There must still be more to the Theodore Trautvetter disappearance of 1890 than I know.
Trautvetter disappeared from Warsaw, Illinois in January of 1890. He sold a load of oats, tied up his horse and wagon in town and left. This reference from a Kansas paper indicated that Trautvetter took a train from Keokuk, Iowa to St. Louis.
It is not known if Trautvetter ever got to St. Louis or not. Children of his first cousin Wilhelmina (Trautvetter Hess) Rothweiler lived in the area and it's possible that his long-lost Hess cousins did as well.
Why did the forty-something year old man leave?
That's a question I'm going to have to see if I can find the answer to in local area papers that are only available on microfilm.
That's a question I'm going to have to see if I can find the answer to in local area papers that are only available on microfilm.
Genealogy Lessons: Always check for alternate spellings. Theodore's branch of the family never used "Troutfetter." Consider the possibility that a relative is mentioned in a newspaper a distance from their home, especially if they did something noteworthy.
Theodore was a brother to John Michael Trautvetter (1838-1917), my great-great-grandfather.
