Searching Social Security Applications & Claims Index

Enjoying searching through a new database at Ancestry.com, U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 and finding additional clues about members of my family.  Though this is just an index, you can find a lot of clues about your ancestors, including married names of those females members of the family.  This database goes beyond the SSDI and looks at the applications and name changes over the years.

An example of the type of information that you will find is this snippet on my paternal great-granduncle.

Name:	Elvin Cooper Lemaster [Elvin C Lemaster]
SSN:	317036832
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birth Date:	9 Jul 1912
Birth Place:	Salamonia Ja, Indiana
Father Name:	Luman C Lemaster
Mother Name:	Barbara I Wehrly
Death Date:	16 May 2000
Type of Claim:	Original SSN.
Notes:	Apr 1937: Name listed as ELVIN COOPER LEMASTER; 24 May 2000: Name listed as ELVIN C LEMASTER

From this detail, I have his birth date and place as he filled out the Social Security application, as well as the name of his parents.  The notes section is the most interesting - the date of April 1937 would have been when he applied for his SSN, and the notes also show how at his death there was a name variation in their records.  

This database is too new to suggest hints yet, so I'm searching by surname and location.  In this instance, a search for Lemaster in Jay County, Indiana is giving me hints to any Lemaster who applied from there or listed it as a place on the applciation, and in some cases I've been able to find clues to married names for some of the female members of the family.

The searching is getting quite addictive, and I've been able to add several individuals and birth/death information to my database.

Surname Saturday : Cantell

The CANTELL surname is in my maternal line.  The origins of the surname are unknown, and I have very little information on the family.

Stories and history:

Ahnentafel # 221 : Martha Cantell (bef1775-aft1820).  Mary was born before 1775.  She was married after 1800 to James Alderman (bef1775-bet1850-54).  James was born before 1775, probably in Virginia.  They had at least 8 children, born in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.  James died between 1850 and 1854 in Greenville, Bond County, Illinois.  Martha's date of death is unknown.

Cousin Bait : King

One of the best reasons to use a blog as "cousin bait" is that search engines such as Google will allow other researchers to find your old posts and reach out to you.

I received an anonymous comment to my 2011 blog post on the King Schoolhouse and I've reached out hoping that this relative will have more on the King line.

This individual says they have more recent pictures of the schoolhouse.  I would love to see what it looked like and learn more about how it ties in with my family.