for their uncle, Josephus Michael Sweeney; possibly you call him that but he hated the name Josephus and went by Michael or Mike. Search on middle names.

5 – Many individuals didn’t seem to like either of their names and went by their initials. Think of all those good Texans like J R Ewing! If you can’t find them with their full or middle name, try it again using initials. The name is shown as a relative provided it on the Social Security forms and they called him J R (who did shoot him now?!)

6 – In desperation just do a last name search and pull up a lounge chair and get a cup of coffee. If it’s a rarer surname you’re safe, but good luck in searching for Smith’s or Jones’!


Where does the Social Security Administration get the information? Sometimes it is from family members who are in shock and grieving. I know personally how hard it is to recall facts under stress. When my dear father died, I had to stop and correct myself on his date of birth and I knew it as well as my own. Today, many if not most of the funeral homes take the information you provide them and file the forms to help you out. If you give them incorrect information or they write it down wrong, an error will be created.

Remember!!!! Not everyone had a Social Security number! If they didn’t, their names just won’t appear. The Social Security Act went into effect on Aug 14, 1935. Applications for a number started during 1936-37. It was not until 1962 that electronic records were kept. When Medicare was begun in 1965, many people who were already over 65 received Social Security cards for the first time.

What can help the genealogist in these records?

You have the name, the date of birth and death, the last known residence of the deceased and the location where the final benefit was sent (if applied for). The latter would be a family member who was to receive the benefits. Also of course, the Social Security number itself can provide an avenue of research. Based on this number, you can order their files from the Social Security Administration. This form will give you much more information; and will also show you the place of death so you can check with a local funeral home or check for an obituary in a local paper.

Some clues to look for in the death records. Before 1988 the full date of death wasn’t regularly recorded – it showed the month and year, not a full date. If you see a death date before 1932 – note it but know that it’s likely in error. In checking the zip codes in the last place of residence (when town/state isn’t shown) or where benefits were sent, realize that there have been many changes over the years since the zip codes were initiated.

Meaning of the Social Security Numbers. I’m sure you’ve seen this before, but it might help to save this information somewhere as sometime you might need it!

The first three numbers tell you the location. Prior to 1972, this identified the state where the card was issued. Since 1972 all the cards come from Baltimore and the first three digits show the zip code of the applicant.

The next two numbers are known as the group number. This number runs from 01 to 99 but were not issued in order.

The last 4 numbers are the serial number ranging from 0001 thru 9999.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER STATE CODES

574 (AK) 416-424 (AL) 429-432 (AR)
526-527 (AZ) 545-573 (CA) 521-524 (CO)
040-049 (CT) 577-579 (DC) 221-222 (DE)
261-267 (FL) 252-260 (GA) 575-576 (HI)
478-485 (IA) 518-519 (ID) 318-361 (IL)
303-317 (IN) 509-515 (KS) 400-407 (KY)
433-439 (LA) 010-034 (MA) 212-220 (MD)
004-007 (ME) 362-386 (MI) 468-477 (MN)
486-500 (MO) 425-428 (MS) 587 (MS)
516-517 (MT) 237-246 (NC) 501-502 (ND)
505-508 (NE) 001-003 (NH) 135-158 (NJ)
585 (NM) 530 (NV) 050-134 (NY)
268-302 (OH) 440-448 (OK) 540-544 (OR)
159-211 (PA) 581-584 (PR) 035-039 (RI)
247-251 (SC) 503-504 (SD) 408-415 (TN)
449-467 (TX) 528-529 (UT) 223-231 (VA)
008-009 (VT) 531-539 (WA) 387-399 (WI)
232 (WV, NC) 233-236 (WV) 520 (WY)
580 (Vir. Is.; PR)
586 (Guam, Am. Samoa, Phil. Islands)
700-728 (RR Retirement Board - All States)

NOTE: At a person’s death, their Social Security Number is retired and will not be reused.

What other information is available from the Social Security Administration?

I imagine that most of us have long forgotten filling out the application for a Social Security number (now required at birth), but we had to give them a lot of information on Form SS-5). This included: Full name, Full name at birth (including maiden name), Present mailing address, age at last birthday, date of birth, place of birth (city, county, state), father's full name "regardless of whether living or dead", mother's full name, including maiden name, "regardless of whether living or dead", sex and race, ever applied for SS number/Railroad Retirement before?, current employer's name and address, date signed, applicant's signature Can we get a copy of this application for others: Yes. If you are linking through the website shown above at rootsweb, there is a place where you can click on “write letter”. Print it off and mail to the Social Security Administration with $27.00 (full copy) or for $16 for an abbreviated copy.

You can also request a search for $29.00 by sending a request with the full name, state of birth and date of birth to: Social Security Administration, OEO FOIA Workgroup, 300 N. Green Street
P.O. Box 33022, Baltimore, Maryland 21290-3022 The more information you can provide the better – such as parents’ names, a proof of death, etc.

This information has been abstracted from many sources including an article Copyright © 2007, The Generations Network, Inc, the U S Government websites, http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/lesson10.htm and others.

© Copyright 20 Sept 2007.