I've been working on my husband's great-grandfather's family, John K.
Stevens of Fort Wayne, lately, using the wonderful newspaper archive at
ancestry.com. Only recently, I found out that he often went by his middle
name and, as he was a patrolman downtown, there are scads of newspaper
articles mentioning him using that alternate name.
One newspaper mention that took me by surprise was a birth announcement:
"born, to Police Officer J. Kelly Stevens and wife--a daughter." Fort Wayne
News, Jan. 27, 1904. This is a child I've not been aware of, and one born
after his other children were grown.
Since no name was mentioned for the child in the newspaper article, is there
any chance I could find that out by searching birth records by parents'
names? Is there any such index for that time period? I'd like to have it for
my records, though I'm guessing the child probably didn't live long, as no
one else in the family is aware of that. Just one of those things that hit
you out of left field, I guess!
If anyone could help me with this, I'd appreciate the advice!
Jacqi Stevens