Railroad Retirement Benefits, Privatized Information, Beyond Ellis Island
Rhonda's Tips, March 21, 2002
Railroad Retirement Benefits
Q: I worked for the Pennsylvania railroad as a fireman in Akron, Ohio in the 1950s. I would like to apply for my railroad retirement but I have not been able to find anyone who can tell me how to do this. -- Lester
A: The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board is found in Chicago, Illinois. However, they have field offices around the country. The easiest way to find your local district office is to put your zip code in at the RRB District Office Lookup .
You will want to take a look at the Railroad Retirement Board Web site for additional information. They have some information about the proof you'll need in order to qualify for benefits.
Privatized Information
Q: We have found a name we think may be our relative, but it says private. How can we find further information or let her know that we are looking for her? -- Lauren
A: To protect the privacy of living individuals, Family Tree Maker and many of the currently available genealogy programs will privatize or hide information on living individuals. As you have discovered, many compiled databases include the names of the living, but list their vital information as LIVING or PRIVATE.
One way to find more information would be to determine who the submitter of the information was by contacting the person who compiled or published the information.
Usually fellow researchers are happy to collaborate but I think it is important to mention that some people are unwilling to share information on living individuals. If they are in contact with the living individual in question, they may pass along your contact information. I suggest that you encourage that in your contact letter.
Beyond Ellis Island
Q: My maternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Hungary: Anna and Martin Silling. I have found records through the Ellis Island database showing my great-grandmother Anna, with my grandmother as an infant, arriving at Ellis Island in 1913. The ship manifest shows they were going to live with my great-grandfather who already had an address in Detroit, so obviously he came to America before my great-grandmother. Since there is no Ellis Island record on Martin, is there another immigration source I can check? I would like to find records of Anna and Martin's parents. Any advice how to go about finding birth and marriage records in Hungary? -- RAndrews
A: The page of the passenger list that lists Anna actually gives you another clue, though you may have been unaware of its importance. Above Anna's occupation as a wife, you will find written in a different handwriting a cryptic number followed by a date: 8-276804 2/10/43.
The cryptic number tells you that Anna was somewhere in the midst of the naturalization process. Verifications of facts submitted on the naturalization application forms would be checked. When a check was made, a number made up of the naturalization district number (the first number) and the application or Certificate of Arrival number (the second number), was written in the occupation column above the person in question followed by the date. This number tells you that you should contact the Immigration and Naturalization Service to request a copy of Anna's naturalization records.
As for Martin, it is entirely possible he came through the Port of New York and that his name was recorded wrong in the index. The problem with some of these online indexes is coming up with an alternative. When the name is not found, the Ellis Island site will offer you some alternatives which you may want to try. However, I think I would encourage you to locate the family in the 1920 census and see when Martin came over. This would give you something to work with.
If you still can't find him in the online index, which I mention only because of the age of the two children, then you will want to turn your attention to the microfilmed index, Soundex actually, to see if Martin appears in that for New York. If not, then begin to branch out to the other eastern ports.
In regard to birth and marriage records in Hungary, you will need to know the town of birth of the individuals in question. Vital records are available from 1895, so that means that Anna's and Martin's children who appear on the passenger list might be available in the vital records. You would need to write to the Civil Registration Office, (Town), Hungary. Prior to 1895 you will need to turn your attention to church records. It is possible that some of these may be available on microfilm through the Family History Library, again on the town level.
Rhonda R. McClure is a professional genealogist specializing in celebrity trees and computerized genealogy. She has been involved in online genealogy for fifteen years. She is an award-winning author of several genealogy how-to books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy, The Genealogist's Computer Companion, and Finding Your Famous and Infamous Ancestors. She may be contacted at [email protected].
See more advice from Rhonda in her columns Expert Tips, Tigs and Trees, and Overheard in the Message Boards.