b. 1782, in Dunbarton, Scotland, United Kingdom; d. 1842, in Springfield, Illinois. In 1801, Trotter went to the West Indies. He came to the United States when he was thirty years old. In 1813, Trotter married Catherine Imlay in Hartford, Connecticut. Soon after their marriage, Trotter went to New York City and began a mercantile business. The Trotters had one child. On April 1, 1832, Catherine Trotter died in New York City. In July 1835, George Trotter married Mary Ward in New York, and in the fall of 1835, they moved to Springfield, Illinois, where they had three children. Trotter was a land speculator from the time he came to Springfield until his death.