I have order several SS-5 applications and found them to be tremendously helpful. Yes, there is a link at most ancestry or family history web site that will allow you to do a search and also producing a letter for requesting the SS-5 card. Once you find it on-line, it will provide you with the follow information prior to making a request: Name, Born, Died, Residence, Last Benefit, SSN Issued So, usually looking at the residence or place of death, you know exactly the one on the list that you want to request a SS-5 card for. I am in the process of writing a Foresythe Family History Book and below is a section taken from that book that I have written on this subject: Social Security Death Index (SSDI): The Social Security Death Index File is maintained by the government and the SS-5 application form is available upon request for a fee. Social Security was begun in 1937, with some payments being paid as early as 1940. The computerize index file for death benefits paid out started in 1962. It is important to remember that deaths prior to the year 1962 will not be available on the Internet computer files. Also, prior to the 1960s most farmers, housewives and government employees usually did not have a social security number. To use this service you can either use a special form or write a letter requesting a copy of the SS-5, Application for Social Security Card. A copy of the SS-5 application provides the full name of the individual at the time he requested a Social Security Number. The SS-5 form also includes the name of the parents and the birth date of the individual. Additional records from this department can provide the date of death, last known residence, Social Security number and the state and date the Social Security card was issued. The Social Security file also includes the location the last benefit was issued. The nine-digit SSN is composed of three parts: The first set of three digits is called the Area Number. The second set of two digits is called the Group Number. The final set of four digits is the Serial Number. Up to 1972, you could tell by the first three digits of the social security number the state that it was issued from. For example, the following are a few of the states and their social security 3-digit codes: Arkansas: 429-432, Arizona: 526-527, California: 545-573, Illinois: 318-361, Michigan: 362-386, Missouri: 486-500 and Tennessee: 408-415. After 1972 all Social Security department records were put on a centralize computer system and all requests for SS-5 cards went to the central office in Baltimore, Maryland. The SSN number is now assigned with the area number (first three digits) based on the ZIP code in the mailing address provided on the application for the Social Security card. It is also important to remember that the social security number does not indicate where you were born or lived as a child, just the state that you were living in when you applied for your social security number. Hope this helps, Dale Foresythe Acton, Massachusetts via Greene County, AR dale4sythe@mindspring.com -----Original Message----- From: R & D Walker [mailto:rdwalker@grnco.net] Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2000 8:56 PM To: ARGREENE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: S.S. Death Index You can send off for the SS-5, which is the file containing the claimant's application for benefits. I am told that these files contain a lot of personal information helpful to genealogists. I have not yet sent for an SS-5, but, I believe, there is a link on the SSDI directing you to a site giving information about how to order the file. Debra rdwalker@grnco.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Robert & Renita Collier <robren@swbell.net> To: <ARGREENE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2000 7:10 PM Subject: S.S. Death Index > This may sound stupid, but I found several names listed in the SSDI for > my William Ford and I would like to know how to find out if one of them > is the William I am searching for? Can anyone tell me what I should do > first? Thanks.