Trabant from Kreis Bütow

Our Trabant family has its earliest roots in Klein Massowitz, Bütow, Pommern, now Poland. Some stayed in Pomerania but some emigrated and settled in Knox County, Indiana. Louise Rosina Nolting, seated at right with her three sisters, married Henry William Trabant in Indiana, a descendant of our earliest known Trabants (sometimes spelled Traband or Trabandt).

Our first documented ancestor was Michael Trabant, born about 1765, who married Maria Elisabetha Kath about 1794. Their first documented child was Dorothea Trabant, born in 1795 in Klein Massowitz.

Michael and Maria had six chidlren, four of whom made it to adulthood. Two sons figure into our storyline.

Carl Wilhelm Trabant married Henriette Wilhelmina Knuth and had ten children, one of whom, Emilie Pauline Henriette married Friedrich Kramp Her baptism record (where she's listed as Pauline Emilie Henriette) is at left. Three of Friedrich's and Emilie's daughters -- Auguste, Laurette, and Alwine Ida -- came to Chicago where they established families of their own.

Carl Wilhelm Trabant's younger brother, Paul Ferdinand, was born in 1905 and interestingly one of his godparents was Paul Kramp, whose son Friedrich would marry Paul Ferdinand's niece Emilie Trabant in 1853 -- this demonstrates how close these families were.

Paul Ferdinand Trabant's bride was Friederike Albrecht. Two of their children's baptism records are at left: Augustine and Friedrich. Their son, Friedrich Michael, was born in Massowitz in 1848, and in the 1870s Friedrich Michael came to the USA, settling in Knox County, Indiana. He married Pauline Wilhelmine Diekmann and they established a family there.

Some online trees identify Ferdinand as Frederick Trabant due to a mistaken entry on his son's death certificate, but DNA testing confirms the link between Ferdinand and his older brother Carl Wilhelm.

Friedrich Michael Trabant and Pauline Diekmann had nine children in Knox County, Indiana. Two of them, Henry William and William Edward, became well-known in towns such as Vincennes and Freelandville. Henry William is pictured at lieft with his bride, Louise Rosina Nolting, in 1903. They had five daughters.

William Edward's family hasen't yet posted photos, but his Trabant descendants are still in the news. A 2018 issue of Boomer magazine highlighted Ellis Trabant of Vincennes, who at 82 years old wins accolades as the best barber (and perhaps the oldest) in town.

Thanks very much to Archiwum Państwowe w Szczecinie for hosting scans of the duplicate parish records for Tuchomie (Gross Tuchen).