22 March 2013

Just Michael Please and Nothing More

More than just Michael.

Year: 1860; Census Place: Alexandria, Campbell, Kentucky; Roll: M653_360; Page: 720
There are several reasons why genealogists are advised to look at more than just the "desired entry" in a census. This 1860 enumeration from Campbell County, Kentucky, is a case in point.

Household 522 contains the person of interest: Michael Trautvetter. Margaret is his apparent wife. Michael died in the late 1860s, leaving no spouse or descendants, so he and Margaret had no children and she was dead (or they divorced) by the time Michael died.

Michael actually died in Illinois and, since Margaret does not appear in his estate settlement, I concluded that she died in Kentucky and that John Mininger(?), the 19-year old, was her son and that he too probably stayed in Kentucky. That may still be true.

What I would have missed if I had been hasty and only "copied Michael's household because that's all that I need," is that there are other Mininger(?) children in an "apparent household" 523.

If the census is correct, this household is headed by William Mininger, aged 9. Obviously it is not and he, and the other Mininger children, are probably connected to the 19-year old John Mininger in the Trautvetter household.

Whether they are connected to Michael Trautvetter remains to be seen. The point? I could have easily overlooked a "bunch of people" had I only focused on the "household of interest."

Citation reminder: We are a strong believe in citing genealogical source material in the spirit of Evidence ExplainedHowever, we choose not to include properly formatted citations in these blog posts. There's always enough information in the post to create a citation and full citations are included in my how-to newsletter Casefile Clues.