Jonathan
Trumbull
Born:
Lebanon; October 10, 1710
Died: Lebanon; August 17, 1785
Entry
by Albert E. Van Dusen
Trumbull,
a dismal failure as a merchant but highly esteemed as a governor,
was a life-long resident of Lebanon. Three years after graduating
from Harvard in 1727, he was licensed as a Congregational minister,
but the ministry was not to be his vocation. By July 1731 he and
his brother Joseph (1705-1732) had formed a mercantile partnership.
After Joseph was lost at sea, Jonathan became a full-time merchant
on his own.
A
committed public servant, he faithfully served his town, church,
and colony. Always interested in intellectual pursuits, he helped
found a library and a private school in Lebanon. In 1733 Lebanon
elected him a deputy to the assembly; in 1740 the colony chose
him for the upper house--the youngest assistant in eighteenth-century
Connecticut. Enjoying an extremely active legislative career,
he frequently accepted committee assignments and wrote the reports.
Never one to be idle, he also was a justice of the peace and quorum;
a judge of the county, probate, and superior courts; and colonel
of the Twelfth Regiment. In 1735 he married Faith Robinson (1718-1780)
of Duxbury, Massachusetts, with whom he had six children. All
four sons--Joseph (1736/37-1778), Jonathan, Jr., (1740-1809),
David (1750/51-1822), and John (1756-1843)--played active roles
during the Revolutionary War.
From
1731 to 1749 he operated as an inland merchant, selling to customers
in Lebanon and nearby towns goods he purchased in Boston. Probably
late in 1749, with Elisha Williams (1694-1755) and Joseph Pitkin
(1696-1762), he formed a partnership which soon acquired large
debts attempting a direct trade with England. A later firm, founded
in 1764 and composed of Trumbull, son Joseph, and Eleazer Fitch
(1726-1796), likewise tried but failed to realize a profitable
English trade.
A
strong opponent of the Stamp Act, Trumbull and other assistants
walked out in 1765 when Governor Thomas Fitch took the required
oath of support. In 1766 Trumbull was elected deputy governor
and in 1769, governor. The only incumbent colonial governor to
serve throughout the war, he established a close relationship
with General Washington, providing large amounts of food and arms
for the Continental army. An indefatigable worker, he convened
about 1,200 meetings of the Council of Safety, but much of the
burden of running the state fell on him. In 1784 when he retired
from public service, being acutely aware of the disunity which
had plagued the American cause, he urged his countrymen to establish
a much stronger central government.
His
efforts helped greatly in making Connecticut the "Provisions
State" of the American Revolution as well as a large contributor
of men and arms. His strong and effective leadership as governor
during the critical years of the Revolution and his remarkable
political acumen wrought a significant change in the relative
power of the governor and assembly and "entitled him to
the first place among patriots."
For
Further Reading
Roth,
David M. Connecticut's War Governor, Jonathan Trumbull.
Chester, Connecticut, 1974.
Trumbull,
Jonathan. Jonathan Trumbull: Governor of Connecticut, 1769-1784.
Boston, 1919.
*
Entry under revision.
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