Trumbull, Jonathan, 1740-1809

<p>Jonathan Trumbull Jr. (March 26, 1740 – August 7, 1809) was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of Connecticut and the second Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.</p>

<p>Trumbull was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, the second son of Jonathan Trumbull Sr. (the eventual Governor of Connecticut) and his wife Faith Robinson, daughter of Rev. John Robinson. Trumbull graduated from Harvard College in 1759, and gave the valedictory address when he received his master's degree in 1762. His brother John Trumbull was a noted painter of the Revolution.</p>

<p>Carrying on the family's tradition of public service, Trumbull began with town and colony offices: lister, grand juror, surveyor of highways, justice of the peace, and selectman. In 1774 he was elected deputy. the first of seven terms representing Lebanon. He served in the state legislature three times; from 1774 to 1775, from 1779 to 1780, and in 1788, serving as Speaker of the House in 1788.</p>

<p>Trumbull served in the Continental Army as paymaster general of the Northern Department from July 28, 1775 to July 29, 1778. In February 1781, he was given the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was included in the general orders of June 8, 1781: "Jonathan Trumbull. Esqr., Junior, is appointed Secretary to the Commander in Chief and to be respected accordingly." He served for the duration of the war as aide-de-camp to General George Washington until December 28, 1783. After the war, he became an original member of the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati.</p>

<p>Elected to the First, Second, and Third Congresses, Trumbull served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1789 to March 3, 1795. He was the Speaker of the House in the Second Congress, both preceded and succeeded by Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg. He did not seek re-election for a fourth term and instead ran for the United States Senate.</p>

<p>When Trumbull was elected to the United States Senate, he served from March 4, 1795 to June 10, 1796.</p>

<p>On June 10, 1796, he resigned from the United States Senate to become Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut. When the Governor died in December 1797, he became governor and was re-elected to eleven consecutive terms until his death in Lebanon, Connecticut.</p>

<p>He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1804.</p>

<p>Trumbull died August 7, 1809, aged 69 years and 134 days. He is interred at Trumbull Cemetery, Lebanon, Connecticut. He was one the original members of the board of trustees of Bacon Academy.</p>

<p>Trumbull. the second son of Jonathan Trumbull. Sr., Connecticut’s famed Revolutionary War governor, attended Tisdale’s school in Lebanon and graduated in 1759 from Harvard where he ranked first socially and gave the salutatory address and the valedictory address for his M.A. Earlier in 1759 he joined his father and brother Joseph in a partnership and in 1767 took over the operation of his father’s store, which he and his brother David ran from 1784 to 1789.</p>

<p>He carried on the family’s tradition of public service beginning with town and colony offices: lister, grand juror, surveyor of highways, justice of the peace, and selectman. In 1774 he was elected deputy-the first of seven terms representing Lebanon. Prior to the Revolution he served on Lebanon’s committees of correspondence and safety. Like his father he displayed remarkable tenacity, industry, and efficiency in whatever position he held.</p>

<p>With the outbreak of war, Congress in 1775 appointed him paymaster for the New York Department, with the rank of colonel. After he resigned in 1778, Congress appointed him the first comptroller of the treasury, but he served for only six months.From June 1781 to August 1783 he served as military secretary for General Washington, who became a steadfast and intimate friend. This service with Washington enabled him to witness and participate in the British surrender at Yorktown.</p>

<p>After the war he was a charter member and secretary of the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati which engendered charges of exclusivism. This, plus his support for commutation and his nationalist views put him in disfavor with his fellow townsmen who denied him election to public office until 1788 when he was elected to the first of four terms in the Federal House of Representatives, resigning in 1794 to take a seat as United States senator. Elected Connecticut’s lieutenant governor in 1796, in 1798 he was elected governor, a position he held until his death in 1809.</p>

<p>As governor, expounding ultraconservative Federalist principles, he had the difficult task of guiding Connecticut through a turbulent period. Like most ardent Federalists, he viewed revolutionary France as a grave threat. In October 1798 he warned legislators that “an intimate connection with a nation of infidels and atheists … is to be avoided as the worst of evils.” Obviously, he wanted no changes in Connecticut’s political and religious organizations. Beginning in 1800 the Jeffersonian Republicans ran a gubernatorial candidate against him each year, but he always won.</p>

<p>An uncompromising exponent of Federalism, he clearly perceived that Connecticut’s well-being was contingent on a strong union which would provide economic expansion and prevent another disastrous war. His intensely conservative policies as governor, enhancing the social, intellectual, and moral good of the people, provided the type of leadership preferred by most of Connecticut’s voters.</p>

TRUMBULL, JONATHAN, JR., (brother of Joseph Trumbull), a Representative and a Senator from Connecticut; born in Lebanon, Conn., March 26, 1740; graduated from Harvard College in 1759; member, State legislature 1774-1775, 1779-1780, 1788, and served as speaker of the house in 1788; served in the Continental Army as a paymaster; comptroller of the treasury 1778-1779; appointed secretary and aide-de-camp to General George Washington in 1781; elected to the First, Second, and Third Congresses (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1795); did not seek reelection, having become a candidate for Senator; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Second Congress; elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1795, to June 10, 1796, when he resigned; lieutenant governor of Connecticut from 1796 until the death of the Governor in December 1797, when he became the Governor; was reelected for eleven consecutive terms, and served from 1797 until his death in Lebanon, Conn., August 7, 1809; interment in the East Cemetery.