Hello List Members, First and foremost, I am NOT an expert in this field, but hope to shed some light on this subject for you. To the list owner: My apologies that this is a bit off topic. There are not many listings in SSDI prior to 1962. Why the Social Security Administration hasn't entered many listings prior to this date is unknown. At present, Social Security has been in effect long enough, and at the rate people are passing, I've heard that it's all that they can do to keep up with the present. Going back to the inception of SSDI, in the beginning self employed persons and selected government jobs didn't take withholdings for Social Security. It's like a bank account. Deposit nothing, get nothing. And the one paying into the account, usually their own, must contribute for a given number of calendar quarters before the account becomes eligible for a claim to be filed against it. Another factor is that someone, a dependent survivor, has to file a claim against the account. Folks in retirement file on their own accounts, but still a claim must be made against the account to show up in the SSDI. And then the snafu of it all, not all SSDI releases are created equal. All of the accumulated names are "supposed" to be there, but this is not the actual case. My own father is one of those names that is sometimes there, and sometimes is missing. As of late he's been there repeatedly, but within the first three years after his passing, it was an on/off affair. In conclusion, there are other minor technicalities that can prevent an account from showing up on the SSDI, but the ones listed above are the major reasons. Hope that this clears up the mysteries. FYI, The Social Security Administration's address is: Social Security Administration Office of Earnings Operations FOIA Workgroup 300 N. Greene Street P.O. Box 33022 Baltimore, Maryland 21290 Writing for an SS-5, the Social Security Administration application, is $7.00 with a SS#, $16.00 without the number. Time frame turnaround has been between three and eight weeks to receive the SS-5 in the mail. I've *never* been disappointed by the content of an SS-5. They are a treasure from the past, complete with your person's signature, and mother's maiden name, and much, much more. Good luck to all of you with your research! Chuck Taylor Austin, TX E-mail: AusChuck@aol.com Rootsweb Supporter/List Manager: WOOLSEY-L@rootsweb.com http://hometown.aol.com/AusChuck/index.html http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/5689 http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/t/a/y/Charles--L-Taylor

Ahhhhhhhh, Good info Chuck! Regards, Robert Lipprandt ----- Original Message ----- From: <AusChuck@aol.com> To: <WICLARK-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 9:34 AM Subject: Re: [WICLARK] ? re SSDI > Hello List Members, > > First and foremost, I am NOT an expert in this field, but hope to > shed some light on this subject for you. To the list owner: My > apologies that this is a bit off topic. > > There are not many listings in SSDI prior to 1962. Why the Social > Security Administration hasn't entered many listings prior to this date > is unknown. At present, Social Security has been in effect long enough, > and at the rate people are passing, I've heard that it's all that they can do > to keep up with the present. > > Going back to the inception of SSDI, in the beginning self employed > persons and selected government jobs didn't take withholdings for > Social Security. It's like a bank account. Deposit nothing, get nothing. > And the one paying into the account, usually their own, must contribute > for a given number of calendar quarters before the account becomes > eligible for a claim to be filed against it. > > Another factor is that someone, a dependent survivor, has to file a claim > against the account. Folks in retirement file on their own accounts, > but still a claim must be made against the account to show up in the > SSDI. > > And then the snafu of it all, not all SSDI releases are created equal. > All of the accumulated names are "supposed" to be there, but this > is not the actual case. My own father is one of those names that > is sometimes there, and sometimes is missing. As of late he's > been there repeatedly, but within the first three years after his > passing, it was an on/off affair. > > In conclusion, there are other minor technicalities that can prevent > an account from showing up on the SSDI, but the ones listed above > are the major reasons. > > Hope that this clears up the mysteries. FYI, The Social Security > Administration's address is: > > Social Security Administration > Office of Earnings Operations > FOIA Workgroup > 300 N. Greene Street > P.O. Box 33022 > Baltimore, Maryland 21290 > > Writing for an SS-5, the Social Security Administration application, > is $7.00 with a SS#, $16.00 without the number. Time frame turnaround > has been between three and eight weeks to receive the SS-5 in the mail. > I've *never* been disappointed by the content of an SS-5. They are a > treasure from the past, complete with your person's signature, and mother's > maiden name, and much, much more. > > Good luck to all of you with your research! > > Chuck Taylor > Austin, TX > E-mail: AusChuck@aol.com > Rootsweb Supporter/List Manager: WOOLSEY-L@rootsweb.com > http://hometown.aol.com/AusChuck/index.html > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/5689 > http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/t/a/y/Charles--L-Taylor > > > ==== WICLARK Mailing List ==== > New Subscribers **** Please take the time to introduce yourselves > and let us know the surnames you are researching! > > ============================== > Create a FREE family website at MyFamily.com! > http://www.myfamily.com/banner.asp?ID=RWLIST2 > >