The Trammell Family

Where We Come From

One name, a lot of spellings

Trammell, Trammel, Tramel, Tramell, Tramill. Family tradition holds that nearly every Trammell in America goes back to one man: Thomas Trammell, who came from England, believed to be Devon, to colonial Virginia around 1670. He came over as an indentured servant and earned his freedom by order of the Virginia General Court in 1675. That's a good start for a family that's never been afraid of hard work.

Every family has its original war hero, and ours is a kinsman, Pvt. Thomas Trammell Sr. (1747–1823). He served as a private in the South Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War, riding as a mounted man on his own horse, and his service is on record with the government that grew out of that fight. He rests under a veterans' memorial marker in Upson County, Georgia. We haven't yet proven exactly how his branch joins ours, so the family research continues, and every new record brings us a little closer to him.

Moving west, one generation at a time

From Virginia the family pushed into the Carolinas and Georgia, then Tennessee, and finally Oklahoma and Texas. Thomas Daniel Trammell was born in Tullahoma, Tennessee, in 1875, and he married Effie Lee Brightwell in Texas in 1901. My grandfather carried the name the rest of the way into North Texas.

Mama's side

My mother's people are Huttos and Schirmers. Family research traces the Huttos back to an immigrant who sailed to South Carolina in 1735. My grandmother was born in Minnesota, and her family came south to Texas.

Six generations of Texas

Both sides of my family put down roots in North Texas, and six generations later we're still proud Texans, still proud of the name, and still tracing every branch as far back as it goes.

Family Tales

A wedding dinner and a widow's word

In 1846, Thomas Sr.'s widow, Mary, swore out her account of his war. She said he served more than three years with the “South Carolina mounted Rifled Rangers,” came home only on short furloughs, and was “in several combats with the Tories.” An old neighbor, William Turner, backed her up. He swore he'd been at their wedding dinner in December 1775, after the two of them rode back from getting married a few miles off, and that Thomas was always respected as a Revolutionary soldier. In his words, he “never heard it contradicted.” When Thomas sold his pay claim after the war, he signed it with his mark, an X. That X is still in the record.

Riding with the company that fought at Cowpens

Thomas was paid as a horseman in the company of Capt. Dennis Trammell. That company fought at Cedar Springs, Musgrove's Mill, Blackstocks, Long Canes, and Cowpens in January 1781, and Thomas's pay dates cover every one of them. No record names him at a particular battle, so I'll put it plain: he likely rode with the company that helped win at Cowpens.

“Morgan's grave or victory”

Capt. Dennis Trammell is another kinsman, and we're still working out just how he's related. He lived about two and a half miles from the Cowpens. Years later he swore that Gen. Daniel Morgan asked him to help pick the ground for the battle and told him, “Captain, here is Morgan's grave or victory.” That's Dennis's story as he remembered it, and it's a good one. After the fight, Morgan left his company to bury the dead of both sides and look after the wounded.

Two acres for a church

In 1746, John Trammell sold two acres “where the upper church is,” church yard and spring included, to the Truro Parish vestry for 50 shillings. That lot became the site of The Falls Church in Virginia, where George Washington later served on the vestry. John was most likely a great-uncle of Thomas Sr., so he's side-branch kin, not a direct ancestor, but we're proud of him all the same.

The voyage of the Oliver

On the Hutto side, the story starts with a ship. In July 1735 the barque Oliver landed about 200 Palatine settlers in South Carolina, and Isaac Hutto's family was aboard. The newspaper said most of them were poor and had to bind themselves out to pay for their passage. They worked off those indentures, and by 1739 they had a town lot and 350 acres at Orangeburg. That's a hard, honest start in a new country.