My Henry and Barbara Trautvetter are living together as husband and wife in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1860, with their children. Their immigration date is unknown, but it likely was in the 1845-1855 time frame. There apparently is another Henry and Barbara Trautvetter living in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1850. Based upon the ages of Henry and Barbara and the children in the enumerations, they appear to be separate couples. All of them are German immigrants. Never assume that there couldn’t be more than one couple with what you think is an unusual name combination. Do some research. The sites that do “automatic matching” make it easier than it already is to merge people like this together.
Sometimes you just need to think about what you have found, what you don’t know, and what you want to know. It can be easy to jump online and immediately search the minute we find something new or have a flash of insight. But sometimes it’s best to get away from the constant availability of “searching,” the constant rush to “find something new,” and the seemingly endless online barrage of messages and communications that demand our attention. And just to think. And not to react. Think about what we know and realize there are things that we don’t. Think about how accurate what we know really is and make a plan to learn more about those things that we don’t and, perhaps most importantly, to also learn more […]
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