Proving a 1930s birth

I don't often read Bill McClellan in the Post-Dispatch, but his recent column had an interesting genealogical twist: A 72-year-old man will soon face the challenge of proving who he is to the state. I immediately thought that the 1940 census, if it had already been released, might help. But McClellan writes that the man moved to St. Louis in 1939 at the age of six and his surname was changed to that of his stepfather. Never mind the census, not that he would have been granted access anyway (right?). If found, would the state accept a baptism record? What would be left to research?

[Tag: genealogy]