There seems to be a lot of information on the Trabue surname, but all Trabues in America are reputably descended from Antoine Trabue. Below is some history I have found online. I am a descendant through his son Jacob. My email is
10324495@uvlink.uvsc.edu:
Surname: AKA Stabue, Strabo, Strabut, Trabuc. The names of Trabuc and Trabue have the same pronunciation, as the final “c†is silent in the French language, and it is understandable that Col. Byrd registered the name as Trabue on Antoine’s arrival in Virginia. All Trabue’s in America are said to have descended from Antoine.
Migration:
• Montauban, Guyanne, France—1640, Pierre Trabue is born. 1669, Antoine Trabue is born
• Virginia 10,000 Acre Land Grant to the Huguenots: Donated to Virginia’s French refugees by King William III in 1700 on the south banks of the James River near Richmond in what was at that time known as Henrico County
• Manakin Town, Henrico, VA: 15 miles above Richmond; originally in Henrico County. In 1728 it became Goochland County; in 1749 it became Cumberland County, and since 1777 it has been Powhatan County. The Manakin Church, built on the same site where Jean Pierre Bondurant went to church is located at 985 Huguenot Trail, Midlothian, VA 23113-9274. According to Daniel Trabue, Antoine Trabue settled here about 1700 “in post-and-frame house that was weatherboarded outside†and “lathed and filled with mortar†inside. According to Daniel, the Huguenots were “unused to hunting,†so they raised “cattle and hogs aplenty,†and after a couple of generations were indistinguishable from the predominately English and Episcopalian tobacco planters around them.
Trabue, Antione Pierre*
Born: September 21, 1669, Montauban, Guyanne, France
Died: January 29, 1724, Manakintown, Henrico, VA
Antoine Trabue, A saddler, nineteen years of age, and a native of Montauban of good appearance with chestnut hair obscuring a small scar over his left eye, has always professed the reformed religion, as do his parents, and that he has committed no known scandal. It concludes ''We recommend him to divine providence And to the cordial charity of our brothers.''
Letter of recommendation, Battle Abbey Musuem, Richmond, VA; 4X8 inch letter of introduction written by church elders; very crowded with fine script and has several gaps where it is worn through; the ink is not as faded as one might think; written in 17th century French.
Antoine, the son of Pierre Trabue, was born on September 21, 1669 in Montauban, Guyanne, France. He fled from France to Lausanne Switzerland on September 15, 1687 when he was about 18 years old. He married Magdaline Verrueil in 1699 in France. He moved from Switzerland, to Holland, to England. He and Magdaline moved to Virginia about 1700.
Their children were: Anthony, Jacob, Judith, Magdalena, Judith and John James.
On March 23, 1715, Antoine Trabue was granted by patent 163 acres of land in Henrico County, Virginia on the south side of the James River, “being part of the 1st 5,000 acs. & lower part of the last 5,000 acs. for the French Refugees.†On March 18, 1717, he was granted 522 acres of land in Henrico County “on the gr. fork of Swift Creek ... Imp. of 11 pers: ...Kath. Trabue.â€
T
he naming of Katherine Trabue as a headright of Antoine Trabue has led to the assumption that she was his first wife. They had no issue, and Katherine died ca 1702/1703. Previous accounts of the Trabue family have stated that Antoine married Magdalene Flournoy, daughter of Jacob Flournoy, in Holland in 1699. This has been disproved, and is now unacceptable to The Huguenot Society, as well as current historians. Jacob Flournoy, born January 5 1663 in Geneva, Switzerland, died 1721/1722 in Virginia, married (l; Martha Morel, February 24, 1685, in Geneva. Their first child, Francis, born January 31, 1687 in Geneva was the father of Mary Flournoy who married Edward Wooldridge. Their son, Josiah, married ( EJ) Martha “Patsy†Trabue. Jacob Flournoy and Martha Morel had four other children: Jacques, born December14, 1688, Geneva; Marie, born June 3, 1690, Geneva; and died young in Berlin; Jeanne-Marie, born January 19, 1693, Geneva; and Jeanne-Francoise, born March 28, 1695 in Berlin. After the death of Martha Morel, Jacob Flournoy married (2) _ in London, and they had a daughter who died on the voyage to America. Jacob, his second wife, and his four surviving children by his first wife, Martha Morel, arrived in America in 1700 aboard the “Peter and Anthony.†This ship list of September names Jacob Flournoy, his wife, and four children. Jeanne-Marie Flournoy died soon after their arrival in Virginia, and the December 1, 1700 list of Benjamin de Joux names Jacob Flournoy, his wife and three children. The second wife of Jacob Flournoy died ca 1701 and he married (3) Magdalene Prodhomme Verrueil, December 19 1703, widow of Moise Verrueil; There was no issue from this marriage. Moise Verrueil was a French merchant at Rouen and Magdalene, his wife, was a Hollander, born at The Hague, ca 1663. Her father was from the canton of Berne, Switzerland, and her grandfather was a minister of Lausanne. They came to Virginia on the “Peter and Anthony†in 1700, and the ship list names Moise Verrueil, his wife and five children. He died ca 1701.
Moise Verrueil and Magdalene Prodhomme had a daughter, Magdalene, who was born at The Hague, January 28, 1685. All known evidence points to the fact that she was the wife of Antoine Trabue. She was the step-daughter of Jacob Flournoy, not his daughter. One of her grandchildren, (CDG) Magdalene Verrueil Moseley, a daughter of Magdalene Guerrant and Robert Moseley, was named for her in 1770.
Antoine Trabue died January 29, 1724, aged 56 or 57, in Manakin Town, Henrico County, Virginia. A record of his death is contained in a register of the Huguenot Church of Manakin Town, King William Parish. His will was presented in court in Henrico County, Virginia, on May 4, 1724, by Magdalene Trabue, his Executrix. The will and will book in which it was recorded have been lost.
After Antoine’s death, his widow Magdalene married Pierre Chastain. There was no issue from this marriage. She wrote her will June 2, 1729, and it was proved May, 1731 in Henrico County. In her will she distributed many pieces of jewelry, silk clothing, furniture, and other articles to her daughters, Magdalene and Judith; and her estate, Negroes, stock and other articles to her sons, Jacob, Anthony, and John James. Her will displayed substantial wealth for the early eighteenth century.