Admitting mistakes may make me look like I don’t know what I’m doing.

But it may keep others from making the same mistake, so here we go.

Years ago I located land records in Campbell County, Kentucky, for several members of my Trautvetter family while at the Family History Library in Salt Lake. Copies of the records were made and I waited until I was home to completely read and analyze them. All I did in Utah was to make certain my digital images were legible and complete. The reading and analysis would wait until I got home. Others may function differently, but my Family History Library trips are usually dedicated to making copies of long lists of various items.

When I found the items the first time, I did not really read the catalog completely for Campbell County. After all, I had used the Family History Library’s card catalog seemingly an infinite number of times. The Trautvetters came to Campbell County well after Kentucky’s counties were formed. I scrolled past the catalog notes for Campbell County.

I scrolled past the “header” information for the Campbell County deeds and grabbed the roll numbers I needed and was off to the microfilm cabinets. I did not need to bother reading the notes.

I found the Trautvetter name in the grantor and grantee indexes, made copies of the deeds those indexes referenced and was on my merry way.

Then I got home.

In reviewing the deeds for the Trautvetters, I realized I did not have a deed of acquisition and disposition for each piece of property. While property can be obtained by legal instruments other than a deed (a will being the most common one) and while property can be disposed of other than the owner of recording signing a deed (foreclosure of a mortgage and confiscation for failing to pay taxes being the most common ways), I knew I needed to double check the deeds again.

And so on my to-do list for Salt Lake I had “review Campbell County deeds for Trautvetters.”

I started with the grantor and grantee indexes.

I could not find one Trautvetter.

They had to be there. I had found deeds before.

The problem was that on this trip I had grabbed the grantor/grantee indexes to the “other set of deeds” for Campbell County–the ones in the courthouse where my relatives did not go to record their deeds.

After a little bit of silent swearing, I went back to the card catalog to check my roll numbers. In reading the complete catalog entry (which I should have done originally), I saw the “two courthouse” notation.

Lesson learned.

I was well aware counties could have two courthouses. The county to the west of where I was born and raised had two courthouses. But I was in a hurry and “knew what I was doing.”

The Trautvetters are always teaching me genealogical lessons–or reminding me of things I should not have forgotten.