Gregory Peck in the Social Security Death Index and his SS-5 Form

In 2003 when I first heard that Gregory Peck had died, my reaction was, oh no, we've lost Atticus Finch. Harper Lee may have created the Atticus Finch character in her beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, but Gregory Peck made him real in the equally beloved film version. It seemed as though he wasn't playing a role at all, but putting his own sincerity and feelings about racial inequality onto the screen. So when he died it wasn't that we had lost a great and popular actor. It felt like we had lost America's kind and noble grandfather. He was one of those rare Hollywood celebrities who you seemed to know and respect even if you had never met him.

Here is Gregory Peck's listing in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI):

GREGORY PECK
Birth: 05 Apr 1916
Death: 12 Jun 2003 (V)
Last Residence: 90077 (Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA)
Last Benefit: (none specified)
Social Security Number: 547-16-9811
Issued: California

Using the information from an SSDI listing, a copy of the person's SS-5 form can be obtained from the Social Security Administration for a fee. The SS-5 is the form a person filled out when they applied for a Social Security Card. Here's a copy of Gregory Peck's SS-5 (click on it to see a larger view).



As you can see it gives all sorts of information about the person that can be useful for further genealogy research. The SS-5 for Gregory Peck shows his full name (Eldred Gregory Peck), his date and place of birth (April 5, 1916 in San Diego, California), and the full names of his parents (Gregory Pearl Peck and Bernice Mae Ayres). Note that the maiden name of his mother is given. (There are restrictions regarding the release of the parents' names -- see the link below.) This SS-5 also shows the name and location of his employer, and his address in San Diego when he applied for his Social Security Card in 1937, which is about 6 years before he made his first film.

While putting this article together I asked my mother what her favorite Gregory Peck movies were. Here is her list: Keys of the Kingdom (1944, his second film), Duel in the Sun (1946), Gentleman's Agreement (1947), Twelve O'Clock High (1949), Roman Holiday (1953, with the great Audrey Hepburn, who became a lifelong friend), and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). During his film career he received five best actor Academy Award nominations, and won the Oscar just once. That was for To Kill a Mockingbird. I think it's fitting that he will likely be remembered for the role of Atticus Finch. Gregory Peck may have died in 2003, but thanks to him and Harper Lee, Atticus Finch will live on in the film and novel.

Helpful Links
Social Security Death Index - Online Searching

How to order a copy of the Application for a Social Security Card (Form SS-5) of a deceased person Note the restrictions given there regarding proof of death and the release of parents' names.

Bob Marley in the Florida Death Index and a Look at His Roots

"When the root is strong, the fruit is sweet." -Katherine "YaYa" Malcolm (?-1956), Bob Marley's great grandmother

Acclaimed reggae musician Bob Marley can be found listed in Ancestry's online Florida death index - see: Online Florida Death Records Indexes and Obituaries. I've always found it a bit intriguing that a reggae legend, who lived most of his life in Jamaica and England, would be listed in an American genealogy database. Shortly before his death Bob Marley received treatment for cancer in Munich, but he wanted to live his final days in Jamaica. His flight home stopped in Miami where he received medical treatment. He died 40 hours after leaving Germany in Miami's Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. Here's the Florida death index listing...

Name: Robert Nosta Marley
Death Date: 11 May 1981
County of Death: Dade
Age at Death: 36
Race: Black
Birth Date: 6 Feb 1945

The middle name given in the death index contains a typo. The name should actually be Nesta - that's what Bob Marley was called as a child. The name Nesta, perhaps prophetically, means "messenger." Robert Nesta Marley was born in Nine Miles, St. Ann Parish, Jamaica on 6 February 1945, while the world was at war. His mother, Cedella Malcolm (now Booker), is descended from Jamaican slaves. She currently lives in Florida and turned 80 this year. Bob's Anglo-Jamaican father, "Captain" Norval Sinclair Marley (1881-1955), had little contact with his son. Norval and Cedella were married in 1944 when he was 63 and she was 18. Bob was their only child.

