Breakthrough on a Monday ~ Yes, No or Maybe?

Yes! What a way to start a Monday! Today I spent some time looking through a new database, U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 on Ancestry.com. I found my paternal step-grandfather, Glenn L. Hammond. There was much more information for him than others I have been looking up today.

This index provided me with an accurate birth date and year, the place where he was born, the names of his parents, date and place of death, his social security number and under notes were listed alternate name variations for him. I have been wondering what had happened to him for many years now. The last time I had seen him would have been in March of 1974 about three months after my grandmother, Peggy Rich Hammond died. 

The picture of above is the record I found, I took the picture so that you can see what I am talking about. I have blocked the social security number for privacy reasons. As you can can see I found a wealth of information on this record. Here is what I already knew (1) he was born in Saline County, Illinois, (2) his father was Walter L. Hammond and his wife's name was Emma M (no maiden) and I knew from census records that he had siblings and (3) I knew from conversations with his daughter that he possibly died in Alabama, but she wasn't sure at the time we exchanged emails many years ago.

This record now gives enough information to order his death certificate from Alabama and hopefully I can also get his birth certificate from Illinois. I already have the marriage certificate between Glenn and Peggy. It also gives me the opportunity to now search for his maternal lines.

While I still have more research to do on his family and I know I may order his records from the Social Security Administration to see if he remarried after the death of Peggy, if so perhaps she is still alive and can tell me how he spent the last years of his life. 

Sources: 

U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, database and image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : 17 August 2015) citing Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007