[Genealogy] Tips, Close Neighbors, Whys That Are Not There

[Michael John Neill]

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10 July 2026

Genealogy Update

** Recent Genealogy Tips
** Just a Farmer
** Consultations

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Recent Genealogy Tips
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Check out our recent genealogy tips from Genealogy Tip of the Day:

   -
      - Willy-Nilly Research
      <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/16/willy-nilly-research/>
      - Did Time?
      <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/15/did-time/>
      - Temporary Maiden Name Reversion
      <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/14/temporary-maiden-name-reversion/>
      - Not Done and Not Perfect
      <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/14/not-done-and-not-perfect/>
      - What is Communicated?
      <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/12/what-is-communicated/>
      - Temporary Conclusions
      <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/11/temporary-conclusions/>
      - Everything
      <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/11/everything/>
   -

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How Near Were Those Near Neighbors?
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Documents can provide researchers with direct statements and indirect
statements. Direct statements state something clearly. Indirect statements
are different. They require some inference and “reading into” the document
to see information that’s not so obvious.

That’s how it is with certain documents that suggest two individuals were
“neighbors.” Tax and census records are organized geographically and were,
generally speaking, taken geographically. But sometimes there is a certain
amount of meandering around by the census taker or the tax
assessor–particularly in rural areas where the terrain and available roads
(or lack thereof) may dictate a very non-linear path.

This was driven home to me when I first viewed the 1940 census for my
paternal grandparents. I grew up slightly more than a mile from where my
paternal grandparents had lived in 1940. My maternal grandmother’s family
also lived in the same township. While I was decidedly not living in 1940,
many of the families had not moved significantly between then and my
arrival on the scene in the late 1960s–particularly those who owned a small
farm. As I read the census entries in the order of the enumeration, one
thing became clear to me:

*the enumerator meandered around the township*

People whose farms I knew were quite a distance from each other were on
adjacent pages. My paternal grandparents lived in the northeastern corner
of the township and families from the central and western portion of the
township were enumerated on nearby pages. Landowners who owned adjacent (or
very nearly adjacent properties) were several pages apart.

In any enumeration, there will be some eventual backtracking and people who
are “near neighbors” will not be enumerated as “near paper neighbors.” It
happens in urban areas where people are organized enough to live on
perfectly parallel streets that intersect at only right angles. It happens
in urban areas where streets are not always straight, not always parallel,
and do not always intersect at right angles. It happens in rural areas
where roads are not always straight and may meander for one reason or
another. And it certainly happens where geography forces the enumeration to
be done in a decidedly non-linear fashion.

Being enumerated in the same township (or enumeration district) in a census
or listed in the same taxing district means for certain that those people
lived (or paid taxes in) the same district. Adjacent names may be near
neighbors or they may not.

It’s always worth remembering what a record tells us explicitly and what it
suggests to us. There is a difference.
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Consultation Sale
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What is a consultation?

It’s a chance to discuss your specific problem with a professional
genealogist, one who can look at your problem family with a fresh set of
eyes. It can help you get started if you are just getting started with your
research or continue if you’ve reached a point where you do not know what
to do. It’s like having a problem-solving class devoted to your family.
We’ll look at see if there any additional clues or leads in the records you
have already located and discuss what the next steps are in your genealogy
journey on your family of interest. It’s also a time for you to ask
specific questions about the materials you have found.

More details on our consultations page
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/consultations-with-michael/>.

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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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