Unusual names are good and bad. They are good because they stand out like a sore thumb among a sea of Joneses and Browns. They are bad because one always assumes they are a relative in some way shape or form and not being able to “fit” the reference into known information can be frustrating.

Fortunately it is relatively easy to fit this 1867 reference to Michael Trautvetter into other known information about him and his family. The known Michael died in 1869 in Hancock County, Illinois, where several other members of his family who hailed from Thuringen, Germany settled. The unusual nature of the name does not mean that this Michael who was living in St. Louis in 1867 has to be the one who died in Hancock County, Illinois in 1869.

Determining if these Michael’s are the same requires an answer to the question, “why does he appear in a 1867 directory for St. Louis?” The obvious answer is because most likely because that is where he was living. And that obvious answer is key to analyzing this entry.

The reference to Trautvetter was located by a search on Fold3.com. I tried to search the Fold3.com‘s digital version of this directory for “1701 Cardonelet” to see if I could easily find anyone else living at that address. It was a good idea, but unfortunately that search was unsuccessful.

Then I remembered what other member of the Trautvetter clan was living in St. Louis in the 1860s: Wilhelmina Rothweiler and her husband George.

If this Michael Trautvetter is the one that I think he is then Wilhelmina Rothweiler is his sister’s daughter. Sure enough, George Rothweiler is listed in the 1867 directory–at 1701 Cardonelet.

 

The identity of Marie Rothewiler is not known. She is most likely a widowed Rothweiler–either of George’s father or perhaps one of his brothers.