More About Social Security and Railroad Retirement Efforts – George G. Morgan

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