Social Security Death Benefits in the 1930s

To be honest, I never gave it much thought. The probate settlement of John J. Trautvetter mentions a receipt for $22.06 for "Social Securities compensation." This appears to have been paid out to his mother, based on the fact that it was the same amount, $22.06, where it was listed as "Social Security benefits."

I'm not certain there would be any real records related to John. This is one of the few estates I have during the early 1930s where the deceased was someone who would have paid into Social Security and would have had a mother (no children) as an heir. John was working for a trucking company in Quincy, Illinois, at the time of his death in 1937. 

I am not certain just how much information there would be in these records or how helpful they would be in this case. We'll post an update if warranted.