[Genealogy] The Whys That Are Not There, Consultation Sale, 30% Webinar Sale

Mon Dec 1 06:27:58 CST 2025

In today's email

The Whys That Are Not There

Consultation Sale--Save $40

Webinar Sale--Save 30%

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The Whys That Are Not There

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The records our ancestors left behind only tell us a part of the story. One
has to be careful reading more into documents than is actually there.

Johann George Trautvetter and his wife Sophia Elisabeth (Derle) Trautvetter
immigrated from Wohlmuthausen, Thuringen, Germany, in June of 1853 with
their three sons and one daughter. They arrived in July of 1853 in
Baltimore and immediately settled in Hancock County, Illinois, where they
purchased property. Approximately in 1869 Johann George returned to Germany
and died there in 1871. His funeral entry in the church register at Bad
Salzungen indicated that he had returned to Germany and left his wife and
family in America.

He and Sophia sold their farm to their youngest son in the late 1860s.  No
reason is given. It could have been as simple as they were retiring, wanted
to avoid the eventual costs of an estate settlement, and needed the money
from the sale.

And I really can’t speculate as to why he returned. There’s no diaries,
family letters, or records that provide any specifics. Did he return for a
visit and become too ill to return to his family? Was he unhappy in
America? Was the marriage an unhappy one? Did he want to return to Germany
while Sophia refused to leave her children? While the biography of one of
their sons simply says Johann George “returned for a visit” to Germany and
died there, that explanation may have been one that put a positive spin on
his travels and looked better in publication than the actual situation.

All I have are records. I don’t have reasons.

And I’m hesitant to spin a story explaining someone’s behavior when that
person is dead and gone and did not leave reasons behind.

There are times where it’s a little easier to see the probable reasons
behind someone’s behavior even if those reasons are not stated.

It’s slightly different when a woman with small children is widowed by her
husband in the 1850s and remarries in short order. In that case it’s
reasonable that economics forced her hand. The same is likely true of a
widower in a similar situation during the same time period.

A young male who leaves Prussia in the late 1860s probably did so to escape
serving in the Prussian Army. Probably. But is there anything specifically
stating that he did? Such a story may be in a biography, obituary, or
family story passed down through the generations. And even the family story
may have been started by relatives long after the immigrant himself was
dead.

Try and stick with the facts as evidenced by records as much as possible.
In some cases there is an amazing amount of detail in what records *are* left
behind without trying to “figure out” what else happened without any
sources to back it up.

Would you want your descendant taking the documented details of your life
and spinning stories around them?

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Genealogy Research Consultation Holiday Sale--save $40

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Need some guidance with your research, but don't need a class, don't need
to hire a researcher for $1000 or more?

Just need someone to look at what you have and give you ideas on what to do
next?

That's exactly what a genealogy consultation is for and we're having a sale
on ours for the Holiday Season.

Save $40! We are offering a limited number of consultations at this reduced
price--normal price is $140.

More details about our consultations are available at:
https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/consultations-with-michael/

Space at this reduced rate is limited!

Reserve your consultation today. Scheduling takes place after registration,
but we are still booking in December!

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Either way--you do not need a PayPal account. Just click on "pay with debit
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NotebookLM for Genealogy-Make InfoGraphics, videos, and more
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Ever wanted to create graphics, mind maps, and other graphics for your
genealogy research easily? Now you can and we'll show you how.

Notebooklm at Google.

Create audio and video overviews, mind maps, reports, quizzes,
infographics, and slide decks from your uploaded files, genealogy
documents, and the like. Notebooklm is not perfect by a long shot, but it
may give you insight into your own research. We will take a responsible
genealogical approach to using Notebooklm. It is a tool and like any took
needs to be used carefully and judiciously. We won’t necessarily agree with
all the conclusions it reaches, but thinking about its insights and trying
to prove/disprove them or analyze them further may enhance our research in
ways we did not expect.

This presentation will be held live on 8 December 2025 at 8 pm central time.
Live attendance is limited and on a first come, first served basis and is
$28
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. You can pre-order a recording of the presentation and the handout for $22
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.

See sample infographics here--just like ones we will show you how to make:

https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/11/24/notebooklm-at-google/

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30% Cyber Holiday Webinar Sale

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Code cyber2025 will save you 30% at check out.

Common Name webinar:

https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/11/04/common-names-at-familysearch-full-text-webinar/

Full-Text Searching webinar

https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/09/05/fully-utilizing-full-text-search/

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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
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