Project News
The initial response to the TROTT-DNA Surname Project is exciting. Since the establishment of the project in December 2005, we have EIGHT members! Seven TROTT lines are participating and one TROUT line as a “second member”.
To preserve confidentiality, lines of interest are numbered by DNA Kit# in the order of sample submission. If the participant has agreed to be acknowledged, his name is revealed as the Project Member.
#48454: JOSEPH TROTT m. Sarah [Unknown]. Children included Richard Trott born 7 Nov 1779, christened 28 Nov 1779, Saint Leonard, Shoreditch, London, England, died 22 Apr 1848 Rotherhithe, Surrey, England. Richard married Mary Batcher (1784-1869) on 18 Jan 1827 in Lewisham, Kent, England. Richard and Mary had three known children: Richard Trott b. Dec. 1827 Deptford, Kent, christened 18 Jan 1828, Saint Nicholas, Deptford; Mary Trott b. 1829 England; and William Henry Trott b. 3 Mar 1831 Rotherhithe, Surrey, christened 23 Mar 1831, Saint Mary, Rotherhithe. This family was a seafaring one, as the elder Richard Trott was a Waterman – and sons Richard and William are listed as Seamen on the 1851 Rotherhithe census. Richard Trott b. 1827 was a Sea Captain who arrived in Mobile County, Alabama in 1860. Richard married Martha Manson on 23 Jun 1857 in Saint Dunstan, Stepney, London; she is the d/o John Jasper Manson and Elizabeth Emms. Richard and Martha had four known children: Martha Mary Anne Trott b. 12 Apr 1858 England; Richard William Lee Trott b. 24 Sep 1859 England; Dominick/Dominique “Dom” Jasper Trott b. 6 Dec 1861 Alabama; Philip F. Trott b. 1867 Alabama. This is the line of Project Member Thomas “Tommy” John Trott, Jr. of Mobile AL. Tommy also joined the TROUT-DNA Surname Project as a Second Member to allow his DNA results to be compared to TROUTs who may have English roots. Y-DNA37 marker.
#48615: THOMAS TROTT who was in Anne Arundel/Calvert County, Maryland in the late 1600s. Two of his descendants, James Trott and Henry Trott, migrated to Rowan County NC about 1790. This is the line of Project Member William “Billy” M. Trott of Raleigh NC. As the frontier expanded, their descendants migrated across the country, particularly to the South and Southwest. James Jenkins Trott, one of the MD/NC TROTTs, left NC, became a missionary to the Cherokee Nation in Georgia, and married the daughter of the tribal chief – his descendants are listed on various Indian rolls in Oklahoma and any TROTTs tracing their heritage back to Georgia and Oklahoma may be especially interested in the DNA results on this line. The purpose of Billy’s participation is to determine the origin of Thomas Trott in Europe, and if he was related to other TROTTs in New England at that time or possibly to the TROTTs who were prominent in Bermuda, Barbados and Charleston. Y-DNA37 marker.
#48700: HENRY TROTT who was in Maryland in the mid-1700s. This is the line of Project Member William “Bill” Colbert Trott of Pasadena TX. Bill Trott (#48700) and Billy Trott (#48615) know they are cousins through traditional research. Bill has good paper resources as far back as Henry Trott in Rowan Co MD, but is not sure about back to Thomas Trott in MD in the late 1600s. Bill traced his line back to Henry Trott and hit a “brick wall”. He hopes that DNA results on #48615 will provide some answers. Y-DNA12 marker.
UPDATE: An exact match has been found between #48615 and #48700, which means that there is a 99.9% likelihood that they share a common ancestor.
#49074: FRANCIS TROTT b. c1808 MD. Information on Francis Trott has been gathered from census records which show he was born in Maryland -- his parents are unknown. Francis migrated to Ohio at some point, as he has established a homestead in Guernsey Co OH with his wife Mariah and four children (1840 census). The 1850 Guernsey Co OH census shows Francis and Mariah with nine children: Ofelier(?) A., James W., Samuel F., Michael, Mary M., Thomas H., Catharine, and John W. There is also a young lad, Thomas H. Trott, age 12 b. MD, living with them. Francis and Mariah’s son Samuel F. Trott was born 1838 in Ohio. By 1880, Samuel F. Trott has married and is living in Nobel Co OH with his wife, Mary E., and their six children: Gassaway, Emma R., Genetta, Samuel F., Richard B., and Jensey A. Samuel and Mary’s son, Samuel F. Trott (named for his father) was born Sep 1868 in Ohio. Samuel F. Trott (b. 1868) married Sarah/Sadie about 1889 and in 1900 was living in Muskingum Co OH with their four children: Velma, Alta, Henry and Howard. A descendant of this family is participating in the DNA project to determine lineage. Y-DNA37 marker.
