USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 1 > Part 2
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held the office for several years. He was appointed associate judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut, and was a member of the upper house of the General Assem- bly in 1775. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, 1776-82, signed the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, and was president of the body from September 28, 1779, to July 6, 1781. On retiring he received a vote of thanks "in testimony of appreciation of his conduct in the chair and in execution of public business." In August, 1781, he resumed his seat as justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut and as a member of the coun- cil, or upper house of the General Assem- bly. He was reëlected a delegate to Con- gress in May, 1782, but did not take his seat owing to the condition of his health. He was again elected in 1783 and took his seat while the Congress was assembled at Princeton, New Jersey, serving from June 30 to November 4, and when the Con- gress adjourned he gave formal notice of his resignation on account of continued illness. He was elected Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut in 1784; Deputy Governor in 1785, and Governor in 1786, and was continuously reelected to the latter office at the succeeding an- nual elections up to the time of his death. He received the honorary degree of Mas- ter of Arts from Yale in 1779 and that of Doctor of Laws from the College of New Jersey in 1780 and from Yale in 1787.
He married, April 17, 1761, Martha, daughter of Rev. Ebenezer Devotion, pas- tor of the church at Windham. They had no children, and adopted those of Judge Huntington's brother Joseph-Samuel, who became Governor of Ohio ; and Fran- ces, who became the wife of Rev. Edward Dorr, president of Williams College. Judge Huntington died in Norwich, Con- necticut, January 6, 1796.
DEANE, Silas,
Diplomatist of the Revolution.
Silas Deane was born in that part of Groton, Connecticut, now called Led- yard, December 24, 1737, son of Silas and Sarah (Barker) Deane. He was gradu- ated from Yale College in 1758; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1761, and settled at Wethersfield, Connecticut, in the practice of his profession.
He served in the State Legislature for several terms, and, with Roger Sherman and Eliphalet Dyer, represented Connec- ticut in the first and second Continental Congresses (1774-75), acting on the com- mittees to devise means for supplying the colonies with military stores, and to esti- mate the cost of equipping the army. He formulated naval regulations, and selected, purchased and outfitted the first vessel commissioned for service in the Revolutionary War. The capture of Ti- conderoga was planned in Hartford, and Deane was one of the organizers of the force sent to accomplish it, and superin- tended its equipment. Congress having appointed him secret agent to France to purchase supplies and munitions of war and to secure a political and commercial alliance, he sailed by way of Bermuda, arriving there May 4, 1776, in the guise of a merchant buying goods for the West India trade. Through Baron de Beau- marchais, who was secretly in the con- fidence of the French government in the transaction, he obtained supplies, arms, and a loan of money, purchased a number of ships, and enlisted the aid of Lafayette, DeKalb, and other French officers. He was unwearying in his efforts to convince Vergennes, the French Minister of For- eign Affairs, of the advantages to France of the proposed alliance with the United States, and eventually induced him to send a fleet to America. Being unfortu-
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nately beset by a horde of speculators and adventurers, Deane was inveigled into making various unauthorized arrange- ments-contracts for supplies, employ- ment of incompetent officers, and other errors of judgment which ultimately caused his downfall. Accusations of ex- travagance and of use of public moneys in private trade were preferred against him by Arthur Lee and by Ralph Izard, and in November, 1777, Congress in- structed him to return as soon as pos- sible, in order that it might learn the state of affairs in Europe. In December, 1776, he had been joined by Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, and on February 6, 1778, the three signed a treaty of com- merce and friendship with France. Bear- ing letters of commendation from Frank- lin and Vergennes, he sailed on one of the vessels of D'Estaing's fleet in June, 1778, and arrived in August, when he made an oral report to Congress, after which he was dismissed to await its action. Some time having passed with- out his hearing further of the matter he addressed letter after letter to Congress without avail, begging for permission to vindicate himself from the charge of dis- honesty, that he might obtain release and return to France to finish his business. At length his patience, as well as his purse, was exhausted, and on December 5, 1778, he published in the Philadelphia "Packet" an "Address to the Free and Virtuous Citizens of the United States," complaining of the ingratitude of Con- gress, and attacking Arthur, William, and Richard Henry Lee, for circulating reports to his discredit. These seemed to have originated with his late colleague, Lee, who had quarreled with him in Paris. A controversy which divided Congress resulted, and raged in the pub- lic prints. Deane was summoned to give a final report in writing, and on Decem- ber 3Ist he was again dismissed to await
