Ida Mae Fuller retired in 1939, after a career as a legal secretary in Ludlow, Vermont.  In February 1940, she found a check from the Social Security Administration in her mailbox.  It was check number 00-000-01, for $22.54.  She was the first Social Security beneficiary to receive a monthly check.

Social Security taxes started in 1937.  Ms. Fuller paid taxes for two years until her retirement, a total of $24.75 for her whole working life. With her second benefit check she had already received more than she had paid in.  She went on to collect more than $22,000 in benefits over 35 years before she died at 100 in 1975.

 

Source: The Orange County Register, Sunday, August 14, 2005.