Detail of a half-length portrait of Jonathan Trumbull – Connecticut Historical Society
Jonathan Trumbull, Sr. (1710-1785)
Jonathan Trumbull was a merchant and politician who rose to become one of the most famous governors in Connecticut’s history. Born in Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1710, Jonathan attended Harvard and studied for the ministry before beginning a trading partnership with his brother in 1731. After playing a vital role in supplying troops during the French and Indian War, Trumbull won election as deputy governor of Connecticut in 1766. With the death of Governor William Pitkin in 1769, Trumbull became governor of the colony. During the Revolutionary War, Trumbull was the only governor to side with the colonists, subsequently making him both the last governor of the Connecticut colony and the first governor of the state of Connecticut.
Learn More
Websites
Connecticut State Library. “Jonathan Trumbull,” 2002. Link.
Places
Documents
Connecticut Historical Society. “A Finding Aid to the Jonathan Trumbull, Sr. Papers,” 2016. Link.
Connecticut Digital Archive. “Jonathan Trumbull Collection,” n.d. Link.
George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799: Series 4. General Correspondence. 1697-1799. “Jonathan Trumbull to George Washington, July 17, 1775,” 2016. Link.
Books
Trumbull, Jonathan, Albert E Van Dusen, and Connecticut Historical Society. Adventurers for Another World: Jonathan Trumble’s Com̄on=place Book. Hartford, CT: Connecticut Historical Society, 1983.
Roth, David Morris. Connecticut’s War Governor, Jonathan Trumbull. Chester, CT: Pequot Press, 1974.
Weaver, Glenn. Jonathan Trumbull, Connecticut’s Merchant Magistrate, 1710-1785. Hartford, CT: Connecticut Historical Society, 1956.
Trumbull, Jonathan. Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of Connecticut, 1769-1784. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Company, 1919. Link.
Stuart, I. W. Life of Jonathan Trumbull, Sen., Governor of Connecticut. Hartford, CT: Belknap & Warfield, 1859. Link.
“The Trumbull Papers Vol. II - Trumbull and Washington Letters.” In Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. 10. Fifth Series. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1888. Link.
