Using Social Security Number of ancestor

[Lisa in California]

Good find, Shelly.


I checked Henry Aiken's residence during 1948 (see Reply #25 of the old thread) and it is listed under "Furnished Rooms":
Owen Hotel, 50 3rd, San Francisco
https://archive.org/stream/polkscrockerlang194849dire#page/2183/mode/1up

[Lily52]

Brilliant! I finally can feel certain that my grandfather did end up in the US as I suspected, and that the 1930 census entry, death cert and grave I found are definitely his. Thank you folks!  Is it possible for you, shellyesq, to send me a copy of Harry Ashberry Aiken's SSN?  If not, can you give me his number, and I will order it as before. Now I will try and find out what he did when he was in California - and if perhaps I have relatives there!  I am the only member of my family that has any interest or knowledge about this mystery man, and I cannot wait to find out more! Thank you for re-igniting my enthusiasm!

[Lily52]

Thank you for the PM, shellyesq. I will order that application form. It seems Harry had applied for 2 SSNs, 3 years apart and both in California.  I assume that was illegal? Any idea why he would have done this? Did a man in the 1940's have to have a SSN to get divorced or remarried, as the name given for his wife on his death certificate is Jane, which was not my grandmother's name!

[shellyesq]

No, a Social Security number wouldn't have been required to get married or divorced.

Rather than him trying to do something illegal, I suspect the issue may have been that he was listed under two different names.  It looks like he originally applied as Harry Ashberry Aiken.  He may have lost his Social Security card, gone back to them, and said, "My name is Henry Aiken."  They may have found nothing because he was listed under Harry, so they made him reapply.

I had 2 Social Security numbers because of a spelling error.  A letter was left off my name on the Social Security card I was given as a baby, and my parents never fixed it.  I used that number for all my jobs since age 16.  Years later, I lost my card and got a replacement with a completely different number than I ever used.  It turns out that, when my mother had applied for benefits for me after my father passed, they couldn't find me under the misspelled name so just gave me a new number.  Social Security consolidated the two accounts under the number I had been using, and everything has been fine since.

[Lily52]

That probably explains the duplication.  Many thanks again.

[Lisa in California]

This is of no help really, but I'm mentioning it in case you can gather any leads?

In the previous post, Jardiner found a possibility for Mr. Aiken
1930 Manhattan, New York, New York Census
Ashberry Aiken, Roomer, age 45, Single, born Ireland, immigrated 1919, Writer, Publishing
Address:  West 71 Street

He was rooming in the residence of Earle W Woodward and wife Dorothy B Woodward.  According to the image, Dorothy was a Stenographer, industry: Publisher.

After a brief search, I could not find Mr. Aiken in a New York directory c1930.

[Lily52]

Thanks Lisa. That's him ok. And on his death cert he is still a writer! Not sure what he wrote though!