john michael trautvetter

Ancestral Clues and Lessons: John Michael Trautvetter

John Michael Trautvetter was born in 1839 Wohlmuthausen, Thuringen, Germany, and died in 1917 Walker Township, Hancock County, Illinois. He married Franciska Bieger in 1868 in Walker Township, Hancock County, Illinois. From John Michael, I learned: Family traditions can contain tall tales. I doubt the story that John Michael encountered cannibals in South America is […]

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The Skinny on a Skinny Yodeler

Some families are simply known for being long-winded. According to family tradition printed in a privately published 1950-era family history, John Michael Trautvetter went from Illinois to California during the great Gold Rush. Fortune did not smile on John Michael in California. He found no gold and became frustrated. He decided that panning for gold […]

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Bleeding Eyeballs at the Bottom of Trautvetter’s Stairs

Newspapers will provide information never mentioned in a death certificate. Of course that doesn’t mean the information is correct, only that it was printed. On Wednesday, 12 December 1917, John M. Trautvetter fell down the stairs of his home. According to the Quincy Daily Herald, he either slipped or had a stroke and in fall broke […]

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1878 Baptisms and How Regularly Did the Trautvetters Attend Church?

This image is a good example of what not to do. I made the paper copies years ago from a microfilm copy of the church records of the Bethany United Church of Christ in Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois. The entries below are for two first cousins, Anna Maria and Franciska Trautvetter–children of Michael and Franciska […]

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