Introduction
The Social Security Act was signed into US federal law by President Roosevelt 14th Aug 1935. Prior to the act, it was up to the state or the person’s family to care for them in old age or if they had physical disabilities.
The Social Security Number Application Form, also known as the SS-5 form, asks for the name of the individual applying, and for married women, her maiden name too; their current address; their employer’s name and address; their age, date and place of birth; father’s name and mother’s name including maiden surname and a dated signature. So a wealth of genealogical information that can reveal a father’s original surname when perhaps only the changed surname in the United States is known, a mother’s maiden surname and a place of origin that can be specific to the town name, although you can be unlucky and only get the country. The SS-5 is a real gem of a document!
Copies of the SS-5 may be ordered from the Social Security Administration by submitting a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA), and at the time of writing costs $21 per document.
Note, it may be necessary to prove that the individual or the parents are not still living, otherwise the vital information that you are seeking may be redacted. In the good old days, it was possible to peel off the black strips but these days the blacking out is done before the photocopy, and so cannot be removed. Pay heed to this to avoid expensive disappointment!
For more information see the informative JGSLI[i] video called “How Form SS-5 Can Help Break through Your Research Brick Walls”[ii] with the mellifluous soundtrack by Nolan Altman.[iii]
How to Order an SS-5 Document
This is quite straightforward, given that documentation is available from The Legal Genealogist Blog[iv] by Judy Russell.
This may be found by Googling “The Legal Genealogist” “SS-5 2024 style” or visiting:
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2024/01/30/ordering-the-ss-5-2024-style/
Now I will share some of the discoveries made from the SS-5 documents and how these discoveries have inspired further research and generated key understanding.
1. Sam Devorkin, the brother of my great grandfather Harris Dvorkin or Dworkin
The information for this SS-5 order came from the US Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 available on Ancestry US, Ancestry Worldwide or Ancestry Library edition.
The SS-5 had much more information on it compared to the index:
Firstly, Sam Devorkin’s mother’s name was Dora Abramovich – we already knew that Sam’s father was Joseph from his tombstone, Harris Dvorkin’s tombstone and quite a few other records.
Secondly, he was from Brestovich. Previously, it was thought that he was from Brest-Litovsk as stated on other documents such as Sam’s marriage record, which stated “Berestow”, or brother Harris’s UK Alien Registration card which stated Brest-Litovsk.
After discussing this with experts in the Belarusian archives, it was concluded that I should be looking in Vialikaja Bierastavica (Greater Bierastavica) – a mere two and a half hour drive away – and not Brest-Litovsk, thus invalidating the titles of my articles in Shemot (journal of JGSGB) on “The Dvorkins of Brest-Litovsk”, parts 1 and 2.
Further evidence was obtained from the 1921 UK Census, which stated Harris’s birthplace as Barstervitz.
Despite spending hundreds of pounds/dollars with Belarusian archives on the search for records in Brest-Litovsk without obtaining a single record, searches in the Grodno archives for Dvorkins in Vialikaja Bierastavica are now bearing fruit.
2. Isidor Berkowitz, the brother of my great grandfather Harris Bercovitch or Berkowicz
The information for this SS-5 order came from the US Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 available on Ancestry US, Ancestry Worldwide or Ancestry Library edition.
While the information on this SS-5 matches most of what was already known for Isidor, that is, that his parents were Sam Berkowitz and Shosha (or Sura) Gayer/Gaier, this was the first time she had been documented as being Sophie. Sophia or Sylvia yes, Sophie never before. While it may seem an obvious variant, when entering “Sophie Berkowitz” into Ancestry and FamilySearch, the following two indexes were found:
This yielded Sophie’s death certificate which had eluded me for a number of years, and also the location of Sophie’s burial at Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York.
I jumped on a plane immediately and visited this cemetery, finally to meet my great great grandmother Shosha/Sophie.
After an extensive search she was eventually located in an unmarked grave between Sylvia Arons and John Pizer. While some may have been disappointed with this result, it does say something about the financial situation of her four children living in America at the time of her death in 1929 at the time of the great depression. Also, it gives me a new project to complete to erect a tombstone for the only great great grandparent whose picture I have.
3. Louis H Berkwitt, the brother of my great grandfather Harris Bercovitch or Berkowicz
The information for this SS-5 order came from the US Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 available on Ancestry US, Ancestry Worldwide or Ancestry Library edition.
What was most interesting about this record was that Louis had forgotten his own mother’s name! At least he remembered his birth place of Warsaw, Poland. In the above record for Isidor he stated “Russia” whereas other evidence proves that he was also born in Warsaw, like his brother Louis.
Max Berkowitz, the brother of my great grandfather Harris Bercovitch or Berkowicz
The information for this SS-5 order came from the US Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 available on Ancestry US, Ancestry Worldwide or Ancestry Library edition.
What is quite interesting is the completeness of the data in the index, which includes most of the key genealogical information written on the SS-5.
That being said, I still wanted to check that the record had been transcribed accurately (it was), so ordered the SS-5 anyway.
As most of the information was in the index, the real value of ordering this record was in seeing the original signature for Max and also the address information for Max’s home on 142 Blake Ave and Max’s store at 139 Blake Ave, in Brooklyn, New York.
5. Samuel Stein, husband of Goldie Berkowitz, the sister of my great grandfather Harris Bercovitch or Berkowicz
The information for this SS-5 order came from the California, US Death Index 1940-1997 as it was not found in the US Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, both available on Ancestry US, Ancestry Worldwide or Ancestry Library edition.
The “Levine” maiden name was completely new to me and will now be researched further, both in US records but more importantly in Polish records on jri-poland and JewishGen, possibly on FamilySearch and the Polish State Archives website too.
In conclusion, there is unique genealogical data on these SS-5 records which makes them essential to order.
At the time of writing (June 2024) Leigh Dworkin is the current Chairman of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain (JGSGB). He has been researching his mainly Polish family for the last thirty years, but also tries to research into Lithuania and Belarus, from where his surname originates. He regularly presents at JGSGB Regional Groups, Special Interest Groups and conferences. He is also Chairman of the Windsor, Slough and Maidenhead Branch of Berkshire Family History Society.
References
[i] Jewish Genealogical Society of Long Island (JGSLI)
[ii] The JGSLI video on SS-5 applications is found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt-4pZL8GJE
[iii] Nolan Altman was the recipient of the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement award in 2021, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTQXfxfGEac
[iv] https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2024/01/30/ordering-the-ss-5-2024-style/
