Genealogical and biographical record of New London County, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the early settled families, Part 7

Author:
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1568

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Among other ventures in which Mr. Pierce played a conspicuous part was the Ashland Cotton Company at Jewett City, of which he was president for thirty-five years. Another was the Aspinhook Company of the same village. From 1873 the water power at Jewett City, easily made serviceable by a dam across the Quinebaug, was a pet project of Mr. Pierce. Twenty years later he saw his dream realized by the erection of a printing, bleaching and calendering plant on the plateau south of the falls, and of this company he was president up to the time of his death. In all the various concerns with which Mr. Pierce was prominently connected, about 2,000 persons are constantly employed, and the annual payroll cannot be less than a million of dollars.

In the political world Mr. Pierce was, from 1831, a strict advocate of temperance principles, giving of his time and money to further the cause. He was an Abolitionist until the close of the war, and after- ward voted with the Republican party. In 1854 he represented his district in the State Legislature. Although positive in his own opinions he was tol- erant toward the views of others. While residing at Fall River, in 1834, Mr. Pierce united with the Congregational Church, for many years was a mem- ber of the Church at Norwich town, and remained connected with that denomination for the remainder of his days, later transferring his membership to the Park Church, in Norwich.

Mr. Pierce's charities were legion. From the beginning of his career he gave in proportion to his means. In 1878 he gave to the United Workers the large house at Norwich town, now known as the Rock Nook Children's home. One of the buildings connected with the training school for Negroes and Indians at Hampton, Va., made famous by its founder, Gen. Armstrong, costing way up into the thousands, was built with Mr. Pierce's money. His practical consideration has assisted many an object whose end was the good of humanity. Until a few years before his death his constitution was robust, a fact which he attributed to his temperance in all things. He was able to ride out up to within ten days of his death. Mr. Pierce was a very method- ical man, and possessed of a great deal of energy, his native energy being far superior to his strength in his old age, and he was always in danger of over- taxing himself. He loved to be doing something,

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and always did as much as his strength would allow. He retained every faculty until the last.

Wholly without any solicitation on his part Mr. Pierce was called to many public positions. In Fall River, at the age of twenty-two, he was captain of a fire company of eighty-six men. In 1858 he was elected director of the Norwich & Worcester Rail- road. He was president of the Norwich & New York Steamboat Company for eleven years, and was for years a member of the board of directors of the Second National Bank and the Chelsea Savings Bank. In the forties he was vice-president of an Association of Inventors, holding their meetings in the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. He was trus- tee of the Hampton school, which he often visited. At the time of his death he was a member of the Metropolitan Museum, of New York; a fellow of the American Geographical Society in New York, and of a library association in Boston ; and a member of the Cotton Manufacturers' Association, and of the Home Market Club of that city.

Mr. Pierce had traveled extensively, crossing the Atlantic eight times for business and rest. His faith in the future of his own country made him venture much, and amply was he repaid. In his business affairs he was ever found honest and prog- ressive, faithful to duty, and considerate of his em- ployes. His life, showing what one man can ac- complish by industry, honesty and perseverance, sug- gests possibilities and gives courage to those aspir- ing youths who are obliged to hew their own way. In this age when the worker-the doer-is the man most honored, the career of Moses Pierce cannot fail to give a lofty conception of right and pur- poseful living. His remains rest in Yantic ceme- tery at Norwich.

TRUMBULL. The Trumbulls of New London county .- Seven successive generations of the Trum- bull family have resided in what is now New Lon- don county. The first of the name residing within these limits was Joseph Trumbull, who was a grand- son of John, the emigrant ancestor of his line, a cooper, who came to New England from Newcastle- on-Tyne, and settled in 1640 at Rowley, Mass., where he held the position of town clerk and school- master. He brought with him his wife, Ellinor, whose maiden name was Chandler, and a son John. The family line runs as follows :

(II) Children of John and Ellinor (Chandler) Trumbull, who were married in 1635: Beriah, born in 1637, died in infancy ; John, born in 1639, mar- ried Deborah Jackson, and died in 1690.

