Trude
Family Genealogy
by Thomas Lee Trude
Biography of: John Trude
1. John1 TRUDE, born about 1755 in France; died about 1830 in Wilna, Jefferson County, New York. He married Miss (probably Phoebe) BAKER. Miss Baker was probably the daughter of Amos Baker. When John was 11 years old he was impressed into the French Navy and was held in service until he was 22 years of age. When he returned home he could learn nothing of his family so he joined the expedition of Marquis de Lafayette and came to America in 1777. He enlisted in the cause of the colonies and fought in the battle of Brandywine Creek and in other engagements. At the end of the war he settled in Horse Neck, Rhode Island, where he married a young lady by the name of Baker. They had a family of four sons and three daughters. The 1790 census shows them in Rhode Island at South Kingstown with two sons and three daughters. The record indicates that a short time after that he lived in Berkshire County, Massachusetts and then moved to Saratoga County, New York in time for the 1810 census. The 1820 census shows him as over 45 years with a wife over 45 years living in Wilna, Jefferson County, New York near his son John Albert Trude. He was not listed in the 1830 census for Wilna. It is said that John Trude lived to be nearly 90. So far, his grave has not been found. Although it is most likely in Jefferson County, it could very well be in Chautauqua County, New York where his oldest son relocated about 1834.
Children:
+ 2. i. John Albert2 TRUDE, born 13 Nov 1785.
+ 3. ii. William D.2 TRUDE, born 21 Jun 1790.
+ 4. iii. Norris H.2 TRUDE, born 1792.
+ 5. iv. Nathan B.2 TRUDE, born 18 Sep 1794.
Note: two of John's sons married daughters of Daniel Hartwell and the John Trude biographical information was taken from a book entitled "The Hartwell Family in America" by William Densmore (or Lyman Willard Densmore), written in 1888. Mr. Densmore stated that his knowledge came second hand from an 1887 summary written by Nathan8 Hartwell. Over the course of time, additional information has been added by John Trude's descendants and authenticated by family bibles and death certificates. His name is not listed among the passengers aboard the La Victoire, the ship Lafayette hired to come to America in 1777, but he may have very well been a member of the ship's crew. It has been handed down in some Trude families that John entered America through the port of Charleston, South Carolina and that is indeed where La Victoire landed. Also, the name "John de Trude" was found in "Lafayette's papers from 1777-1800" in the Library of Congress. He is listed as an officer, but further translation of the handwritten old style French documents has not been done.
The Trude Family Coat of Arms has not been authenticated.