User:RaymondRS/Sandbox

Suggested information to add to the FamilySearch NUMIDENT collection wiki article:

Merged Entries
This record collection is taken from a National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) database titled "Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), created, 1936 - 2007." The NARA database consists of three different types of record entries:


 * 72,182,729 application record entries
 * 25,230,486 claim record entries
 * 49,459,293 death record entries

A person often has multiple entries in the NARA database. Utilizing the social security number, FamilySearch merged multiple entries into one, resulting in 63,700,494 records. The name note specifies, for each of the combined entries, the entry type, the name as it appears in that entry, and the date. While the date for death and claim entries specifies the death or claim date, respectively, dates for applications specify when the entry was added to the NUMIDENT database. Take for example, this name note:


 * Name and form dates: Application: DOROTHY ADELE CLAYTON (Aug 1949), Application: DOROTHY CLAYTON RAYMOND (Nov 1955), Application: DOROTHY ADELE CLAYTON (15 Aug 1990), Death: DOROTHY A CLAYTON (29 Feb 2004)

The note indicates the record on FamilySearch is a combination of these four entries from NARA:

Names
FamilySearch created a name alias for each name variant as well as an implied maiden name when a woman's last name was different from the father's last name. In the Dorothy Adele Clayton example, because the father's name is Anthony Jackson, FamilySearch created an additional alias, "Dorothy Adele Jackson." Searching will find the record using the name or any of the aliases.

Sometimes the signature on an application differed from the applicant's name. Percy V Hill signed the application for Edith Raymond Hill (1882-). When the signature name is different than the number holder's, FamilySearch created an additional person with that name, but no alias. This is true even when the signatory may have been the number holder: The signature on the application of Vera Mae Raymond (1897-) was "Mae Raymond."

Consult the Original
After finding a record of interest, consult the entries in the NARA database for further information. While the FamilySearch record collection is easier to search, the NARA database contains additional information. Take the Dorothy Adele Clayton record as an example. The parents' names in the 1949 entry are Jackson and Margaret Burgese, but the 1990 entry specifies Anton Yukunsky and Margaret Pachesa. The latter values are not found in the FamilySearch record. The 1990 entry states that Dorothy was also known as Dorothy Yukunsky.

All the NARA entries specify the social security number.

Once one record entry is found on the NARA website, use the social security number to find the other entries.

Consider ordering the original copy of the SS-5 application form. The research wiki contains information about this process.

Field Notes
A few records include a birth certificate number. The field is labeled "Certificate Number." See a Connecticut example and a Georgia example.

The NARA database limits the length of some fields. If NARA truncated a field, FamilySearch indicates that with an asterisk (*). Examples:


 * The record for Ethel Christine Pappageorgeackoupoulos (1917-1987) specifies "Pappageorgeackoupoul*" as her last name.
 * The record for Dayson Thomas Child (1993-2003) specifies "Washington T*, Utah, United States" as his birthplace. This is probably "Washington Terrace."

For technical information about NUMIDENT, consult the nine technical documents documenting the NARA database and the SSA Program Data User’s Manual by Constantijn Panis, et. al.