I have three people I cannot find in the 1870 census. One I think must have simply been overlooked. She should have been living in southwestern Hancock County, Illinois, in Walker, Rocky Run, or perhaps Warsaw Townships. Sophia Trautvetter was born in 1808 in Germany and was Rocky Run in 1860 with her family in […]

To be honest, I never gave it much thought. The probate settlement of John J. Trautvetter mentions a receipt for $22.06 for “Social Securities compensation.” This appears to have been paid out to his mother, based on the fact that it was the same amount, $22.06, where it was listed as “Social Security benefits.” I’m […]

This is a bear that was made about 7 or 8 years ago from a chenille bedspread that belonged to my Grandmother Ida (Trautvetter) Neill (1910-1994). I want to say that Grandma always had that spread on the bed in the west bedroom of her house, but I can’t remember to be honest. What I […]

I posted this as a joke to my personal Facebook page: Order your AncestryDNA today kit so you can discover those non-paternal events in time for Christmas. Why have the same old political arguments when you can argue about your ethnic heritage and that new first cousin Uncle Kevin insists isn’t his kid but DNA says […]

Are you putting all your genealogy eggs in one basket? Do you only use one genealogy website? Do you only post your information (if you choose to post it online) on only one website? Do you only post queries to one website? If that one site goes “kaput” for whatever reason, what happens to the […]

For any legal document, distinguish what the document explicitly says, what is implied by state statute or common practice, and what is not supported by either. And double check that what is “implied by state statute or common practice” is actually true and not just “what you remember it to be.”  

In all honesty for a long time I never searched for any relatives in newspapers before 1850. The reason was simple–they simply were rarely mentioned. That was a mistake–although it’s a rare find for me to locate a reference such as this from 1774. Absalom Hooper and a few of his cohorts–Innis Hooper, Charles Holmes, […]

For those who missed the Daily Genealogy Transcriber, it has returned! You can find out more about this little daily challenge on our new page.

This 1885 census for Davis County, Iowa, contains the entry for Frederick and Lucretia (Sargent) Price. I have been trying to connect Lucretia Sargent to my Ira Sargent (born ca. 1843).   What is interesting about it is that it indicates Lucretia is born in “Ky.” All other records indicate she was born in either […]

I did a little searching and reminded myself that I have seven ancestors listed in the Social Security Death Index: 1) Cecil Neill (1903-1968) 2) Ida Neill (nee Trautvetter) 1910-1994 3) John Ufkes (1917-2003) 4) Dorothy Ufkes (nee Habben) 1924-2008 5) Fannie Neill (nee Rampley) 1883-1965 6) Mimke Habben (1881-1969) 7) Tena (Trientje) Ufkes (nee […]