[Genealogy] Known to Unknown and Webinar 40% Sale

[Michael John Neill]

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10 July 2026

Genealogy Update

** Recent Genealogy Tips
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Working from the Known to the Unknown
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“Working from the known to the unknown” is advice often given to beginning
genealogists. The premise is that it is best to begin family history
research with the individuals about whom you know something, using what is
known about those individuals to connect them to earlier people in their
family. It’s a valid piece of advise and generally is a successful approach.

But there’s another way in which that phrase is applicable to genealogical
research as well.

If you are trying to read script in a foreign language, don’t start with
something in 1600. Use records in that language in a much later time
period. The script will be easier to read. The records may have column
headings to help you become familiar with the words and the handwriting. As
your skill level increases, work your way back in time–researching earlier
families. The handwriting will become more difficult to read, the column
headings won’t be in the records, and you’ll have to up your skill level.
But having a grounding in the basics, by using those later records, will
make it easier to transition to earlier records. Of course the handwriting
will change, the words may be different, and the structure of the records
may be a little less organized. But you’ll be better equipped to handle.

The same can be send for those who want to read 17th century Virginia land
patents. Transcribe later records, even if this involves records on
families you “already know have been done.” Reading 17th Virginia land
patents is difficult if you’ve never read a deed from the 18th century or
even the early 19th century. Build your skill level.

The same is true for understanding the basics of DNA. If you have matches
from families that are well documented, review those matches. See who they
share and who they don’t. Review those matches and the shared segments of
DNA they have. Try and map the chromosomes as best you can–on those
families that you “already know.” You may discover that you don’t know
everything you think you do, but at the very least your understanding of
DNA analysis and research will be improved. And *that* will help you to
analyze those matches where you don’t know any of the underlying family
structure from paper records.

Working from the known to the unknown doesn’t just apply to the people you
research.

It also applies to how you research.

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Genealogy Webinar Sale

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Today we are offering a 40% off sale on recorded presentations. Details are
on our website <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/recent-webinars/>
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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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