(III) Children of John and Deborah (Jackson) Trumbull : John, born in 1670, died in 1751, married Elizabeth Winchell (removed to Suffield, Conn.) ; Hannah, born 1673 ; Mary, born 1675, married Capt. Job Ellsworth; Joseph, born 1678, died June 16, 1755 (removed to Lebanon, Conn.), married Han- nah Higley, Aug. 31, 1704, who was born at Wind- sor, April 22, 1683, and died Nov. 8, 1768; Ammi,

born 1681 (removed to East Windsor ), married Ai Burnham ; Benoni, born 1684 (removed to Hebron

(IV) Children of Joseph and Hannah (Higley Trumbull: Joseph, born March 27, 1705, died 173 marrried Sarah Bulkley, Nov. 20, 1727. Jonatha: born Oct. 12, 1710, died Aug. 17, 1785, married De 9, 1735, Faith Robinson. Mary was born Aug. 2 1713. Hannah, born 1715, died young. Hanna (2) was born Sept. 18, 1717. Abigail was bor March 6, 1719. David, born Sept. 8, 1723, died Jul 9, 1740.

(V) Children of Jonathan and Faith (Robin son) Trumbull : Joseph, born March II, 1737, die July 23, 1778, married March, 1777, Amelia Dyer Jonathan, born March 26, 1740, died Aug. 7, 1800 married March 26, 1767, Eunice Backus. Faith born Jan. 25, 1743, died Nov. 24, 1775, marrrie( Col. (afterward Gen.) Jedediah Huntington. Mary born July 16, 1745, died Feb. 9, 1831, married Feb 14, 1771, William Williams, signer of the Declara tion of Independence. David, born Feb. 5, 1751-52 died Jan. 17, 1822, married Dec. 6, 1778, Saral Buckus, who was born Feb. 7, 1760, died June 2 1846. John, born June 6, 1756, died Nov. 10, 1843 married in London.

(VI) Children of Jonathan and Eunice ( Backus) Trumbull : Jonathan, born Dec. 24, 1767. died young. Faith, born Feb. I, 1769, married Dan- iel Wadsworth, of Hartford. Mary, born Dec. 27: 1777, died young. Harriet, born Sept. 2, 1783, mar- ried Prof. Benjamin Silliman, of Yale College, Sept. 17, 1809. Maria, born Feb. 14, 1785, married Henry Hudson, of Hartford.

(VI) Children of David and Sarah (Backus) Trumbull: Sarah, born Sept. 6, 1779, died Oct. 3, 1839, married William T. Williams. Abigail, born Jan. 2, 1781, married Peter Lannan. Joseph, born Dec. 7, 1782, died Aug. 4, 1861, removed to Hart- ford. John, or John M., born Sept. 19, 1784, mar- ried (first) Ann H. Gibbons, of Savannah, Ga., March 15, 1810; second, Hannah W. Tunis, of Elizabeth, N. J., Jan. 17, 1819; third, Eliza Bruen, of Belleville, N. J., Jan. II, 1825. Jonathan George Washington, born Oct. 31, 1787, died Sept. 5, 1853, married Jane Eliza Lathrop, who was born July 26, 1795, died Oct. 21, 1843.

(VII) Children of John M. and Ann H. (Gib- bons) Trumbull: Thomas Gibbons, born Jan. 30, 18II, at Norwich; John Heyward, born Feb. 24, 1812, at New York; Ann Heyward, born Dec. 8, 1813, at Hartford; Sarah Backus, born June 25, 1815, at Elizabethtown ; Joseph, born May 29, 1817, at Elizabethtown (died young).

Children of John M. and Hannah W. (Tunis) Trumbull : David, born Nov. I, 1819, at Elizabeth- town; Susan Landis, born March 21, 1821 (died young) ; Julia Gorham, born March 5, 1823 (died young).

Children of John M. and Eliza (Bruen) Trum- bull: Caroline Ward, born Feb. 4, 1826; James Hedden, born Jan. 16, 1828; Jane Lathrop, born

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Je 6, 1830; Joseph, born Nov. 24, 1832 (died y ng) ; Harriet Silliman, born March 13, 1835. (VII) Children of Jonathan George Washing- and Jane E. (Lathrop ) Trumbull : Daniel Lath- 1 r r , born Aug. 21, 1816, died March 31, 1873, mar- 1 Nov. 16, 1841, Alexandrine Navarre Wilson. lia Lathrop, born Oct. 13, 1818, died Oct. 2, 1. 2. Joseph, born June II, 1821, died Jan. 23, :6. William Williams, born March 28, 1825, d1 Oct. 19, 1830.

(VIII) Children of Daniel Lathrop and Alex- alrine Navarre (Wilson) Trumbull: Jane Lath- , born Sept. 9, 1842, died March, 1869, married leut. (afterward Col.) Robert Watkinson Hun- gton, U. S. Marines. Jonathan, born Jan. 23, 44, married Dec. 17, 1868, Harriet Roosevelt chards, of Poughkeepsie, New York.

