Church Record Sunday: Walter Francis Pape Baptism, August 1900

Above are the pages for 1899-1900 from the baptismal registry of St. Philomena Catholic Church in Chicago that have the baptismal record for my paternal great uncle, Walter Francis Pape.  His record is second from the bottom of the page.

Below is an enlargement of Walter's record, with the information from the left page placed above the information from the right page to make it easier to read.

From the left on the top row are:

• the record number, from the beginning of the registry in August 1893, with the number for that year (1900) in parentheses.  Walter's was the 278th baptism overall and the 26th in 1900.
• Walter's baptismal name, Francis Walter*
• Walter's date of birth, August 2, 1900
• Walter's baptism date, August 12, 1900
• his father's name, John Pape

and on the second row, from the left:

• his mother's maiden name, Gertrude Cramer
• his godfather's name, Francis J. Senge**
• his godmother's name, Cath[erine] Wahle, and
• the name of the priest who performed the baptism, Rev. J. P. Schiffer***

*Walter was baptized Francis Walter, probably to honor his godfather, but was always called Walter and used F. as a middle initial.

**Francis "Frank" J. Senge was John Pape's business partner at this time, at nearby 883/885/889 Armitage Avenue in Chicago, in Senge & Pape dry goods merchants.  John briefly (some time between 1899 and 1904) rented out his home at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, and on the 1900 Census (shortly before Walter's birth), the family was renting at 1072 (now 1943) Lawndale Avenue in Chicago, close to the store and to St. Philomena.

***This signature was copied from the previous page in the registry, where it was legible.  According to page 96 of the 1909 Chicago Blue Book of Selected Names of Chicago and Suburban Towns: Containing the Names and Addresses of Prominent Residents, Schiffer was pastor of the parish in that year.

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.