Editing Jonathan Trumbull

{{short description|American politician and governor of Connecticut (1710 – 1785)}}

{{distinguish|text=his sons, [[Jonathan Trumbull Jr.]], also a Connecticut politician, and [[John Trumbull]], a prominent artist}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Jonathan Trumbull Sr.
| image               = JohnTrumbull.jpg
| order               = 16th [[List of Governors of Connecticut|Governor of Connecticut]]
| lieutenant          = [[Matthew Griswold (governor)|Matthew Griswold]]
| predecessor         = Himself<br><small>(governor of [[Connecticut Colony]])</small>
| successor           = [[Matthew Griswold (governor)|Matthew Griswold]]
| term_start          = October 10, 1776
| term_end            = May 13, 1784
| order2              = 16th [[List of colonial governors of Connecticut|Governor of Connecticut Colony]]
| term_start2         = 1769
| term_end2           = 1776
| predecessor2        = [[William Pitkin]]
| successor2          = Himself<br><small>(governor of State of Connecticut)</small>
| birth_date          = October 12, 1710
| birth_place         = [[Lebanon, Connecticut|Lebanon]], [[Connecticut Colony]], [[British America]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1785|8|17|1710|10|12}}
| death_place         = [[Lebanon, Connecticut|Lebanon]], [[Connecticut]], [[United States]]
| party               = [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| spouse              = Faith Robinson
| children            = [[Joseph Trumbull (commissary general)|Joseph Trumbull]]<br>[[Jonathan Trumbull Jr.]]<br>[[Faith Trumbull]]<br>Mary Trumbull<br>David Trumbull<br>[[John Trumbull]]
| alma_mater          = [[Harvard College]]
| profession          = 
| religion            = 
| signature           = Jonathan Trumbull Signature.svg
}}

'''Jonathan Trumbull Sr.''' (October 12, 1710{{spaced ndash}}August 17, 1785) was an American politician and statesman who served as [[List of Governors of Connecticut|Governor of Connecticut]] during the [[American Revolution]]. Trumbull and [[Nicholas Cooke]] of Rhode Island were the only men to serve as governor of both a British colony and an American state, and he was the only governor to take up the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] cause at the start of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]].<ref name=CO>{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Charles H.|title=Cut Off: Colonel Jedediah Huntington's 17th Continental (Conn.) Regiment at the Battle of Long Island August 27, 1776|year=2009|publisher=Heritage Books|location=Westminster, MD|isbn=978-0-7884-4924-6|page=7}},</ref> [[Trumbull College]] at [[Yale University]], the town of [[Trumbull, Connecticut]], [[Trumbull County, Ohio]] (originally part of the [[Connecticut Western Reserve]]), and [[Jonathan the Husky]] are all named for him.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uconn.edu/history/traditions/ |title=The UConn Story – History of the University of Connecticut |publisher=Uconn.edu |access-date=September 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219063633/http://uconn.edu/history/traditions/ |archive-date=December 19, 2008 }}</ref>

Trumbull was the father of [[John Trumbull]], the noted artist, and [[Jonathan Trumbull Jr.]], Governor of Connecticut and [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]].

==Early life==
[[File:Coat of Arms of Jonathan Trumbull.svg|145px|thumb|left|Coat of Arms of Jonathan Trumbull]]
Trumbull was born in [[Lebanon, Connecticut]], the son of Joseph Trumble (1678–1755) and his wife, Hannah Trumble (née Higley), the daughter of John Higley and Hannah Drake. The patriarch of the Trumble family was the immigrant John Trumble (1612–1687), from [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland]], who was Joseph's grandfather. The original spelling of "Trumble" was later changed for an unknown reason.

Jonathan graduated from [[Harvard University|Harvard College]] with a B.A. in 1727; for three years after graduation, he studied theology under the Reverend Solomon Williams at Lebanon and was licensed to preach at [[Colchester, Connecticut]]; this became a Master of Arts degree.

==Career==
Trumbull became a merchant with his father in 1731, participating more fully in the business after the death of his brother at sea in 1732. From 1733 to 1740, he was a delegate to the general assembly, and, in 1739–1740, was Speaker of the House. He was appointed lieutenant colonel in Connecticut's militia in 1739, and was colonel of the 12th Connecticut Regiment during the [[French and Indian War]].

He served as deputy governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1766 to 1769, and, on the death of Governor [[William Pitkin]], became [[List of colonial governors of Connecticut|Governor of Connecticut]] in 1769, serving in that capacity until 1784, through Connecticut's transition from a colony to a U.S. state.

===Revolutionary War===
On May 13, 1774, British General [[Thomas Gage]] arrived in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], a city with a history of violent protests against British policies. Given the problems he was inheriting from Royal Governor [[Thomas Hutchinson (governor)|Thomas Hutchinson]], within a week of arriving Gage contacted Trumbull and expressed a "readiness to cooperate" with him "for the good of his Majesty's service."<ref>Phelps, Page 48.</ref> When Gage sent Trumbull a request for assistance after the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] in April 1775, Trumbull refused and made clear his choice to side with the Patriots. He replied that Gage's troops would "disgrace even barbarians", and he accused Gage of "a most unprovoked attack upon the lives and the property of his Majesty's subjects."<ref>Eddlem, Thomas R. 25-AUG-03 The New American http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-24329109_ITM</ref>

On July 6, 1775, along with other officers, Trumbull commissioned [[Nathan Hale]] as a first lieutenant in the newly raised [[7th Continental Regiment|Seventh Regiment]] of the [[Continental Army]].<ref>Rose, Page 8.</ref> Hale was later executed by the British for espionage.