further orders. These he did not receive until August 6, 1779, when he was in- formed that his accounts would be audited when ready for presentation, with vouchers, and he was offered the sum of $10,000 (in depreciated currency) for his time and expenses during attendance on Congress, which offer he refused. In June, 1780, in order to procure the neces- sary papers to make his report, he re- turned to France, but found no one em- powered to verify his accounts, though they were finally submitted to Barclay, the financial agent of the United States in Europe. Embittered by his treatment at home and by the loss of property sold to pay his debts, when, as he claimed, Congress owed him over $12,000 for per- sonal outlay in its behalf, he eventually took a despairing view of the political situation in America, and in letters to various friends expressed his conviction that the Declaration of Independence was a mistake, and that a reunion with Great Britain was desirable, that nation being a more sincere friend than France, which had changed her policy toward the United States, now "mortgaged to her." Some of these letters were intercepted by the British government and were pub- lished in the New York "Royal Gazette" in the same year (1781) and republished in a volume in March, 1782, as "Paris Papers, or Mr. Silas Deane's Late Inter- cepted Letters to his Brothers and Other Intimate Friends in America." Many of his own countrymen denounced him as a traitor; he was also obnoxious to the French ministry ; and in the fall of 1781 he was compelled to retire to Ghent, where he became a naturalized citizen in order to carry on private trade to better advantage. In April, 1783, he removed to London, and his last years were spent in poverty, harassed by creditors. He wrote an "Address to the Free and Independent Citizens of the United States of North
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America," defending himself against the charges of fraud and peculation, and en- deavoring to explain his letters, which appeared in print in London in 1784, and in New London and Hartford, Connecti- cut. Illness was added to his misfortunes in 1788, and while helpless he was robbed of many of his papers, which were sold to Jefferson, at that time Minister to France. Upon recovery, Deane became interested in a plan for connecting the St. Lawrence river and Lake Champlain by a ship canal, and his prospects were so encouraging that he determined to return to America. Before leaving he appealed to Washington to have his conduct ex- amined and his accounts settled, Con- gress having ignored numerous letters he sent to that body. Not receiving a reply, he embarked at Gravesend for Quebec, Canada, on September 23, 1789; but was almost immediately stricken by paralysis, and died four hours later.
In 1842, Congress, after an examination of Deane's papers, decided that the audit made by Arthur Lee, as commissioner of accounts was "ex parte, erroneous and a gross injustice," and directed that his heirs be paid the sum of $37,000. "The Deane Papers," a mass of material, in- cluding a biography, constitute volumes XIX-XXIII of the New York Historical Society Collections. A very full account of the diplomat's life and services is given in Wharton's "Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence."
Silas Deane married (first) in August, 1763, Mehetabel (Nott) Webb, widow of Joseph Webb, Sr., a storekeeper and West Indian trader, to whose business he succeeded. He married (second) in June, 1777, Elizabeth, daughter of Governor Gurdon Saltonstall, of New London, and widow of John Ebbetts or Evarts. His only child, Jesse, child of the first mar- riage, became a merchant in Hartford.
TREAT, Robert,
Governor.
The origin of the name Treat is not known, but it is probably a place name, and in its present form dates back as early as 1572. The family was one of title and had a coat-of-arms. The family is numerous in County Somerset, Eng- land, and was found also in other parts of England. The spelling has varied, some of its forms being, Trat, Trate, Tret, Treet, Treete, Trot, Troot, Treat, and others. The name is rare in England to- day, however.
John Treat, or Trott, was of Staple- grove, near Taunton, County Somerset, England. His name occurs often in the Taunton Manor Rolls.
William Trott was probably a son of John Trott, and his name is found in the calendars as of the same parish and hundred of Staplegrove. The following are supposed to be his children: Wil- liam ; Richard, mentioned below ; Joanna, of Staplegrove, in 1542; Lucy, Alice, John, probably died 1584 in Bishop's Compton.