(IX) Children of Jonathan and Harriet Roose- t (Richards) Trumbull : Jonathan, born Nov. 1869 (died Sept. 26, 1871) ; Harriet Roosevelt, rn March 19, 1871; Alexandrine Navarre, born b. 25, 1873; Thomas Brinckerhoff, born June I, 77 ; Elizabeth Maria, born July 13, 1882.

Of the first of the Trumbulls of New London anty, Joseph, who was of the third generation of ; line in America, we find that he removed from iffield, then in Massachusetts, now in Connecticut, Simsbury, Conn., in 1703, where in 1704, he mar- d Hannah Higley, removing to Lebanon in the llowing year. At this time the town had been ganized by act of the General Assembly for about ur years, but the boundaries of the proprietors d of the township were not definitely established itil 1705, when Lebanon sent her first delegates to e General Assembly, and commenced her career a part of Windham county.

Joseph Trumbull established himself as a mer- ant and farmer in Lebanon, buying the homestead Rev. Joseph Parsons, the first minister of the wn, and mortgaging it for £340 at the time of irchase. He appears to have been enterprising id probably prosperous, as we find him later send- g ships to foreign ports and sending his son to arvard College. During his residence in Lebanon was a lieutenant, and later a captain, in the troops the county.

Joseph, his eldest son, was, during his short ca- er, his father's right-hand man. In June, 1732, hile on a voyage to London, in the interests of his ther's growing business, he was lost at sea, thus iding a promising career at the age of twenty- ·ven.

Jonathan, the second son of the first Joseph, was estined to an important career, especially through le eventful period of the Revolution. His long, ventful life can only be sketched in outline in this onnection. In 1727, at the age of seventeen, he raduated from Harvard College, with a good rec- rd for proficiency in the studies of the day, in which the dead languages, including Hebrew, were rominent. He commenced the study of divinity

under Rev. Solomon Williams, of Lebanon, and in due time became a licensed clergyman. At the time of the death of his brother Joseph he had under con- sideration a call to become pastor of the church in Colchester. The loss of this brother, however, changed the current of his life, for his father needed the assistance of his son to take the place of the lost brother. Duty, perhaps, rather than inclination, called the son Jonathan to fill this place. His busi- ness career and his public career commenced within the following year. In 1733 he was elected a dele- gate to the General Assembly, which position he again held continuously from 1736 to 1739, in which year, at the age of twenty-nine, he was made Speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1740 he was elected Assistant, which position made him a member of the Council of the Colony. He occu- pied this position for twenty-two years. At the same time, he occupied several judgeships. In 1766 he was elected deputy governor of Connecticut and in 1769 was elected governor, to fill the unex- pired term of Gov. Pitkin, who died in office. From that time until 1783 he was annually re-elected, de- clining re-election at the close of the Revolution, thus completing a period of public service covering exactly fifty years. His mercantile career extended over a large portion of this time, proving a failure in 1766, but resumed until the outbreak of the Revo- lution, from which time to the close of his public career he devoted himself exclusively to the cause of his country.

From the beginning of the oppressive measures of Great Britain which finally resulted in our inde- pendence, Jonathan Trumbull was a firm and stead- fast supporter of the rights of the Colonies. When Gov. Fitch, in 1765, insisted on taking the required oath to enforce the Stamp Act, Trumbull, with six of his associates, withdrew from the council, refus- ing to sanction this hateful ceremony by their pres- ence. And when, in March and April, 1768, appli- cation was made to him as Chief Justice of the Superior Court to issue Writs of Assistance to cus- toms officers of the Crown, he refused the applica- tion ; and with this refusal the General Assembly when appealed to, declined to interfere. From the outbreak of the Revolution to its close he was in constant correspondence with Washington, who continually applied to him for men, money and mate- rials, and never applied in vain. Of all the govern- ors of the thirteen Colonies at the beginning of the war he was the only one who was not a Loyalist or Tory, as they were then called. The relations be- tween Washington and Trumbull were of so con- fidential a nature that a cherished tradition of Con- necticut tells us that when supplies or counsel were needed in the darkest days of the war a favorite re- mark of Washington's was, "We must consult Brother Jonathan." From this, it is said, origi- nated the popular name of the American people.

The War Office at Lebanon, now preserved and owned by the Connecticut Society of Sons of the

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

American Revolution, was during the Revolution the customary place of meeting of the Council of Safety-a council appointed to assist the Governor when the General Assembly was not in session. Within the walls of this little building more than eleven hundred meetings of this council were held during the war.

