Early Settlers – Trotter Brothers – Trotter Cemetery, Edwards, Kansas

Ben, Jason, and Robert Trotter left New York and came to Edwards County in 1878. Their homesteads were in Brown Township. In 1879, Robert deeded three acres of his land for a cemetery.

Benjamin (b.1836), Robert (b. 1843), and Jason (b. 1848) were the sons of Robert and Mary Ann Wright Trotter. They were all born in New York. Robert served in Co. D, 10th NY Cavalry during the Civil War.

Ben was the first to marry in 1861 to Loveda Rumsey. After giving birth to four children, Loveda passed away at the age of 26. To help care for the young children, Ben remarried Parmellia Carpenter. Robert married Sarah Ann Rumsey in 1886. They were the parents of two girls and one boy. Mary Ann Hotchkiss became the wife of Jason in 1869. The birth of seven children followed.

The families faced all the hardships of early settlers and celebrated the joys that life brings. The winter of 1887-1888 was a time of true sorrow as six members of the Trotter families died of typhoid fever and pneumonia. Each of the Trotter brothers' families was affected.

The first death was the eight-year-old daughter of Robert in October of 1887. Jason died two days after Christmas at the age of 39. His oldest son died three weeks later at the age of 16. In February, Jason’s youngest child died before the age of one. Benjamin’s son died on Christmas Eve at the age of 21. Benjamin passed away in January of 1888.

Of the seven children born to Jason and Mary, only two reached adulthood. Their youngest daughter died in 1896 when a can of gasoline exploded and started a fire. She was 12 years old.

Note: Robert was injured in one of the many battles he fought. He was wounded by a saber cut on the head and was captured.