Richard Trott, a son of William Trott, died about 1571. He married Joanna -, who was probably buried at Otterford, August 14, 1577. He lived at Staplegrove, Poundisford and Otter- ford. Children: John, buried, October 16, 1544, in Pitminster ; John, died about 1595; Robert, mentioned below; Wil- liam, buried March 19, 1596; Tamsen.
Robert Trott, a son of Richard Trott, was baptized probably in the hamlet of Trendle, now Trull, parish of Pit- minster, England, and was buried in Pit- minster, February 16, 1599. He married Honora or Honour who was buried September 17, 1627, in Pitminster. His will was dated in 1598-99, and was proved in Taunton. Children : Alice,
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baptized February 4, 1564; John, bap- tized September 10, 1570; buried May 7, 1633; Mary, baptized February 6, 1575; Agnes, baptized February 18, 1577; Tam- sen, baptized May 26, 1581; Richard, mentioned below.
Richard Treat, son of Robert Trott, or Treat, was baptized August 28, 1684, in Pit- minster, in the hamlet of Trendle, County Somerset, England. He was the immi- grant ancestor of the American family, and spelled his name in several ways, Trott, Trett, Treat, etc. He settled at Wethersfield, Connecticut, and was one of the four pioneers that were honored with the titles of Mr. He was a deputy to the General Court in 1644, perhaps earlier, and held that office until 1657-58. He was a juror in 1643; was assistant or magistrate eight times, from March II, 1657-58 to 1665; in 1660 a townsman; member of Governor Winthrop's council in 1663-64, and served on many important committees of the town and church. He owned much land and other real estate in Wethersfield. His will is dated Febru- ary 13, 1668, and the inventory was dated March 3, 1669-70, soon after his death. Children, born and baptized in Pitmin- ster, England: Honor, born 1616; Joan- na, baptized May 24, 1618, died 1694; Sarah, baptized December 3, 1620; Rich- ard, baptized January 9, 1622-23 ; Robert, mentioned below; Elizabeth, baptized October 8, 1629, died 1706; Alice, bap- tized February 16, 1631-32, buried August 2, 1633; James, baptized July 20, 1634, died February 12, 1709; Katherine, bap- tized June 29, 1637.
Governor Robert Treat, son of Richard Treat, was born in Pitminster, England, about 1624, baptized February 25, 1624- 25, died July 12, 1710 (gravestone at Mil- ford, Connecticut). He married (first) Jane Tapp, who died the last of October, 1703, aged seventy-five, daughter of Ed- mund Tapp. He married (second) Octo-
ber 24, 1705, Mrs. Elizabeth (Hollings- worth) Bryan, born June 16, 1641, died January 10, 1706, aged sixty-eight, a daughter of Elder Michael and Abigail Powell, of Boston, and had married (first) August 23, 1659, Richard Hol- lingsworth and (second) Richard Bryan. Children : Samuel, baptized September 3, 1648; John, baptized October 20, 1650; Mary, born May 1. 1652; Robert, born August 14, 1654, mentioned below ; Sarah, October 9, 1656; Abigail, died December 25, 1727; Hannah, born January 1, 1660- 61 ; Joseph, September 17, 1662.
Robert Treat was among the early settlers of Milford, Connecticut, coming from Wethersfield, and at the first meet- ing of the planters, November 20, 1639, was one of nine appointed to survey and lay out lands. He subsequently returned to Wethersfield and was elected rate- maker there in 1647. Returning soon afterward to Milford, he joined the church there with his wife, April 19, 1649. In 1653 he was chosen deputy to the General Court, and the follow- ing year was elected lieutenant of the Milford militia company. He became a large landholder and a strong and in- fluential factor in the development of the colony. He was often chosen to purchase and divide public lands. He was early a prominent member of the church, and in 1660 was one of the laymen chosen to perform the ceremony of laying on of hands at the installation of Rev. Roger Newton. He held the post of deputy until 1659, with the exception of one year, and then being elected magistrate, he served for five years on the governor's council, and was reelected, but declined further service. In 1663 he was again chosen magistrate for Milford, and he was also captain of the military forces. In May, 1664, he and William Jones were appointed to meet a committee from Mas- sachusetts to consider various matters of
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common interest. He was again elected magistrate, but declined. He was active in the consummation of the union of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies under one government. In 1665 he was a deputy to the General Court, and the following year was nominated for the office of assistant and defeated. He was a delegate to go to New Jersey in the interests of those dissatisfied with con- ditions in Connecticut and desiring to settle there. The movement resulted in the establishment of the town of Newark, and Treat and ten others were appointed to have charge of the government, and he was the foremost citizen. From 1667 to 1672 he was deputy to the New Jersey General Assembly.