The wife of Gov. Trumbull, Faith Robinson, was a daughter of Rev. John Robinson, of Duxbury, Mass. It is stated by Stuart that she was a lineal descendant of John Robinson, of Leyden, the Puri- tan leader, but this statement lacks proof, though much research has been made to establish it. She was, however, a lineal descendant of John Alden, the pilgrim : and such memorials as are left of her show that she was a patriotic, and devoted wife and mother, and was held in the highest esteem in the community.

Gov. Trumbull lived but two years after retiring from public life. These two years were passed in study, and in carrying out the intention expressed in his farewell address, where he says * * "that at the evening of my days, I may sweeten their decline, by devoting myself with less avoca- tion, and more attention to the duties of religion, the service of my God, and preparation for a future happier state of existence."

The children of Gov. Trumbull were, as might be expected, all ardent patriots. Joseph, the eldest son, was destined to a career which, if less distin- guished than that of his father and two of his brothers, was no less important. A Harvard grad- uate, like his father, he also in close imitation of his father's early career engaged in business, becoming a partner in his father's firm at the age of twenty- seven, and losing his all in the subsequent failure of the firm. From 1767 he was for six years a dep- uty from Lebanon in the General Assembly, and during this time was a captain in the First Company of the Twelfth Regiment of Connecticut militia. He was a member of the "Committee of Correspond- ence and Enquiry" in 1773, and in 1774 was ap- pointed as an additional or substitute delegate to the Continental Congress. It does not appear, how- ever, that he was a member of this Congress. In April, 1775, he was appointed by the General As- sembly Commissary-General of Connecticut. This position sent him at once to the seat of war. On the arrival of Washington at Cambridge, in July, 1775, to assume command of the army, he com- mends especially, in a letter to Congress, the com- missariat of Connecticut, and recommends the ap- pointment of Joseph Trumbull as Commissary- General of the Continental Army. This appoint- nient was immediately made. The duties of this newly created office were of a most perplexing and exacting kind. The lack of money, the difficulties of transportation and the dissatisfaction occasioned by jealousies between men of different Colonies, were some of the burdens of the situation. The con- flict of authority with commissaries appointed by

their own Colonies and by Congress formed sti another burden. At last, in June, 1777, the Cor tinental Congress, which had already hampered th department by orders and commissions which con stantly interfered with its usefulness, undertook complete re-organization of the commissary depart ment, which rendered the position of Commissary General so ineffective that Joseph Trumbull at once resigned his office. This criminally foolish piece o legislation resulted in the terrible winter at Valley Forge, and with this lesson before it Congress prac tically re-instated the former organization of the commissary department.

On the 27th of November following his resig- nation Joseph Trumbull was elected a member of the Board of War, but failing health prevented him from active service in this capacity, and he was obliged, for this reason, to resign in the following April. From this time his health continued to fail until his death, on the 23d of July, 1778. The in- cessant care and overwhelming difficulties of the po- sition in which he was placed undermined his natur- ally vigorous constitution, and brought him to a comparatively early grave. His services were fre- quently commended by Washington. A portion of the inscription on his tombstone at Lebanon reads as follows :

the

"Sacred to the memory of Joseph Trumbull, eld- est son of Governor Trumbull, and first Commis- sary-General of the United States of America, a service to whose perpetual cares and fatigues he fell a sacrifice, A. D. 1778, AE 42."

Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., the second son of Gov. Trumbull, was more distinguished in his public serv- ices and offices than any of his brothers. Like his father and elder brother, he was a graduate of Har- vard College, in which institution he completed his course with honor in 1759. The opening of the Revolution finds him a deputy from Lebanon to the General Assembly of Connecticut. In 1775 he was appointed Deputy Paymaster-General for the North- ern Department of the army, a position which he held until the close of the northern campaign of 1778. Upon the death of his brother Joseph, it was necessary that his accounts should be settled, and this duty devolved upon his brother Jonathan, necessitating his retirement from the army, for the time being. During this interval he was re-elected as a deputy to the General Assembly. During the presentation of his brother's accounts to the Con- tinental Congress at Philadelphia he became ac- quainted with the leading members of this Congress, who recognized his financial abilities in such a way that in November, 1778, he was appointed Comp- troller of the Treasury, under Roger Sherman's plan of organization, being the first holder of this important office, a position which, as Roger Sher- man wrote his father, placed him at the head of the Treasury Department. During the following year this department was re-organized by placing it in control of a board of five commissioners, of whom

5: 3 0

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lie as made one. The salary of each of these con- in ioners was fourteen thousand dollars in Con- til ital money ; but it must be remembered that thị was a very uncertain valuie, and that before the cl: of this year a dollar in "hard money," or spfie, was worth forty-five Continental dollars. In tlı ta W following year, 1780, he was appointed secre- and first aid to General Washington, a position ·h placed him in intimate relations with that gift man during the remainder of his life. He tined in the field until the close of the war, and w present at the surrender of Cornwallis.

