About the year 1850 the first attempt was made to collect and arrange in genealogical order the descendants of Thomas Trowbridge, the first of his name in this country, who emigrated from Exeter, Devonshire, England, to Dorchester, Mass, as early as 1637, and soon after went with the early settlers to the colony of New Haven. Those who were most interested in this undertaking were Thomas R. Trowbridge of New Haven, Philo M. Trowbridge of Woodbury, Conn., and Otis Trowbridge of Newton, Mass. As the result of their efforts, most of the descendants in the male line of Thomas, the second son of the settler, were collected by Rev. William S. Porter, who was employed for that purpose by Mr. Thomas R. Trowbridge; many of the descendants of William Trowbridge, the third son, were collected by Deacon Philo M. Trowbridge; and of the descendants of James Trowbridge, the youngest son, the records of several hundred were collected and printed in a pamphlet in 1854 by Deacon Otis Trow bridge. John, the oldest son of the settler, did not come with his father to this country and died unmarried in early manhood in Taunton, England. The subject then rested until the summer of 1869, when Mr. Thomas R. Trowbridge employed Rev. Frederick W. Chapman to take the materials collected and gather such other records as might be found and prepare a book for publication. As a result of his work the Trowbridge Family was published in 187 2.