Faith () Huntington (January 25, 1742 - November 24, 1775) was an early American woman.

Early and personal life

Huntington was born in 1743 in Lebanon, Connecticut, the daughter of Governor

Jonathan Trumbull Jonathan Trumbull Sr. (October 12, 1710August 17, 1785) was an American politician and statesman who served as Governor of Connecticut during the American Revolution. Trumbull and Nicholas Cooke of Rhode Island were the only men to serve as gov ...

and his wife, Faith . She was the sister of

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...

. Since her parents valued education, Faith and her siblings attended private school. At age 10, Faith went to Boston, Massachusetts to attend finishing school, where she trained in needlepoint. Faith Trumbull studied under Elizabeth Murray, a powerful businesswoman in Revolutionary Boston. At a young age, Faith also developed her skills as a painter. Faith’s younger brother, Revolutionary era artist

, credited her work as his inspiration: "She had acquired some knowledge of drawing, and had even painted in oil, two heads and a landscape. These wonders were hung in my mother’s parlor, and were among the first objects that caught my infant eye. I endeavored to imitate them." She married

Jedediah Huntington Jedediah (or Jedidiah) Huntington (4 August 1743 – 25 September 1818), was an American general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he served in numerous civilian posts. Early life Huntington was born ...

on May 1, 1766, and the couple lived in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

. on September 17, 1767, they had a son, Jabez. Following her death, Jabez, who was eight at the time, went to live with his maternal grandparents for the duration of the American Revolution.

American Revolution

The Huntington family, and Jedediah in particular, risked and lost a great deal when they made a total commitment to the revolutionary cause. While many businessmen made large profits from their dealing with the army, the Huntington fortune suffered from Jedediah's long absence. Her brother John served as adjutant to the Second Connecticut Regiment, briefly as aide-de-camp to General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, then as a brigade major. Huntington’s sister-in-law, Hannah Huntington, found her husband’s departure to fight in Cambridge particularly distressing. To support Hannah, the Huntington and Trumbull siblings planned a trip to

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

to reunite her with her husband, Joshua. Huntington herself became a victim of the war. Huntington and a group of her friends went to visit her brother and the army in their camp in Roxbury, Massachusetts, outside Boston. On their way, the axle of their carriage was broken in an accident on June 13 near Providence, RI, and their journey was delayed. They eventually arrived on arriving on June 17, 1775. Instead of a glamorous and exciting military display, they witnessed the brutality of the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

. The realization that this might be the fate of her brothers and husband seems to have been too much for Huntington, and she began experiencing episodes of serious depression. Though at times she felt "calm tranquility and composure," they would eventually give way to "great and surprising pain and distortion." Her brother John later said that she "found herself surrounded, not by ‘the pomp and circumstances of glorious war,’ but in the midst of all its horrible realities. She saw too clearly the life of danger and hardship upon which her husband and her favorite brother had entered, and it overcame her strong, but too sensitive mind." The family returned to Connecticut after their unfortunate trip to Boston. By July, Jedediah received his commission as a colonel in the Continental army and returned to Roxbury. This left Huntington alone once again. For a few weeks, she resumed the role of a supportive military wife. Soon though, Jedediah's absence began to greatly affect Huntington. She also wrote to him that she “ opedthe Unhappy Dispute may be Put to an happy Isue ictruly before Winter or I know not how I Shall Live through So Long an Absence from my Companion.” As these bouts grew worse, and as Jedediah, who was in Boston, did not feel he could leave his men, he and his mother brought Faith to stay with friends in Dedham, where he could visit her frequently. There, she was treated for depression by Dr. John Sprague.

Death and burial

On November 24, 1775, shortly after one of these visits, she hanged herself with "a small cord." Her funeral was held at the

Samuel Dexter House The Samuel Dexter House is a historic house at 699 High Street, Dedham, Massachusetts. It was built, beginning in July 1761, by Samuel Dexter, a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. Dexter purchased the property on which the house st ...

, where she had been living, on November 28, 1775. The service was led by Rev. Jason Haven and attended by a large crowd, including those she did not know from Dedham and the Army camped nearby. Following the funeral, the mourners went to the Ames Tavern. She was buried in the tomb of Nathaniel Ames. While the tomb was open and awaiting her corpse, Jabez Fitch, a soldier from Connecticut who served under Jedediah, entered the tomb with a few companions and discovered Ames' corpse. The local newspaper blamed the war, and the British, for her death: "The authors of American oppression and the whole public calamity are accountable for her death, and that of thousands more."

Notes

References

Works cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Huntington, Faith 1742 births category:1775 deaths category:Burials at Old Village Cemetery People from Lebanon, Connecticut Suicides in Massachusetts People of the American Revolution