These are some of the various forms that I used to obtain my info...

Cleveland City Directory

City directories can by very useful when you have a surname, just like using a phone book.  The main difference is that city directories don't have phone numbers but they will tell you if they are renters and their occupations, also widows are noticed as such along with their husband's first name.  Very useful for genealogists.

These are sample pages of Cleveland's city directory, it really looks a lot like today's phone book with tons of ads and names, yet with so much more.  These particular pages are from the 1919-1920 book. 

The way to research directories at least where I found these was at a Genealogy library in San Bruno, CA (called Sutro library)  You have to find the roll of microfilm for the letter and city you are looking for then wind through the tape until you find the name.  Then you have to print out the page (sometimes on a different machine, what a pain).  Then for the next year you have to start all over again.  It might explain many  things if I knew how this information was collected. (note: "r" stands for renter, I don't know what "rr" stands for.)

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SS5 form (Social Security)

This is one of the first tools I learned to use for research.  Once a person dies their social security number is released to the public on the social security death index.  This is sold yearly from various places and also can be found on the Internet.  Once you have a social security number you can ask for the SS5 form. 

The SS5 is the form that a person fills out in order to receive a SS# and claim benefits.  When this person dies a small sum of money is paid to the survivor in order to bury the person (guess that is the idea, anyway).  If there is no-one to claim this money then I don't think they will appear on the death index. 

Once you have requested the SS5 form you will be able to obtain date of birth, death date, parents names, birthplaces, address, employer and in some cases you will be able to request any additional info that was supplied to prove death, and citizenship. 

This is the SS5 form for Frank Gerbic of Cleveland, OH.  As you can see there is many points that are interesting to have, I really like seeing the signature. 

I have tried on many occasions to locate the SS5 for my father's aunt.  I have several women about the right age and living in the right area, with the right name.  The death index gives you these items and the SS# so you can order the form.  It costs $12 to get the form, and it takes 6-8 weeks to process the order.  I'm not rich so I had to order one woman then wait till it came back then order the next woman until I found the right one.  This can take forever when you are waiting for something so important.  In my case I never did find this aunts SS5, but if I had I would have been able to get the correct spelling of my grandmother's last name and most importantly I would have known my great-grandparents names. 

My teacher taught us that sometimes you run up against a brick wall with the person you are trying to find, this is true for my grandmother.  My teacher said that when this happens you should try to go around the wall by going through another person closely related to the person you are having difficulty with.  In my case looking for my grandmother's sister made sense.  If only I could find more about her. 

Anyway, my point is, these forms can lead to basic information that will help you pinpoint dates and names to further you along. 

This is a wonderful discussion about using the social security form for genealogy use. 

I found this site by Diana Smith   http://members.aol.com/dianahome/column3.htm