In 1672 he returned to his old home in Connecticut though a son and daughter remained. Upon his return he was placed second in command of the forces in prepa- ration to fight the Dutch in New York, and at the next election was chosen as- sistant and continued for three years, serving also on the Committee of Safety, which acted when the General Court was not in session. He had many important public duties on committees of the Gen- eral Court, and held many private trusts. When King Philip's War broke out he was commissioned major in command of the Connecticut quota. He saved Spring- field from destruction, and took active part in the campaign in western Massa- chusetts and the Connecticut valley. He defeated the Indians at Hadley in Octo- ber. He took a leading part in the famous Swamp Fight, when the Narra- gansetts were defeated. Four of his five captains were slain, but he escaped with a bullet hole in his hat. After the death of King Philip, Major Treat returned home, and was elected Deputy-Governor, continuing in this office seven years. He also served as judge of committee, especi- ally in Indian affairs, now at the request
of Northampton to mediate with the In- dians for the return of captives and a treaty of peace, now on the Committee of Safety and twice as commissioner for the United Colonies and twice also as substitute for other commissioners. In 1683 he was elected Governor, to succeed Governor Leete, who died in April. He had to deal with many exceedingly trying problems of state in his administration. There was friction with other colonies and encroachments on all sides. Then came the crushing blow inflicted by King James in revoking the colonial charter and the assumption of power by the in- famous Andros. When James fell and Andros was overthrown, Governor Treat and the colonial officers resumed their stations. After the custom of the times, he served as Deputy Governor after he was Governor, and he was in this impor- tant post from the age of seventy-six to eighty-six, then declined and retired. "Few men," says Trumbull, "have sus- tained a fairer character or rendered the public more important services. He was an excellent military officer; a man of singular courage and resolution, tempered with caution and prudence. His adminis- tration of government was with wisdom, firmness and integrity. He was esteemed courageous, wise and pious. He was ex- ceedingly loved and venerated by the people in general."
TRUMBULL, Jonathan,
Head of Distinguished Family.
The Governors Trumbull, father and son, were descended from John Trum- bull, a cooper, who came from Newcastle- on-Tyne, England, and settled at Rowley, Massachusetts, in 1640. He filled the positions of town clerk and schoolmaster. His wife, Elinor Chandler, he married in England. From them the line of descent to the elder Governor Jonathan Trumbull
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is through John, son of the emigrant John, and Joseph, who removed from Massachusetts to Lebanon, Connecticut, and married Hannah Higley. Joseph Trumbull was a merchant.
Governor Jonathan Trumbull, son of Joseph and Hannah (Higley) Trumbull, was born October 12, 1710. He was graduated with honor from Harvard Col- lege at the age of seventeen, having ac- quired an especial proficiency in the Hebrew language. He commenced the study of theology under the Rev. Solo- mon Williams, of Lebanon, Connecticut, became a duly licensed minister, and had charge of the church at Colchester. The death of his brother Joseph, however, changed the direction of his life, it being necessary for him to aid his father in the conduct of his mercantile business. His efficiency in his new calling was manifest from the outset; he extended the trade of the house to Halifax, Lon- don, Amsterdam and the West Indies; but ruin came later by reason of financial depression and losses at sea, meantime the young man had studied law, but was soon called to official positions. In 1733 he was first elected to the General As- sembly, and in 1739 he became speaker of that body. In 1740 he became an as- sistant to the Governor, and was re- elected twenty-two times. He was a de- voted friend of education, and in 1743 he established in his native town an acad- emy where his own children were edu- cated, and which was of so superior char- acter that it drew students from prac- tically all the colonies, and from the West Indies also. When twenty-nine he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of militia, but saw no field service. His patriotism became pronounced in 1765. when, as a member of the council, he left the chamber rather than witness Govern- or Fitch subscribe to the oath to carry out the provisions of the Stamp Act. He was