After a short interval of private life he was, in I+6, elected once more a deputy to the General A mbly, and was made Speaker of the House of Riesentatives. He was, in the following year, cand to the more important position of a represen- ta e from Connecticut in the first Congress of the Ulted States under the Constitution. In 1791 he W made Speaker of the House of Representatives off hat body, and in 1794 he was elected a Senator in he Congress of the United States. Upon his el tion as Lieutenant Governor of his native State, in| 796, he resigned his seat in the Senate of the United States, and devoted himself to the duties of th new office to which his State had called him. Uon the death of Gov. Oliver Wolcott, in 1798, Tambull was elected Governor, and held that posi- ti by continuous re-elections until his death, in Il), a period of nearly twelve years.

He bore, in a marked degree, the distinguishing tr a s of his father-punctuality, close and patriotic ntion to duty, and fixedness of purpose when ole convinced that he was in the right. His dis- P tion, like his father's, was benevolent, and his n iners and bearing entirely free from that for- ling dignity and pomp which were sometimes to b noticed even among his compatriots in the then b ding great republic. Like his father, too, he le behind him a clean record. It is said by his oftemporaries that in the times of bitter political C troversy through which he passed his personal caracter was never assailed, and only his public n sures were criticised.

David, the third son of Gov. Trumbull, pursued

ał treer which, while it has not enrolled him among

t heroes of the Revolution, entitles him to credit f continual and active service to the cause. Of

four sons of the Governor, he was the only one vi) was not a Harvard graduate. At the time when was prepared to enter college the disastrous fail- of his father in business rendered the expense ca college course for this son impracticable. He r eived, however, a good education, at the then med school of Nathan Tisdale, of Lebanon. The f wing cares and increasing responsibilities of his fer's public position at this time rendered it nec- € ary that, at the beginning of the Revolution, one his sons should remain at home as his father's ht hand man. It fell to the lot of the son David occupy this position. In addition to this duty he

was entrusted by the Council of Safety with many important duties, conspicuous among which were the care and custody of arms and ammunition, the purchase of supplies for the departments both of the Commissary and the Quartermaster, and the furnish- ing of transportation of these supplies. He was also entrusted with large sums of money by the State and by Congress, for all of which, as for the munitions of war in his custody, he appears to have accounted with scrupulous exactness. His services were of such a nature that, although he never bore a military title, his widow was granted a pension by Congress after his death. Although each of his brothers attained much higher official positions than he did, none served as continuously in the incon- spicuous but important duties which devolved upon him.

John, the fourth and youngest son of Gov. Trumbull, pursued a career which distinguished him from his brothers, and which, as it proved, was almost unique for the times in which he lived. In his boyhood his health was delicate, and he joined but little if at all in the sports of his companions. He lived, however, to the ripe old age of eighty- seven years. Although his military career is worthy of notice, he is principally remembered as a painter, and as one of the pioneers in American art. He graduated from Harvard College in 1773, having entered at the age of fifteeen in the middle of the Junior or third year, graduating in full standing at the age of seventeen, and having, to the surprise of his family, learned the French language by private instruction during his college course. His taste for painting developed in his boyhood, and he pursued the study and practice of the art at his home in Lebanon, soon after his graduation, though he was interrupted by being called to take charge of Mr. Tisdale's then celebrated school during the illness of the schoolmaster, which continued for nearly six months. In 1774 he became intensely interested in the impending struggle with the Mother Coun- try, and made careful studies of military science to prepare himself for the life which seemed to open before him. In the following year he joined the army, as an aid to Gen. Spencer. Learning, soon after the arrival of Washington at Cambridge, that he was anxious to procure a plan of the enemy's works, Trumbull stealthily approached the works, and, being skilled in drawing, made a plan which proved to be so accurate that Washington's atten- tion was called to the young draughtsman, who was soon made second aid-de-camp to the Com- mander-in-Chief. This position was not congenial to Trumbull, owing to the formalities, both social and military, which it involved. He was soon ap- pointed to the more congenial office of Major of Brigade, and became a favorite officer of Gen. Gates, by whose authority he was appointed adju- tant and quartermaster-general, with the rank of colonel.

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Genealogical and biographical record of New London County, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the early settled families, Part 7

Author: Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1568

Author:
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1568