#50249: TROTTs in Essex and Kent, England. This is the line of Project Member John Trott of Plymouth, England, and our initial English TROTT participant. The earliest North West Essex TROTT reference, found to-date, is the 1327 Lay Subsidy entry of Willelmo Trot of Manewedene (Manuden) Nr Saffron Walden. There is further extensive evidence of TROTTs in and around Saffron Walden/North West Essex throughout the 14th/15th/16th/17th/18th and 19th Centuries with proven line back to mid-1500's. During the early 1700's a Michael Trott moved to Deal in Kent and from his descendents a further extensive TROTT family line developed through to the present time (many of whom drowned heroically saving lives off the Kent Coast). Evidence from the same line of North West Essex and Kent TROTTs has been found all over the UK and throughout the World including France, Australia, USA, Canada, China and South Africa. Y-DNA37 marker.
#50297: THOMAS “HENRY” TROTT b. c1820 in Baltimore MD. This is the line of Project Member Thomas “Tom” B. Trott, Jr. and he hopes the DNA results will confirm his research from Anne Arundel County church records that his line is connected to #48615 or #48700. He also would like to find out if he has any Native American blood in his TROTT family history! Y-DNA37 marker.
#51601: This is the line of Project Member John Edmund Trott, 4th cousin twice removed of John Trott (#50249). They have reconstructed their TROTT descent back to the 16th Century and are interested in confirmation of relationship. Initially, John knew he and John Trott (#50249) were related as “Deal” TROTTs. Since then, they have pushed the “Deal” line back into Essex (at Quendon) and gone back even a further 200 years; then spread out to include all the descendants of The Original at Saffron Walden in Essex. The tree of their group includes many hundreds of names. They have also done further research into earlier TROTTs in the same area and found them in the 1327 Lay Subsidy for Essex in nearby villages. An adjacent TROTT clan is the “Woodbridge” TROTTs who are definitely not a ”Deal” connection and are possibly descended from a German TROTT who arrived from Germany via an East Coast port circa 1300 (i.e., Hanseatic League). The German TROTT line might just as easily be the forerunner of their North West Essex TROTTs! The “Perient” TROTT group (who were merchants in the City of London) could also be of German origin. The West Country TROTTs seem to have arisen in Somerset and gradually spread over Devon and South Wales. It is equally possible that the West Country TROTT ancestor could have also come from the same North German source as there were plenty of ports in the West Country as early as the 12th Century. Speculation on the origin of the TROTTs of Deal, Woodbridge, Somerset, and Perient could be laid to rest for good when proved by DNA results. Y-DNA37 marker.
We also have a "Second Member" participant from the TROUT family:
#26980: JACOB P. TROUT b. 1830 in Miami County, Ohio. Sheri Trout (whose website TROUT-TRACKS is a must-see! < http://www.trout-tracks.com/index.html > ) joined as a Second Member through her son. Thinking that her husband’s TROUT line was descended from Jacob Trout and wife, Elizabeth Platter, Sheri’s son submitted a DNA sample as a member of the TROUT-DNA Surname Project. Sheri had concluded that Jacob P. Trout was the youngest son of Jacob and Elizabeth Platter Trout. Jacob’s father was Judge George Trout of the well-researched TROUTs from the German lines. The DNA results were startling -- Y-DNA test results indicate that he is very UNlikely to be related to the line from which the Jacob Trout (who married Elizabeth Platter) flows! It has been proven that Andrew Jackson Trout b. 18 Nov 1828 in Miami County, Ohio was in fact the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Platter Trout. Could it be possible that young Jacob P. Trout was adopted? Is it possible that Jacob P. and Andrew Jackson were more distantly related? Sheri recalled that her husband’s great-aunt was adamant about her TROUTs being English in origin . . . not German! By joining the TROTT-DNA Surname Project as a Second Member, Sheri is exploring the possibility of further clues regarding English roots to her TROUT line.