In the Time Will Tell video biography Bob was asked if he had prejudice against white people. His response: "I don't have prejudice against myself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white."

Roots, Rock, Reggae
Bob's paternal grandparents were Robert Marley (1851-1885) and Ellen Bloomfield (1854-1952). His maternal grandparents were Omeriah Malcolm (c. 1880s-1964) and Alberta Willoughby (?-1935). Omeriah was a farmer, a "bush doctor," and one of the most respected residents of Nine Miles. According to Timothy White's book, Catch a Fire, Omeriah's father, Robert "Uncle Day" Malcolm, "was descended from the Cromanty slaves shipped to Jamaica from the Gold Coast (of Africa) in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries." Slavery was abolished in Jamaica in 1838.

Bob's mother moved from Jamaica to Wilmington, Delaware in 1962. Bob lived with her for part of 1966 and visited a few other times, doing odd jobs including one as a lab assistant for DuPont. He worked hard so he could save enough money to start his own record company. Before going to Delaware Bob had recorded solo and with his fellow Wailers, Bunny Livingston and Peter Tosh. He had also married Cuban born singer Alpharita "Rita" Anderson (b. 1946). When he returned to Jamaica he continued to pursue his musical career. Following a prolific series of Jamaican recordings and hits, the Wailers signed with Island records in 1972 and gained an international audience. Bob's landmark 1977 album Exodus was voted "album of the century" by Time Magazine in 1999.

"Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom..."
In September, 1980 I visited New York City for the first time. I stayed at the Essex House Hotel at the southern end of Central Park. Bob Marley and the Wailers were staying at the same hotel. They were in town for a series of concerts with the Commodores at Madison Square Garden. I saw Bob and his entourage in the lobby one afternoon. Of course they looked a little different than the other hotel guests. Of course they all stood out. But Bob had a presence the others lacked. He was wearing a Rasta tam (knitted cap) over his dreadlocks. He was ill at this time, but I didn't know that then. His vibration, maybe dimmed by illness, still filled that lobby. Just standing in his presence you could feel it. He died less than eight months later. But his vibrations can still be felt in the music and spiritual philosophy he left behind.

Sources
Book: Catch a Fire - The Life of Bob Marley by Timothy White

Book: Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley by Christopher John Farley

A family tree for Bob's father, Norval Marley, can be found online at: Norval Sinclair Marley Family Tree Chart

Maria von Trapp in the Social Security Death Index

Maria von Trapp, Austrian-born matriarch of the famous singing von Trapp family of Sound of Music fame, passed away in Vermont in 1987, and she can be found listed in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) ...

Name: MARIA TRAPP
Birth: 26 Jan 1905
Death: Apr 1987
Last Residence: 05672 (Stowe, Lamoille, VT)
Last Benefit: (none specified)
Social Security Number: 009-32-2317
Issued: Vermont

Note that her surname lacks the "von" part and her death date is given as April 1987 without a specific day. Maria actually died on 28 March 1987 as can be seen in this listing from Ancestry's Vermont Death Index -- See: Vermont Death Indexes and Records ...

Name: Maria Augusta Von Tropp
Gender: Female
Death Date: 28 Mar 1987
Birth Location: Austria
Place of Death: Inpatient
Death Location: Morristown, Lamoille

You can view Maria von Trapp's death certificate online here from FamilySearch (requires free registration)

A typed index card of her husband's death record can be viewed here: Captain George von Trapp's death record from FamilySearch (requires free registration); Be sure to view the next image to see the back of the card.

While Maria died in a hopsital in Morristown, her death certificate shows her residence as Stowe, VT. Her usual occupation is given as "author" and her business or industry as "entertainment." The informant (person who supplied the information) was her son, Johannes von Trapp. Note the spelling of her surname in the index - Von Tropp) - it does look like Tropp, rather than Trapp, on the hand written death certificate.

When using the SSDI if you come upon a month and year only for the death date you can usually get the correct date from other sources such as the person's death certificate. Try the online death records directory for some online indexes and sources.

