There is an old mother goose poem about Elizabeth, Elsbeth, Betsy and Bess all taking one egg out of a bird's next ....
when I tried to google the poem I stumbled onto this potentially useful Social Security Admin reference site:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/0/8457502d2e0dbc6185256e3700123dc4?OpenDocument
Henry's very interesting original questions of how and why are still open.
Jon Kukla
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html