11 May 2023, by Sherri Mastrangelo
From 1963 through 1971, the Social Security Administration published several volumes of “America’s Centenarians: Reports of Interviews with Social Security Beneficiaries Who Have Lived to 100”. Interviews were conducted across the country, over a few years, by the staff of various social security district offices whom followed a series of 22 prompts. Questions such as “What is the earliest thing you remember?”, “What was the most exciting event in your own life?”, and “Do you have any ambition you have not yet realized?” can give great context to your ancestor’s life. Others were more based on the SSA, including “What kind of work did you do to earn your social security credits?” and “What do your social security checks mean in your life today?”. And then there are questions of great genealogical importance, such as “Where were you born?”, “Did you have any children? How many? Where are they now?”, and “How many grandchildren and great grandchildren do you have? Any great great grandchildren?”
An excerpt quoted from Volume 1 of “America’s Centenarians” by the Social Security Administration
If you’re ancestor was included within these volumes, consider yourself lucky! Even if you don’t have ancestors within the volumes, I suggest reading the series to learn about our shared history.
Mr. William C. Beckett, born the 10th of September 1861, recalled “viewing Abraham Lincoln’s funeral entourage pass by railroad through Pittsburgh. The casket was on view in the baggage car and was guarded on either side by an attendant…He also added, “there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd so I cried too.”
Mr. Henry Allen, born the 4th of October, 1862, recalled that “in those days we only went to school two months of the year, January and February — the rest of the year we had to work and so did all the other children…” He also lamented that “I think $1.75 is too high for a haircut, because I used to be able to get both a shave and a haircut for 25 cents.”
Mr. Henry Bean was born about 1855, into slavery. They shared of his wedding ceremony where he was “joining hands with each [girl] and jumping over a broom held outright about a foot off the ground by his white master. This act constituted marriage for the slaves…They usually married a girl picked out by their owner. He couldn’t remember how many times he had been married but insisted that it was quite a few…and claims to have fathered more than 40 children”.
The earliest thing Mr. David C. Austin (born the 18th of August, 1861) remembered was “watching the parades when the soldiers came home from the Civil War. This was the most exciting. I saved uniform buttons. In fact, all the young boys did this. We made a game of it to see who could collect the most buttons.”
Mrs Annie V. Cunningham, born the 27th of September 1861, “was active in the fight for female suffrage and participated in the first Presidential campaign she could - when Woodrow Wilson was elected. She marched in a suffragette parade in Washington, D.C. at that time (much to her husband’s disgust).”
View the entire collection online in the: SSA Library Digital Documents Collection. Find an index of the names of those interviewed in Volume 1 below.
America’s Centenarians, Vol. 1
Access here: online link at the SSA or alternate link at FamilySearch
Names of those Interviewed (in the order they appear in the Volume)
Isaac Abrahamian (b. 18 December 1863)
Will Adams (b. 20 August 1850)
Ernesto Aguiar (b. 26 February, 1862)
Yer Sun Ahn (b. 15 October 1860)
Albert R. Alexander (b. 8 November, 1859)
Esteban Nieves Alicea (b. 1 July 1863)
Anna B. Allen (b. 19 November 1860)
Henry Allen. (b. 4 October, 1862. d. 17 August, 1962)
John Arentsen (b. 11 July, 1862)
Joseph A. Augustaukis (b. abt 1856, d. about 1957 o5 1958)
David C. Austin (b. 18 August 1861, d. 5 August 1962)
Gregorio Duran Baez (b. 28 November 1858, d. 29 April 1960) *With picture!
Edward Bailey (b. 5 September 1862) *With picture!
Katharine Bainbridge (b. 30 June 1863)
Charles Seymour Ball (b. April 1857, d. April 1961)
Albert Barker (b. 16 May 1860, deceased)
Elizabeth J. Barton (b. 27 April, 1857) *With picture!
Florence Bashen (b. 4 October 1863)
John W. Beaird (b. 15 April 1854, d. June 1959)
Henry Bean (b. February 1855, d. November 1960)
William C. Beckett (b. 10 September, 1861, deceased).
Icik Benkowitz (b. 1855, d. 1963) With picture!
Lida Bercaw (b. 11 September, 1863)
Victor Bergwall (b. October 1858, d. 5 May 1960)
Mollie Black (b. 4 July 1862)
Ernest Blackmer (b. 5 October, 1863)
William C. Blackwell (b. 11 April 1957)
A.O. Blix (b. 23 March 1858, d. 1960) *With picture!
Lina E. Blood (b. 23 July 1860)
Charlotte Bonner (b. 26 April 1850, d. 8 September 1959) *With picture!
Nick Bonner (b. August 1854, deceased)
Joseph Borrin (b. 22 March, 1862, d. 26 March 1963)
Jackson D. Brandenburg (b. 27 January 1863)
Bishop Brantley (b. 11 May, 1860)
Alexander Brown (b. July 1859)
Andrew Brown (b. 10 May 1855, d. 18 April 1961)
Erastus A. Brown (b. 12 August 1856, d. 16 September 1956)
William Brown (b. 10 August 1861, d. 28 November 1962)
Everett B. Burlingame (b. 6 June 1862)
Isaac C. Burrell (b. 25 December 1869, d. 14 December 1962) *With picture!
Sarah A. Bute (b. 5 May 1861)
Benjamin Cain (b. 3 October, 1863)
Lawrence Carlbon (b. 20 May, 1863)
John Wesley Carr (b. 13 December 1859, d. 18 February 1960)
Julia G. Cash (b. June, 1856)
Ellen Caveney (b. 25 June, 1863) *With picture!
Placido Cepeda (b. July, 1853)
Archer Chadwick (b. 25 January, 1861)
John B. Chaney (b. 12 October, 1859)
Waldo Chase (b. 12 February, 1862) *With picture!
Caroline Clayton (b. 31 March 1860, d. 26 March 1962)
Prescott F. Cogswell (b. October 1859, d. 15 January 1961)
Richard Crouthers (b. 19 August 1861)
Mary E. Crowell (b. February 1858, d. November 1960) *With picture!
Annie V. Cunningham (b. 27 September 1861, d. 25 January 1961)
Leonard J. Curtis (b. 28 October 1862)
Jim Daniels (b. March 1856, d. 27 February 1960)
Albert P. Davis (b. February 1859, d. 6 March 1963)
Alice Davis (b. 27 September 1858)
William E. Davis (b. 24 December 1838, d. 23 December 1960) *With picture!
Mattia Decimato (b. 25 February 1862)
Martha E. Dees (b. 17 January 1863)
John DeKok (b. 11 July 1863)
Irene DeMoss (b. 10 January 1863)
David DePuy (b. 28 August 1862, d. April 1963)
Frank Dewitz (b. 26 May 1856, d. 1957)
Charles Grant Dobie (b. 19 June 1862)
William Dorn (b. 1 January 1858)
Joseph Drendel (b. 1 August 1861)
Henrietta S. Dull (b. 7 December 1863) *With picture!
Flora M. Dunham (b. January 1859, d. 1959-1960)
Elizabeth P. Dunn (b. 25 November 1860, d. 30 December 1962) *With picture!
Tatzumbie DuPea (b. 20 July 1849) *With picture!
For some of these interviews, such as Judge Albert R. Alexander and Henrietta Dull, notes say “a tape-recorded interview is available upon request”. Perhaps they are still available.