Also, when searching for surnames that contain more than one word you might try different variations like... Trapp, Vontrapp or von Trapp.

Maria von Trapp is buried in the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, along with her husband, Georg Ritter von Trapp, who died on 30 May 1947, and Hedwig von Trapp (1917–1972), daughter of Georg and his first wife, Agathe. (The photo at left: Maria von Trapp, 1944.)

Georg and Agathe (Whitehead) von Trapp had seven children, all born in Austria: Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina. Agathe von Trapp died in 1922 of scarlet fever. Georg and Maria (Kutschera) von Trapp, who married in 1927, had three children: Rosmarie, Eleonore, and Johannes. The first two were born in Austria. Johannes was born in Philadelphia while the von Trapps were visiting Pennsylvania on a singing tour. The family later settled in the United States.

Sound of Music Fun
In the Sound of Music movie, the real Maria von Trapp, along with one of her daughters and a granddaughter, did a "walk-on" and can be seen briefly in the "I Have Confidence" segment behind Julie Andrews.

More von Trapp Genealogy
For more information on genealogy records related to the von Trapp family see: Immigration Records for the Singing von Trapp Family

This article was updated on 18 April 2023.

Paul McCartney at 64 - Liverpool and Irish Roots

"When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now..."

Beloved former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, is having a birthday today. He was born James Paul McCartney on June 18, 1942 in Liverpool, England.

Liverpool is one of Europe's most prominent ports. In the 19th Century millions of immigrants left from Liverpool to live in North America and other places. I personally have ancestors who left from Liverpool and arrived in Philadelphia in July, 1880. Liverpool is also where many Irish emigrants came after sailing across the Irish sea to England. John Lennon and Paul McCartney are both of Irish Liverpool stock.

In 1967 the Beatles recorded a little song called "When I'm Sixty-Four," which was written by Lennon & McCartney, but it's mostly Paul's composition. He actually based it on a melody he wrote back in Liverpool when he was sixteen. Now the maestro has made it to the magical age of his Sgt. Pepper song. Being age sixty-four must have seemed very far away in the Summer of Love.

"When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be."

Paul's parents were James McCartney and Mary Patricia Mohin. Both are of Irish descent (Paul's maternal grandfather was born in Ireland). Paul's mother died when he was fourteen and Paul found solace in music, fueled by a newly acquired acoustic guitar. Paul wrote the song "Let it Be" in 1968 after having a dream about his mother.

"I read the news today, oh boy..."

Paul McCartney has been in the news quite a bit lately with all sorts of fuss being made over his separation from his second wife. But to me that's his personal family issue and really none of my business. I hope he sorts it all out and fares well. He has brought much inspiration and joy to many people.

"Birthday greetings, bottle of wine..."

"Of course, when [Beatles producer] George Martin was sixty-four I had to send him a bottle of wine." -Paul McCartney

Happy birthday, Sir Paul. May you live to be 164. And even if you don't make it quite that far, 100 years from now they'll still be talking about you and those other three lads from Liverpool. Cheers...

References and more information...
Paul McCartney - Many Years From Now by Barry Miles (book)

Irish Genealogy Guides and Resources

Finding Ship Passenger Lists 1820-1940s - Arrivals at US Ports from Europe

Immigration Records for the Singing von Trapp Family

"How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?"

Over on the National Archives website you can find some reproductions of immigration records relating to Austria's famous von Trapp family who inspired the musical, the Sound of Music.

The photograph at left is of Maria von Trapp, the matriarch of the singing family, taken from her "declaration of intention" to become a citizen in 1944. She was played by Julie Andrews in the beloved film. You can find more von Trapp family photographs, along with naturalization records and passenger lists at... Movie vs. Reality: The Real Story of the Von Trapp Family

For more von Trapp family genealogy see: Maria von Trapp in the Social Security Death Index

For help finding immigration records for your ancestors see...
Finding Passenger Lists 1820-1940s (for arrivals at U.S. Ports)

Finding U.S. Naturalization Records

And if you don't know what a "declaration of intention" is click on over to... Types of U.S. Naturalization Records