US Social Security Death Index

[mfwebb]

Good morning to all our Forum members in the USA.

This query is by way of asking for general information, more out of interest than anything else, and not a specific research query.

I have traced a great uncle of my wife's who "disappeared" in the UK and was never heard of again. He emigrated to the USA in 1904, never married or had children and died in Seattle in 1955, having lived and worked there all his life and having become a naturalised USA Citizen in 1938. I have been able to find a wealth of information about him using on-line records but his name does not appear in the US Social Security Death Index.

My obvious conclusion from this is that he never received any Social Security benefit (including Retirement Benefit) and so was never issued with a Social Security Number, even though he presumably paid taxes all his life and built up Social Security credits which would entitle him to a retirement benefit. He was 73 when he died in 1955.

Is my "obvious conclusion" correct or are there other reasons why he would not have been allocated a US Social Security number?

Many thanks in advance for any information anyone is able to give.

Malcolm Webb
Lincoln UK

[Procat]

Hi Malcolm,

I have a number that I can not find in the index even though they should be there. Born in the U.S.A., died in the U.S.A. so no logical reason for them not to appear. I have also found a few to be badly indexed, wrong year of birth etc etc. Like all searches I suggest that you keep it as broad as possible when using the index.

[bamagirl]

Hi, Malcolm and Procat,

Just talking off the top of my sleepy head (it's morning here), I think the SSDI published online only goes back to deaths since the 1980's or there abouts.

Let me check the official site and see what I can find to help with your research.

-Barb

[bamagirl]

Hi, again.

Poking around on SSA.gov if found a few items in their FAQ - one helpful post is this:
https://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answ.../118/related/1

The internal name is the Death Master File (dmf). Complete copies and updates are available, but cost prohibitive to search just a handful of names. Also, it looks like the pay-by-search option is to verify a number given for employment or credit purposes to circumvent identity fraud.

Hope this helps.
-Barb

[Procat]

Thanks Barb. Fortunately none of the ones I was unable to locate are close enough related to me to neccesitate using that site.

[Cheryl Jones]

Hi Malcolm,
I'm here in the US, and from memory (I'd have to check to make sure), I believe that there weren't many payments made before the 1960's. That could account for his never receiving any. He still could have had a SS card and number, though. I have a few ancestors who worked for the railroad. They had seperate retirement systems. My own husband was in law enforcement, and for many years only paid into the union pension fund, then they began taking out Social Security. So, although he worked longer than I, his Social Security checks are way less than mine. I hope that this helps some.

If you would like to give me his name and dates, I'd be happy to do some searching from over here.
Regards,
Cheryl

[mfwebb]

Thanks to everyone who responded.

This great uncle worked for the railroad, at least from 1904 to 1940 so may have had a separate pension.

Regarding the reference to the Social Security Death Master File, others may find this site useful https://ssdmf.info/ This site has the Death Master File up to 30 November 2011 and it is FREE. The site administrator paid $1855 for a copy and put it on the internet for all to use because he couldn't find a free index on-site.

All the best,
Malcolm Webb
Lincoln UK

[mfwebb]

Hi Malcolm,
I'm here in the US, and from memory (I'd have to check to make sure), I believe that there weren't many payments made before the 1960's. That could account for his never receiving any. He still could have had a SS card and number, though. I have a few ancestors who worked for the railroad. They had seperate retirement systems. My own husband was in law enforcement, and for many years only paid into the union pension fund, then they began taking out Social Security. So, although he worked longer than I, his Social Security checks are way less than mine. I hope that this helps some.

If you would like to give me his name and dates, I'd be happy to do some searching from over here.
Regards,
Cheryl

Thanks Cheryl,

His name was HERBERT PICKERING born Leeds England 4 November 1882. Travelled from Liverpool to St John New Brunswick April 1904 and crossed the Canada/US border at Marcus Washington on or about 5 May 1904. Lived in Seattle from then until his death on 26 December 1955. He is buried in the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland Oregon.

One other thing you might be able to throw some light on -- in his army draft registration in 1942 his employer is declared as "US Engineers -- labor" and in the Seattle City Directory for 1943 he is listed as "lab USEO". I cannot find anything about either US Engineers or USEO -- I presume these refer to the same employer.

I am most grateful for the offer of help.

Many thanks,
Malcolm Webb
Lincoln UK

[Cheryl Jones]

Malcolm,

I did some quick checking using the information that you supplied. He was easy to find. I dont know if you hav found him in the US 1940 census or not. What i found for him shows that he was renting a room for $6 a month at 1003 1/2 Jerry Ave., Seattle and that he had lived in the same place in 1935. He was 58, single, had completed 4 years of high school (I don't know what the equivalent in the UK would be). Most importantly, though, he was at that time seeking work. He had been unemployed for 30 weeks, but had worked about 30 weeks in 1939, earning only a total of $400, and had no other income. He had formerly worked as a "powder man" in road building.

I see that in 1930 he was living at 90 Yesler Way, Seattle and was a laborer in the building industry, and had been working the day before the census was taken.

In 1920 he was living with a crew of men at Discovery Bay Logging Rail Road at Port Discovery, Jefferson Co., Washington. His occupation was "track man" at the Mill Camp.

I did some checking into his employer (listed on his 1942 Draft Registration) US Engineering Labor. It was located at Alaskan Way and Stacy Street, Seattle. I didn't come up with anything so far, but did find that the logging industry fell apart (as did most everything else) during the Great Depression. He must have been working on the railroad at that time. Unfortunately, I doubt that they had pensions, and he would not have worked long enough to be "vested" with a pension.

As far as being a "grader and powder man" (occupation given in his Petition for Naturalization in 1938), I'm wondering if he worked with dynamite. Possibly how he lost part of the first finger on his left hand?

That's about all that I've found thus far. I'll keep looking. (This is most interesting research!)

Regards, Cheryl

[Cheryl Jones]

Malcolm,

After checking into the SS information I found that often SS numbers (if a person had one) might be on papers at funeral homes. Do you have his death certificate? If so, that usually states what funeral director handled the burial. You might contact the home (if it's still in business). Since you know where he is buried, you might try contacting the office of the cemetery to see if they have that information, or can tell you which funeral home was used.

There's always more than one way to skin a cat, lol!

How did he end up buried in Oregon? Or was that the nearest Military burial site?

I'll keep thinking... and working on it.

Cheryl