My sister recently sent me various official documents pertaining to our parents. She was the executor of their estates, but no longer needed these documents since the estates closed long ago.
The documents included four related to the birth of our father, Frederick Henry Pape (1929-2017). I already had copies of three of these, but the first one pictured below was one I had never seen before. It's a hospital birth certificate, which actually is not an "official" birth certificate, but it played a part in a change made nearly 64 years later.
By the way, I was also born at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, Illinois, as were many of my first cousins who were also born in the north Chicago area. I believe it was the only Catholic hospital on the north side of Chicago at the time.
Above: Hospital birth certificate for Frederick Henry Pape, 4 February 1929
Below: Original State of Illinois Certificate of Registration of Birth for Frederick John Pape, issued May 1930
Above is the original official state birth certificate, issued in May, 1930, over a year after my father's birth. Note the middle name on it is John, not Henry. John was the first name of my father's paternal grandfather, my great-grandfather, John Pape (1851-1945). Frederick Henry was the full name of Dad's maternal grandfather, my great-grandfather Frederick Henry Massmann (1875-1948).
So what happened? My father retired from his job in late 1992, and needed his birth certificate, either to apply for his pension, or Social Security, or both. I'm not sure if he had both documents all along, or had to contact his mother, my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Florence Massmann Pape (1902-2000), to get one or both of these documents.
My grandmother wanted to name him for her father, and that's what she told whoever in the hospital filled out his hospital birth certificate. Back then, remember, fathers were almost never in the delivery room. However, I think my grandfather, Paul Robert Pape (1896-1970), was probably the one who filled out the paperwork submitted to the state for the official birth certificate, and named his second son for his two grandfathers.
My grandmother wanted to name him for her father, and that's what she told whoever in the hospital filled out his hospital birth certificate. Back then, remember, fathers were almost never in the delivery room. However, I think my grandfather, Paul Robert Pape (1896-1970), was probably the one who filled out the paperwork submitted to the state for the official birth certificate, and named his second son for his two grandfathers.
It doesn't really matter what my father was "supposed" to be named. He'd been Frederick Henry Pape in school records, military records, work records, his marriage record, and so on. So Dad filled out the necessary paperwork (below) to get his birth certificate corrected. Apparently, unlike here in Texas, he did not need an affidavit from someone else testifying to this correction - or if he did, we don't have a copy of it. The document did have to be notarized, however.
Above: State of Illinois Affidavit and Certificate of Correction for Frederick John/Henry Pape, submitted 23 January 1993
Below: Reissued State of Illinois Certificate of Birth for Frederick Henry Pape, issued 3 February 1993
And above is the reissued birth certificate for my father, almost 64 years to the day after his birth.
