SOCIAL SECURITY APPLICATIONS FOR GENEALOGISTS

Are you stymied in your genealogical research because a father or grandfather died relatively young, leaving few clues to his origins? Perhaps he applied for a Social Security number, and this record may solve your problem.

Under the Social Security Act of 1935, federally administered old-age insurance and other benefits went into effect. Even if your ancestor did not receive any benefits under this act, he or she might have applied for a Social Security number, since these were issued as early as 1937.

Check Other Lines

If your direct ancestors died before implementation of the Social Security program, consider collateral lines. For example, a deceased second cousin’s application may contain data of interest to your line.

For these and other reasons, it can be worthwhile to order a copy of the Form SS-5 for your ancestors or collateral relatives. You may discover an ancestor, born as early as the middle to late 1800s, who applied for a number or for benefits. The government required applicants to complete a form known as an SS-5 (the application for a Social Security number).

What You Will Find on an Application

On Form SS-5, the government asked the following questions:

Since this information was provided by the applicant, it should be more reliable than other, secondhand information.

This form may turn up some unexpected genealogical items, such as an unknown middle name or the exact town of birth.

How to Get a Copy of an Application

First, you need the Social Security number of the person in question. For a deceased individual, check the Social Security Death Index for the person’s name; otherwise you will need to get permission from that person to ask for a copy of his or her application.

Next, send a letter with your request to the following address. Be sure to include the social security number and name of the person for whom you want a copy of their application. The fee has been $14 for a copy of the application, but you should check internet genealogical web sites to see if there has been an increase in the fee.

Freedom of Information Officer
4-H-8 Annex Building
6401 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21235

Be patient. It can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks before you receive a reply.

SAMPLE LETTER

Proof of Death

If the person for whom the information requested is still living, you must enclose a statement signed by that person granting permission for you to get a copy of the SS-5 or have the person sign form SSA-L997 (Social Security Number Record Third Party Request for Extract or Photocopy) in the appropriate space.

If the person for whom information requested is dead, enclose proof of death, such as a death certificate, newspaper obituary, or a copy of the entry from the computerized Death Master File.

If you don’t have a person's Social Security number, check these sources for leads:

Death Master File

Death Master File (DMF), which is available at many LDS (Mormon) Family History Centers. This database has millions of records and is most helpful regarding people who died after 1964. It lists, alphabetically, deceased people who had Social Security numbers, giving the name, number, birth date, death date, ZIP and state where the person died. You can now access it on the Ancestry.com website.

Genealogical data from Social Security applications can be valuable, but be patient — it may take months to get it.

More Information About Social Security Numbers

The Social Security Number (SSN) is composed of 3 parts, XXX-XX-XXXX, called the Area, Group, and Serial. For the most part, (there are exceptions), the Area is determined by where the individual applied for the SSN (before 1972) or resided at time of application (after 1972). The areas are assigned as follows:

As the Areas assigned to a locality are exhausted, new areas from the pool are assigned. This is why some states have non-contiguous groups of Areas.

The Group portion of the SSN has no meaning other than to determine whether or not a number has been assigned. The Social Security Administration publishes a list every month of the highest group assigned for each SSN Area.The order of assignment for the Groups is: odd numbers under 10, even numbers over 9, even numbers under 9 except for 00 which is never used, and odd numbers over 10. For example, if the highest group assigned for area 999 is 12, then we know that the number 999-04-1234 is an invalid number because even Groups under 9 have not yet been assigned.

The Serial portion of the SSN has no meaning. The Serial is not assigned in strictly numerical order. The Serial 0000 is never assigned. Before 1973, Social Security Cards with pre-printed numbers were issued to each local SSA office. The numbers were assigned by the local office.

In 1973, SSN assignment was automated and outstanding stocks of pre-printed cards were destroyed. All SSNs are now assigned by computer from headquarters. There are rare cases in which the computer system can be forced to accept a manual assignment, such as a person refusing a number with 666 in it.

A pamphlet entitled “The Social Security Number” (Pub. No. 05-10633) provides an explanation of the SSN’s structure and the method of assigning and validating Social Security numbers.

Return to Part II of Searching Your Family Tree