Dawson Trotman

Dawson Earle Trotman (March 25, 1906 – June 18, 1956) was an evangelist and founder of the Navigators.

Biography

Trotman was born on March 25, 1906, in Bisbee, Arizona, US.[1]

Ministry

Trotman founded the Navigators in 1933.[2] He lost his life on June 18, 1956, aged 50, while rescuing a girl, Allene Beck, from drowning during water-skiing in Schroon Lake, New York.[3][4]

Trotman worked with many other evangelicals of his day, including Henrietta Mears, Jim Rayburn, Charles E. Fuller, Bill Bright, Billy Graham, and Dick Hillis. Lorne Sanny (1920–2005)[5] succeeded him as president of the Navigators after Trotman's wife Lila was its short-term interim president.

Personal life

Trotman married Lila Mae Clayton on July 3, 1932. Lila, who was born on December 12, 1913, in Buffalo Valley, Tennessee, died on October 27, 2004, at the age of 90.[6] The couple had five children.[4]

Bibliography

• Downing, James (2008). Living Legacy: Reflections on Dawson Trotman and Lorne Sanny (paperback). NavPress. ISBN 978-0972902380.
• Foster, Robert (2012). The Navigator (paperback). NavPress. ISBN 978-1612912769.
• Robertson, Jr., Lee Roy (2002). Developing a Heart for Mission: Five Missionary Heroes (paperback). NavMedia. ISBN 978-9810474256.
• Skinner, Betty Lee (1974). Daws: The Story of Dawson Trotman, Founder of the Navigators (paperback). Zondervan. ISBN 0-310-32801-2.
• The Navigators, ed. (2011). Dawson Trotman: In His Own Words (paperback). NavPress. ISBN 978-1617479212.

References

1. George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, US, 2016, p. 2331
2. Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Westminster John Knox Press, US, 2002, p. 486
3. "Holding Someone Up". iDisciple.Org. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
4. Taylor, Justin (June 18, 2016). "60 Years Ago Today Dawson Trotman, the Founder of Navigators, Drowned While Saving a Girl's Life: An Interview". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
5. "A Tribute to Lorne Sanny". navigators.org. March 28, 2005. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
6. "A Tribute to Lila Mae Trotman". navigators.org. October 27, 2004. Retrieved July 21, 2018.

External links

• "Religion: The Navigator". Time. July 2, 1956.
• Born to Reproduce
• The Need of the Hour (which is that tools may be cute, but the influence of the man of God to spread the knowledge of God is vital)
• The Wheel illustration (for the CHRIST-ian life in action, Dawson Trotman's original version)
• The Hand illustration (for getting a HAND-le on the Word of God), now also known as the "WORD-hand" illustration
• The "Prayer-Hand" illustration (five key ingredients of Prayer)
• The Big Dipper illustration (the seven distinctive elements of the Navigators as an organization)