The purpose of the TROUTMAN/TRAUTMAN surname project is to identify the various family lines and their origins. Often a Surname Project is limited to only men who test their Y-DNA, but this is not the case for ours. We also include women who have a Troutman/Trautman (or variation) ancestor. My name is Elizabeth Ballard and I am the administrator of this group. My most distant known ancestor on my father's direct paternal line is Abraham Trautman, born 8 December 1773, died 1 April 1852, married Elizabeth Tschopp, lived in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. Like me, if you do not carry a Y chromosome, you can submit the Y-DNA test results of a sibling, cousin, uncle, parent, grandparent, etc., in your known family. My brother took the Y-DNA test for our family. If you are a Troutman or Trautman descendant from Europe whose ancestors did not emigrate to another country, your results could make a significant impact on helping us track down our "roots" and you track down your overseas cousins! So please, join no matter where you live.