Trumbull was a friend and advisor of General [[George Washington]] throughout the Revolutionary period, dedicating the resources of Connecticut to the fight for independence. Washington declared him "the first of the patriots."<ref>Phelps, Page 59.</ref> When Washington was desperate for men or food during the war, he could turn to "Brother Jonathan".<ref>Lefkowitz, Page 232.</ref> Trumbull also served as the Continental Army's Paymaster General (Northern Department) in the spring of 1778, until the untimely death of his mother forced him to resign his post. As part of his resignation, he requested that the remainder of his back pay be distributed to the soldiers of the Northern Department.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.footnote.com/image/454501/#454617 | title = Misc Letters to Congress 1775–1789 }}</ref>

===Post-war===
Trumbull was one of only two colonial governors to continue in office after independence (the other was [[Rhode Island]]'s [[Nicholas Cooke]], who assumed office early in the war). Governor Trumbull was elected as an honorary member of the Connecticut [[Society of the Cincinnati]] in 1784. In 1782, he was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter T|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterT.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=July 28, 2014}}</ref> He received an honorary LL.D. from [[Yale University]] in 1775 and from the [[University of Edinburgh]] in 1787.

==Personal life==
[[File:Madame Faith Trumbull Contributing her Cloak for the Soldiers (page 318 crop).jpg|thumb|Faith Robinson Trumbull, depicted donating her cloak for the revolutionary war effort]]
In 1736, one year prior to his marriage, Jonathan Trumbull Sr. purchased Flora, a 'mulato girl and slave for life', from Eliphalet Adams of New London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yaleslavery.org/WhoYaleHonors/trumbull.html|title=Trumbull College}}</ref>

On December 9, 1735, he married Faith Robinson (1718–1780), daughter of Reverend John Robinson. They were the parents of six children, including:
*[[Joseph Trumbull (delegate)|Joseph Trumbull]] (1737–1778), first commissary general of the [[Continental Army]] and an early member of the Board of War.
*[[Jonathan Trumbull Jr.]] (1740–1809), aide-de-camp to General [[George Washington]] from 1781 to the end of the war, Speaker of the House from 1791 to 1793, and Governor of Connecticut from 1798 to 1809.
*[[Faith Trumbull]] (1743–1775), who married General [[Jedidiah Huntington]].
*Mary Trumbull (1745–1831), who married [[William Williams (signer)|William Williams]], signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].
*David Trumbull (1751–1822), commissary of the Colony of Connecticut and father of [[Joseph Trumbull (governor)|Joseph Trumbull]], the 35th Governor of Connecticut.
*[[John Trumbull]] (1756–1843), "Painter of the American Revolution" and aide-de-camp to General Washington for 19 days in 1775.

Trumbull died in [[Lebanon, Connecticut]], and is buried at the Old Cemetery there. His home in Lebanon, the [[Jonathan Trumbull House]], was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1965.

==In historical fiction==
*In ''A Little Maid of Old Connecticut'' by [[Alice Turner Curtis]], the main character, a little girl named Ellie Barlow, aided by a friend, delivers a secret message to Trumbull during his years as governor, after which he seeks her out, and helps her friend's father get a much-needed job. The story begins in the year 1777.{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Connecticut}}
* [[Maria Trumbull]], granddaughter

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*Baker, Mark Allen (2014). ''Spies of Revolutionary Connecticut, From Benedict Arnold to Nathan Hale''. The History Press. 
*Baker, Mark Allen (2014). ''Connecticut Families of the Revolution, American Forebears from Burr to Wolcott''. The History Press.
*Phelps, M. William (2008). ''Nathan Hale: The Life and Death of America's First Spy'', St. Martin's Press.
*Lefkowitz, Arthur S.(2003). ''George Washington's Indispensable Men: The 32 Aides-de-Camp Who Helped Win the Revolution'', Stackpole Books.
*Rose, Alexander (2006). ''Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring'', Bantam Books.

==External links==
*[http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~dav4is/people/TRUM1.htm Biography, genealogy, chronology and bibliography]
*[http://www.govtrumbullhousedar.org Governor Jonathan Trumbull House and Wadsworth Stable]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081226081216/http://www.cslib.org/gov/trumbullj.htm Connecticut State Library]
*[http://www.ctgenweb.org/county/cofairfield/pages/trumbull/trumbull_index.htm The USGenWeb Project, Fairfield County]
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Trumbull, Jonathan}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William Pitkin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of colonial governors of Connecticut|Governor of the Connecticut Colony]]|years=1769–1776}}
{{s-aft|after=himself|as=[[List of Governors of Connecticut|Governor of Connecticut]]}}
{{s-bef|before=himself|as=[[List of colonial governors of Connecticut|Governor of the Connecticut Colony]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor of Connecticut]]|years=1776–1784}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Matthew Griswold (governor)|Matthew Griswold]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Governors of Connecticut}}
{{John Trumbull}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trumbull, Jonathan}}
[[Category:People of Connecticut in the French and Indian War]]
[[Category:People of Connecticut in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:1710 births]]
[[Category:1785 deaths]]
[[Category:Governors of Connecticut]]
[[Category:Colonial governors of Connecticut]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:People from colonial Connecticut]]
[[Category:American slave owners]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Political leaders of the American Revolution]]
[[Category:Trumbull, Connecticut]]
[[Category:People from Lebanon, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Speakers of the Connecticut House of Representatives (colonial period)]]
[[Category:Trumbull family|Jonathan]]