Social Security Death Index

where to find it, what it is, how to use it, what it means and what to do if you don’t find anything!

Where to find it:

LDS family history center (on the computer)

Ancestry’s web site: http://www.ancestry.com (free searches)

You can purchase the CD’s for about $40 from many sites on the internet.

It comes with Corel’s Family Tree Suite and many other genealogy programs.

In the summer of 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. Since that time, over 370 million Social Security cards have been issued to the citizens and residents of the United States. The present-day Social Security Administration (SSA) is now larger than perhaps even Roosevelt envisioned.

Origin of the Social Security Death Master File

Over the last sixty years the SSA has increased both in terms of size and benefits offered, and has dealt with resources and funds numbering in the trillions of dollars.

To assist in keeping track of individuals, the government assigns a numerical identification to each person involved in the program. Though it was originally intended for use within the Social Security Administration only, its value as a unique identifier has promoted its application in other areas of society, such as drivers' license ID numbers, state and federal tax programs, motor vehicle registration, military ID (starting with Vietnam era), etc.

As a by-product of this vast recordkeeping system, the SSA developed a file of those individuals in the program reported as deceased. This file is the Social Security Death Master File. Its present version contains over 50 million entries, which ranks it as one of the largest computer indexes with genealogical application, and certainly one of the most valuable for twentieth century research.

Titles Often Add to Confusion

Myths have also arisen concerning the time span, content, and completeness of the file. Some of the titles given to commercial products containing the database are in themselves misleading. Calling the data a Social Security Death Benefits Index, for example, tries to communicate the idea that the index does not include the deaths of all Americans, as does the more generic title Social Security Death Index. However, even this term is misleading since an individual may be included in the database with no death benefits having been given.

Most importantly, close to 98% of the entire index contains individuals who died after 1962 (when the SSA began keeping the database on computer). Genealogically speaking, family documents, reminiscences, oral interviews, and other close-at-hand material usually provides much more information than the average entry in the Master Death File, especially for those individuals who have passed away in the last generation.

It is important that the index be analyzed with a view towards its actual research value. Its major benefit at present may lie in its ability to serve as a steppingstone to further research or as a verification of other sources. Though it is certainly true that the index can be of immense value for those who are for some reason unfamiliar with their parents or grandparents, the majority of researchers do not find themselves in this situation.

The Scope of the SSA Master Death Index

As the SSA is an arm of the United States government, the entries in the index are overwhelmingly American. Though there is no way to establish citizenship by the index data alone, a few Canadians, Mexicans, and others are included in the database. If one is in the United States legally, one can obtain a Social Security card, though the number may not be used for actual employment purposes unless the individual is granted permission from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The index also contains many individuals who were U.S. citizens, but who were not living in the United States at the time of death. Individuals in this category might include consular employees around the world, employees of U.S. companies or subsidiaries working abroad, or those serving in the armed forces.

The first initial rush to record and distribute Social Security cards occurred in the first two or three years of the program's existence. At least 35 million numbers were assigned to workers who qualified before 1 January 1937. Since that time, however, various other groups of individuals not originally classified as eligible have been included in the program.

In 1951 we saw the inclusion of individuals in U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as employees working abroad for American companies. Conditional and temporary government workers, farm and agricultural labor, the self-employed, certain short-term railroad workers, and domestic workers (those earning wages in a household setting) also gained Social Security eligibility the same year.

Employees working for a subsidiary of a U.S. company abroad or self-employed farmers became eligible for Social Security in 1955. Materially participating farmers (those who owned the land and took at least a managerial role in the farming) became eligible in 1956. Self-employed lawyers, dentists, medical professionals (except medical doctors), and other professional groups received coverage in 1956. It was not until 1965 that medical doctors began receiving coverage.

The latest groups to be included in the Social Security umbrella were employees of nonprofit companies, who had been excluded from coverage in 1951, and federal government employees hired after 1 January 1984. Both were granted eligibility in 1984. It should be noted, however, that eligibility only implies the legal right of coverage under Social Security for a group, not de facto inclusion in the program.

In a class by themselves, long-term railroad employees earn retirement under the Railroad Retirement Board, though they as a group also have Social Security cards. Originally granted special numbers in an exclusive range, those applying after June 1963 received numbers according to where they lived when they applied. About 430,000 of these pre-1963 railroad employees are presently included in the Master Death File.

What the Social Security Master Death File Can Tell You

The original database from the SSA contains fields for the following information: Social Security number, last name, first name, date of death, date of birth, the zip code of last residence, zip code of lump sum payment [if any], and in some cases a special state or country residence code (especially valuable if the individual is residing outside the U.S.).

