Here’s an introduction that will make you scratch your head. The first Social Security Number (SSN) issued was not the lowest number, and the lowest number was not the first SSN. And the SSN came after the SSA – the Social Security Act.
We all possess a Social Security Card (SSC) although we can’t remember the last time we pulled it out. And we might have even forgotten where we put it. Maybe this devotional will be a little nudge to help you go look for it.
The history of the SSN and SSC all began on August 14, 1935 when President Franklin Roosevelt signed the SSA into law. “In his public statement that day, FDR expressed concern for “young people [who] have come to wonder what would be their lot when they came to old age” as well as those who had employment but no job security. Although he acknowledged that “we can never insure one hundred percent of the population against one hundred percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life,” he hoped the act would prevent senior citizens from ending up impoverished.”1
The ravages of The Great Depression were still being experienced, though the Depression began in October 1929. Many plans were put into place to help ensure that another Depression wouldn’t overtake the citizens of our country. Social Security Numbers wouldn’t be issued until the following year.
“On December 1, 1936 the first block of 1,000 records were assembled and were ready to start their way through the nine-step process that would result in the creation of a permanent master record and the establishment of an earnings record for the individual. When this first stack was ready, Joe Fay, head of the Division of Accounting Operations in the Candler Building, walked over to the stack, pulled off the top record, and declared it to be the official first Social Security record…This particular record, (055-09-0001) belonged to John D. Sweeney, Jr., age 23, of New Rochelle, New York. The next day, newspapers around the country announced that Sweeney had been issued the first SSN.”2
So, who actually received the card stamped with the lowest number, 001-01-0001? “Social Security Board Chairman John G. Winant (Winant was the former three-time Governor of New Hampshire)” was offered this card. “Chairman Winant declined to have the SSN registered to him. Then it was offered to the Federal Bureau of Old Age Benefits’ Regional Representative of the Boston Region, John Campbell, who likewise declined. It was finally decided not to offer this SSN as a token of esteem but instead to issue it to the first applicant from New Hampshire. This proved to be Grace D. Owen of Concord, New Hampshire, who applied for her number on November 24, 1936 and was issued the first card typed in Concord, which, because of the area number scheme, also happened to be the card with the lowest possible number.”3
There you have it – the history of the SSC, SSN, and the SSA. For those who receive their monthly Social Security Check, I’m sure you appreciate getting it even though it seems to be a paltry amount considering all of the years you worked.
Aren’t you glad that our security doesn’t rest in the hands of the federal government?
Psalms 23:1, 6 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want…(6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”
John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Ephesians 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
1 John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
The security of my salvation and my life as a whole is in the same hands as the One who gave me salvation. I did not do anything to get saved and I do nothing to stay saved. Salvation is 100% the work of the Lord.
“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/august-14/fdr-signs-social-security-act
2https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/firstcard.html
3Ibid.
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