Lieutenant-Governor, 1766-69, and was elected Governor in the latter year, over a number of prominent competitors. It was said of him that he was the only one of the colonial Governors to stand out against encroachments upon the rights of the people; at the same time he dis- countenanced violent opposition, believ- ing that redress would rather follow gentle methods than it would power and force. But when war came, he was quick to act ; and, under his inspiring influence, Connecticut furnished to the patriot cause a greater number of troops than did any other State except Massachu- setts. In addition to his arduous duties as Governor and in the council chamber. he conducted a voluminous and impor- tant correspondence with the other pa- triot colonies, and his relations with Washington were of so confidential a nature, and his counsels and assistance were of such great value to that eminent man, that he is credited with having said at times, when in universal need of ad- vice or supplies. "We must consult Brother Jonathan"-a sobriquet which has come down through all the years, "Brother Jonathan" having come to be regarded as the personification of the United States. Trumbull encountered many and great difficulties ; desertions from the army were many, as were also the calls of Washington for additional troops. At one time, in the midst of the harvest of 1776, on the urgent appeal of Washington, Trumbull called for nine more regiments, with the appeal, "May the God of the armies of Israel be your leader." On account of his advanced age and approaching feebleness incident to the great burdens he had carried. Trum- bull resigned his gubernatorial office in 1783. after occupying it for fourteen years, and having been a prime figure in all the events of the period covering the inception of the Revolution, the long war.
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and the firm establishment of the new government.
The aged patriot now engaged in busi- ness, but for only a short time, and his remaining years were passed in pleasant retirement, in devotional reading and cor- respondence. He wrote a "Dissertation Upon the Revolutionary War," which was incorporated in the "Collections of the Historical Society of Connecticut." He received many visitors, among then the Marquis de Chastellux, who had come with Count Rochambeau, to aid in the Revolution, who wrote of Trumbull as "a little old man in the antique dress of the first settlers, possessing all the importance and all the pedantry becom- ing the great magistrate of a small re- public." He received the degree of LL. D. from Yale College in 1779, and from the University of Edinburgh in 1787.
Governor Trumbull married, in 1735, Faith, daughter of the Rev. John Robin- son, and a descendant of the John Alden immortalized in Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish." She was a woman of strong character and sturdy patriotism. They reared a remarkable family of four sons and two daughters. Joseph was a member of the Continental Congress, and the first commissary-general of the army; Jonathan is to be further mentioned in this narrative; David was commissary of the Connecticut, and assistant to his brother Joseph in the army; John served as an aide to Washington, and after the war became a historical painter. Of the daughters, Faith became the wife of Gen- eral Jedidiah Huntington ; and Mary the wife of William Williams, a Georgia signer of the Declaration of Indepen- dence.
Governor Trumbull died at Lebanon, Connecticut, August 17. 1785, being with- in a few months of seventy-five years of age. The inscription upon his monument records that "he died full of honors, rich
in benevolence, and firm in the faith and hopes of Christianity." The Connecticut Society of Sons of the American Revolu- tion in 1896 placed on the chimney above the fireplace in the old war office at Lebanon, a bronze slab bearing the fol- lowing inscription :
1775-1783. LEBANON WAR OFFICE.
During the War of the Revolution, Governor Jonathan Trumbull and the Council of Safety held more than eleven hundred meetings in this building; and here also came many distinguished officers of the Continental Army and French Allies.
Their Monument is More Enduring than Bronze
Governor Jonathan Trumbull (2), son of Governor Jonathan Trumbull (I), was born March 26, 1740, and died August 7, 1809. He was graduated from Harvard College with honors in 1759. At the time of the beginning of the Revolution- ary War he was serving as a deputy from Lebanon to the General Assembly of Connecticut, in which he was for a time speaker of the house. In 1775 he was appointed deputy paymaster-general for the northern department of the army, an office he filled until the close of the north- ern campaign. He was obliged to retire from the army for a time on the death of his brother Joseph, in order to settle up the latter's estate, and during this time was reëlected as a deputy to the General Assembly. While presenting his brother's accounts to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, his financial ability was conceded to be so remarkable that he was appointed comptroller of the treas- ury, a position which placed him at the head of the treasury department. The department was reorganized the follow- ing year and he was made one of a com- mittee of five to control it. In 1780 he was appointed secretary and first aide to General Washington, a position which kept him in close and constant touch with that eminent man, whose warm
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