The government allows for twelve letters in the last name and nine characters in the first name, with any additional characters simply left off. Death dates in the vast majority of cases before 1988 contained month and year only. The zip code of last residence may not be the actual place of death, especially if an individual died in an out-of-town hospital, on vacation, etc.

Why You May Not Find Your Ancestors

If you are unsuccessful in a Social Security Death Master File search, run through the following checklist for some possible reasons why you did not find a particular individual:

The individual did not have a Social Security card. Especially before 1951, it is entirely possible that your ancestor did not have a Social Security number at all. The self-employed, farmers, military, government employees, some professional groups (doctors, lawyers), did not receive coverage until the 1950s and 60s.Certain members of the family may have never had the need to enroll in Social Security (retired individuals, housewives, etc.).

The individual had a Social Security card, but his/her death was not reported to the SSA. The Death Master File only contains those deaths reported to the SSA.

The individual is in the file, but listed under another name or another spelling. Try other spellings of the individual's name, including middle names, nicknames, initials, maiden names, other married surnames, etc.

The individual is in the file, but original data was reported or recorded incorrectly.

Using the File as a Steppingstone to Further Research

Once you perform a successful search in the Death Master File, several research options are now open. Armed with the individual's death date, Social Security number and probable death state, you may request an obituary or death certificate. The same is true for birth certificates. Although the birth date is also provided, birthplace is not, though it is still possible that the individual had been born in the same state in which he/she applied for their Social Security card.

The Freedom of Information Act has made available copies of the original applications of those Social Security card holders who have passed away. Researchers must send $7.00 (if SS number is known) or $16.50 (if number is unknown or incorrect) to the following address:

Freedom of Information Officer

4-H-8 Annex Bldg

6401 Security Blvd

Baltimore, MD 21235

If you have an unusual last name, just enter the last name and let the computer tell you how many "hits" you get on it. If it isn’t a too long, print the entire list. You may find relatives that you didn’t know existed or you may find the name concentrated in one area of the country. People who live near the person you are looking for may turn out to be related. Obviously, if your last name is SMITH this technique won’t work.

Enter just enough of the name to make a match. For example, I was looking for Georgiana Lowell. I entered Lowell as the last name and Georgi as the first name. The search returned two entries:

Georgiana Lowell

Georgianna Lowell

Moral of the story - check variant spellings! The second spelling hadn’t occurred to me.

What it means:

Now if you do find a match here is what it probably will look like:

Kebbel, William 169-68-7896 b. 17 Jan 1941 d. Sept 1981 lp. 32934(Sebastian River, FL)

name SS# birth death zip code where lump sum payment

date date was sent

Decoding the Social Security Number

(from "Social-Security-Numbers And Other Telling Information:"

by Simson Garfinkel, published in the Whole Earth Review, Fall 1989)

The first three digits of a person's Social Security Number indicate

assigned (see table). The exceptions to this rule are numbers in the

700-729 range, which were issued by the Railroad Retirement agency, the

only such retirement plan to have its own block of SSNs.

The fourth and fifth digits indicate the group number. The sequence is

reported to be odd numbers from 01-09, then even numbers from 10-98, then

even numbers 02-08, and finally odd numbers 11-99. All numbers issued

before 1965 are either odd numbers between 01 and 09, or even numbers

between 10 and 98. The last four digits are the "serial number," and run

from 0001 to 9999...

(1) Number 232, with middle digits 30, has been allocated to North Carolina

from West Virginia.

*** Remember, this the state where the person lived when the number assigned, not necessarily the state where they were born. ***

This could mean that the person you are looking for is still alive, or you and Social Security spell the name differently, or he was left out of the index because they died before the magic 1962 date when the records were computerized, or they didn’t have a SS#. (More specific information above)

If you are sure the person is deceased you can still try to send to the Freedom of information officer for a copy of the Social Security application, yes it will cost you more if you don’t have the SS #.

To get a Social Security number you have to fill out a form called SS-5. Look at all of the information that it contains:

The applicants full name

The applicants address

The applicants age and birthday

Their place of employment

Their place of birth

The names of his/her parents including his mothers maiden name

Their sex

Their race

The date of application

Their signature

This may be an easy way to obtain parents names or just a married women maiden name. As you know they are often very elusive.

To obtain SS-5's for deceased people send a note with:

Your full name and address (Self addressed stamped envelope)

The applicants name, place of application for social security, ss# if known, birthdate (if known) and their maiden name if a woman.

It usually takes 4-8 weeks, but they are very busy and it may take longer.

Please be patient! You will be happy with what you receive.

If you need to get the application of a living person send a note to the

address above asking for SSA-L997. You may also be able to get these at your

local Social Security office or an FHC.

*Note: This form requires the signature of the person of whom records are

being requested.

The above information was from an e-mail message from Michael A. Cassara.