Jonathan Trumbull Jr. (March 26, 1740 – August 7, 1809) was an American politician and military officer who served as the

governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...

speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

, and

lieutenant governor of Connecticut The lieutenant governor of Connecticut is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. State of Connecticut. The lieutenant governor acts as President of the State Senate, presiding over the Senate and casting votes in the ...

. He is often confused with his younger brother,

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756 – November 10, 1843) was an American painter and military officer best known for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Revolut ...

, a famous artist during the revolutionary war and early years of the United States.

Early life

Trumbull was born in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, the second son of Jonathan Trumbull Sr. (the eventual

) and his wife Faith Robinson, daughter of Rev. John Robinson. Trumbull graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1759, and gave the valedictory address when he received his master's degree in 1762. His brother

was a noted painter of the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

Career

State and local office

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 The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

in 1788.

Revolutionary War

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 The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

United States Congress

Elected to the First,

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

, and Third Congresses, Trumbull served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

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 The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

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

Governor of Connecticut

On June 10, 1796, he resigned from the United States Senate to become

Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut The lieutenant governor of Connecticut is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. State of Connecticut. The lieutenant governor acts as President of the State Senate, presiding over the Senate and casting votes in the ...

. When the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

died in December 1797, he became governor and was re-elected to eleven consecutive terms until his death in Lebanon, Connecticut. He also served as a member of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors from 1796 to 1807, serving as chief justice while he was governor.

Personal life

Jonathan Trumbull Jr with Mrs Trumbull and Faith Trumbull by John Trumbull

Trumbull married Eunice Backus. Together, they had one son and four daughters: *Jonathan Trumbull (b. December 24, 1767, d. January 14, 1768), who died young *Faith Trumbull (b. February 1, 1769), who married Daniel Wadsworth (1771–1848), an artist and architect *Mary Trumbull (b. December 27, 1777) *Harriet Trumbull Silliman (b. September 2, 1783, d. January 1850), who married

Benjamin Silliman Benjamin Silliman (August 8, 1779 – November 24, 1864) was an American chemist and science education, science educator. He was one of the first American professors of science, the first science professor at Yale University, Yale, and the firs ...

(1779–1864), a scientist. * Maria Trumbull (b. February 14, 1785). He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1804. Trumbull died August 7, 1809, aged 69 years and 134 days. He is interred at Trumbull Cemetery, Lebanon, Connecticut. He was one of the original members of the board of trustees of Bacon Academy.

References

External links

*
National Governors AssociationThe American Revolution InstituteThe Society of the Cincinnati
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trumbull, Jonathan Jr. 1740 births 1809 deaths Continental Army staff officers United States Army paymasters Governors of Connecticut Members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut Speakers of the United States House of Representatives United States senators from Connecticut Harvard College alumni Connecticut Federalists Federalist Party United States senators Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Speakers of the Connecticut House of Representatives Federalist Party state governors of the United States Military personnel from Connecticut Aides-de-camp of George Washington People from Lebanon, Connecticut People from colonial Connecticut Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Jonathan 18th-century United States senators 18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives