USA > Connecticut > New London County > Lebanon > Historic Lebanon; highlights of an historic town > Part 3
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The interior of the church was beautifully designed with much hand carving on galleries, pulpit, and palladian window. The pews were originally white until 1848 when it was voted to paint the in- terior woodwork. The pews and slips on the main floor were then stained a dark color.
In 1871 a movement was started to "modernize" the Meeting House. Not until 1875 was this done by the introduction of a floor at the gallery level, the upper floor to be the church auditorium and the lower floor the vestry. The palladian window was torn out and the opening bricked up. The upper windows were lengthened, the high pulpit, of course, removed. It was the mid-Victorian era when the architectural standards in this country reached their low- est, not only in Meeting Houses but in residences and public build- ings.
No one in New England old enough to remember will ever for- get the hurricane of 1938 which swept with devastating fury across Connecticut. Lebanon was in the center of that gigantic, irresis- tible force. Down crashed the steeple of the old Meeting House right onto the backbone of the building crushing out the walls, leaving only the facade standing. It seemed an irreparable loss. Certainly the community, in which every home had suffered, could never rebuild the Meeting House as once it was. The Honorable Wilbur Cross, then Governor of the State, Dr. Rockwell Harmon Potter, Dr. James F. English, and others, under the superb leader- ship of Rev. Howard C. Champe, then pastor, came forward to per- suade the members of the parish to rebuild the old historic Meeting House, not as it was at the time of the hurricane, but just as John Trumbull planned it. A committee of eminent citizens of the State was formed, headed by Governor Cross as honorary chairman and with Rockwell Harmon Potter as active chairman, to raise the funds necessary to restore the Meeting House. Patriotic organizations, many churches, hundreds of individuals, responded. They saw in the old Meeting House not merely a wrecked building but a wrecked historical monument, a Meeting House which was a symbol of both religious and patriotic faith.
The work of restoration was well started when the Second World War blocked all opportunity for securing the necessary materials. The work was halted for the duration of the war. It has been harder to regain the enthusiastic response for the project once the work had been resumed, but slowly and steadily it has gone forward
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until today we can begin to see the end, a Meeting House to the glory of God and the memory of great and famous men and women of the past.
Much credit for the detailed planning of the Meeting House goes to one who did not live to see a task he loved completed, Mr. Frederick Kelly, who put his heart and his soul into re-creating the Meeting House exactly as his fellow architect of many years ago designed it. To his indefatigable research we owe our assur- ance that today we worship in a Meeting House that would be most familiar to the honored members of the South Society of the early nineteenth century. This Meeting House stands as a tribute to John Trumbull and to his brother architect, Frederick Kelly.
So we have today the restored Meeting House, the home of a real church, active and loyal. It stands upon this site long ago de- creed for all time as the location of the Meeting House. It stands, a constant reminder of an historic past, of names greatly honored, of stirring events in the molding of a new nation. Thus may it ever stand to house a church of devoted and loyal Christians and true citizens of that new nation now grown great and powerful.
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Chapter 4 GOVERNOR JONATHAN TRUMBULL
An army cannot long exist without an adequate base of sup- plies. It takes many men in the rear to support the men who bear the brunt of the battle. Unfortunately, all through history, the men who have made the victories possible by their less spectacular ef- forts, far removed from the scenes of battle, have seldom received their due praise for a service well done. George Washington never underestimated the full value of the services of Governor Jonathan Trumbull though the history books may pass over his life and work without a mention.
The Scotch ancestry of Jonathan Trumbull undoubtedly had much to do with his career in life. He had a profound religious conviction that gave him strength in the hours of greatest darkness: he had a tenacity of purpose that could always find a way out: he had an indomitable perseverance that held him steady throughout the trying days of the war: he had a rigorous sense of duty that mounted above all selfish interests. To all of this was added the tempering influence from his mother's side, whose line stemmed from Elder William Brewster.
Young Jonathan, born October 12, 1710, O. S., was the third son of Joseph Trumbull. He received his earliest education within the home. Then he prepared himself for college under the tutelage of Rev. Samuel Welles, who gave him a good grounding in Latin and Greek, as well as other studies needed for entrance to Harvard College, in which he enrolled at the age of thirteen. The social status of the Trumbull family at that time was not high. Accord- ing to the custom of the college each student was listed in the order of the social prestige of his family. Of the thirty-seven students
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Mrs. Jonathan Trumbull (Wife of Governor Trumbull) (nee Faith Robinson) 1718 - 1781
Governor Jonathan Trumbull 1710 - 1785 Painted by their son, John Trumbull
Miniatures painted by John Trumbull
(Courtesy of Connecticut Circle)
Madam Faith Trumbull, contributing her scarlet cloak to the soldiers of the Revolution, in front of the altar of the Lebanon Church.
(From. Connecticut Circle)
in his class, Trumbull ranked in the twenty-eighth place. It is re- vealing that when his son John entered college he received second place. Here Jonathan received something of the distaste for the social distinctions that later seemed so artificial to him. Neverthe- less, he became a distinguished student, well versed in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, all of which he was to use throughout his life. He graduated in 1727 with the customary degree of the time, a Master of Arts.
Among his fellow students at Harvard were many who later attained fame, or notoriety, depending upon one's point of view. There was Thomas Hutchinson, later to become governor of the Colony of Massachusetts, but with views diametrically opposed to those of Governor Trumbull. There was Jonathan Belcher, a noted Tory, who later fled to Nova Scotia, and Edmund Trow- bridge, Judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, a loyalist, but one who was so well thought of that he remained in Boston unmolested. Then there was the Chief Justice of Massachusetts, Peter Oliver, another loyalist who had to flee. Harvard was educat- ing, it would seem, outstanding young men who, for the most part, were to become loyalists rather than supporters of the rights of free Englishmen. There were a few, like Trumbull, who were to be- come staunch leaders in the hard fought battle for freedom. Even at that early day the idea of "no taxation without representation" was in the air. It certainly was in the soul of Jonathan Trumbull.
The strong religious impulses of his home, his college days, his pastors, persuaded the young college student to go on and prepare himself for the ministry. Upon graduation and his return to Leb- anon, therefore, he took up the study of theology with the pastor of the church, Dr. Solomon Williams, who had succeeded Rev. Samuel Welles. Dr. Williams was a man of deep scholarship, zeal- ous patriotism, vital leadership. He stood high in the councils of the ministers and churches. He did not even hesitate to cross men- tal swords with such a doughty opponent as Jonathan Edwards.
After some three years of study under Dr. Williams, Jonathan was ready for and received licensure from the Windham Association in 1730, and then came a call from the church at Colchester to be its pastor. Had he accepted the call he would have been duly or- dained and installed as pastor and teacher of that church. Unfore- seen circumstances abruptly changed the whole course of his life. His brother Joseph had sailed with a valuable cargo to London
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in the interests of the growing business of his father. The ship was lost at sea with all hands aboard. Nothing more was heard from Joseph. Jonathan's father, now over fifty years of age, was in desperate need of assistance and called upon Jonathan to come to his help. It must have been with a severe struggle of heart and soul that Jonathan declined the call to Colchester to come to the assis- tance of his father. What would have been the future course of events had Jonathan not heeded the call? Perhaps the hand of God was in it all.
Thus Jonathan became a merchant-farmer, involved in business details of enterprises that reached far in their foreign connections. However Jonathan may have regretted his failure to enter the ministry, he was receiving a new training that would pre-eminently fit him for the high tasks which were ahead but which he could not foresee.
Advancement up the ladder of achievement began early. A good scholar, a young man who could carry his end of an argument and be listened to with respect, he was chosen, when less than twenty-three years of age, to represent his town in the General Assembly, no mean honor, for Lebanon rated then as one of the most important towns in the colony of Connecticut. For fourteen years the town repeated its choice. When not yet twenty-nine years of age he was elected Speaker of the House, a post to which he was re-elected for two more terms. In 1740 he was elected by the voters of the colony to the important post of Assistant, and Member of the Council, a choice repeated until he was elevated to the position of Lieutenant Governor. He held also during these years important positions as Judge of the Windham County Court (Lebanon then being in Windham County), Judge of Probate, and Assistant Judge of the Superior Court of the colony. In 1770 he was elected Gover- nor of the colony and re-elected for fourteen years, the most im- portant period in the formation of this new nation.
On December 9, 1735, Jonathan Trumbull married Faith Robinson, sister of the wife of Rev. Jacob Eliot, the pastor of the Goshen parish in Lebanon. She was of old Mayflower stock on her mother's side in line with John Alden. Her great-grandfather Robinson came to Dorchester to be pastor in 1635. Thus was carried on into the Trumbull line some of the most honored line- age of the Pilgrim fathers. Faith's father was pastor in Duxbury where Faith early learned lessons of household art, thrift, and work
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through the loss of her mother when she herself was only four years old. She married at the age of seventeen.
Jonathan Trumbull's marriage was a happy one in every re- spect. For forty-five years she shared the honors and the anxieties of her husband. Hers was as strongly a patriotic spirit as that of her husband's. The familiar story of her impulsive act in contrib- uting the lovely scarlet cloak which the French officers had pre- sented her, when an appeal had gone forth for clothing for the men in service, was true to her nature.
The marriage produced four sons and two daughters. They all rendered a good account of themselves. Joseph was the first com- missary general of the Continental Army. He died of overwork in this onerous position. Jonathan was deputy paymaster-general, first Comptroller of the Treasury, secretary and first aide to Gen- eral Washington, Representative in the first Congress of the United States under the Constitution, Speaker of the House of Representa- tives, United States Senator, Lieutenant Governor and Governor of the State of Connecticut to the time of his death in 1809. Faith married Colonel, afterwards General, Jedediah Huntington. Her solicitude for her husband's safety at the battle of Bunker Hill, which she witnessed from Cambridge, brought on a mental illness which resulted in her death at her own hand. Mary became the wife of William Williams, son of Dr. Solomon Williams, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. David was actively em- ployed in the commissary department and in special service during the war. John was second aide to Washington, Major of a brigade, Adjutant and Quartermaster-general with the rank of Colonel. He became the noted artist and architect.
The year 1740 began for Jonathan Trumbull an almost un- broken experience with rumors of, preparations for, and conflict in actual war itself. England, still the Mother Country, was in- volved in one war after another. In each of them the Colony of Connecticut was supposed to contribute her quota of men and supplies. It started with the war with Spain which soon merged itself into the war with France which was to last until the fall of Quebec and of Montreal in 1759 and 1760. For twenty years the Colony of Connecticut was on a war footing and her men were to be found in almost every engagement. The shores of the colony were open to possible invasion. The government of the colony raised funds to pay bounties to the men who would enlist. It was
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a long period of constant drain on men and resources, but Con- necticut met every call promptly and well. The Mother Land, on the other hand, failed to appreciate the services rendered by the colonists. The clouds of the rift with England began to gather be- fore the dust of battle had settled after the treaty of Paris in 1763.
These were years of preparation for the young legislator and counsellor. His office as one of the twelve Assistants of the Colony was one of great responsibility and gave to Trumbull an intimate insight into the administrative affairs of the colony. That his judg- ment was respected is evidenced by the number of special commis- sions and assignments made to him. Here he learned and was thoroughly grounded in the principles of a democratic govern- ment, made the more significant by the increasing amount of red tape with which England endeavored to bind her colonies. He saw fumbling war lords of England honored above men of the colonies who really brought victory to the British forces. General Lyman of Connecticut, who won the battle of Lake George, was ignored, while Sir William Johnson of New York was made a baronet. Other injustices must have rankled in his soul in the hard school of prac- tical experience as he read the records and knew the truth. It was all a process of training that would stand him in good stead when he became governor and had to guide the colony through the ter- rific years of the American Revolution.
There is only one record of Trumbull having declined public service when asked. In March, 1756, the General Assembly ap- pointed him as agent for the colony in London, an important post. At the time his father had been dead less than a year and his mother was well over seventy. He declined to serve. Again in May, 1758, the appointment was renewed and again he declined. There were extremely valid reasons for his doing so.
Trumbull was giving much valued time to the affairs of state. Probably at this time the Trumbull estate was at its peak. His father had left him valuable legacies. His mother was dependent upon him for carrying on the business which was subject to her life interest. Shortly after these appointments were tendered him, the troubles with England began to cut in on his own fortunes. His ships were subject to seizure by the British, trade with Eng- land was precarious, financial affairs in the colonies were in a mess due to the old and the new tenor values. The old tenor was almost valueless. The bills due Trumbull were in old tenor; the money
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......
(Courtesy of Connecticut Circle)
HOME OF GOVERNOR JONATHAN TRUMBULL Built in 1740, owned and restored by the Daughters of the American Revolution
The Trumbulls, the greatest family in American history, lived in Lebanon, the foundation of liberty. The Governor was affec- tionately called "Brother" Jonathan by General George Washing- ton, a distinction he earned because he was the lone governor of the thirteen colonies not an appointee of the king - thus a "rebel" in the eyes of the Tories - and because, more importantly, he and his Connecticut Yankees were the chief support of the stirring and strenuous effort which finally won American independence.
On the second floor of this house a guard stood in a sentry box watching over Governor Trumbull's safety for twenty-four hours each day during the Revolutionary War.
(From Connecticut Circle)
he owed was in new tenor. Only the confidence of his business as- sociates at home and abroad saved him from absolute bankruptcy. He sent his son Joseph to England to secure more trade but with- out much success. There is no evidence that his creditors ever pressed their claims in court. They were satisfied with whatever settlements Trumbull could make. The man who was to bear such a heavy burden during the war entered upon his tasks in greatly reduced financial circumstances, but with his reputation for in- tegrity and honesty untarnished.
Joseph's visit to England did more than attempt to undergird his father's business ventures. While there he attended Parliament, kept his ears open, and reported home what he heard. England was beginning to put more and more pressure on the colonies though unwilling to give the colonies any representation in Parliament. In 1765 the obnoxious Stamp Act was passed in the House of Com- mons. Jared Ingersoll, who was sent as agent to London when Trumbull declined to serve, was appointed the stamp distributor for Connecticut, but when he arrived in the colony the following September five hundred Sons of Liberty, armed with staves, met him at Wethersfield and compelled his resignation.
Two opinions held sway in the colony, the first, that as loyal subjects of the King of England, the colonists should obey all laws however obnoxious; the second, that the colonists had certain rights that were theirs, and which not even the Mother Country could take from them. Both parties were, however, united against the Stamp Act as such.
Thomas Fitch was then governor of the colony, a man well trained, loyal to the colony, but believing that loyalty to the king was even more important. However wrong the king might be, he should be obeyed. Against him was Jonathan Trumbull, who held that no orders of the king which deprived the colonists of their just rights should be obeyed. And there the issue was drawn. A clause in the Stamp Act required each and every governor of the colonies to swear allegiance to it. With the other colonies this was not difficult for their governors were appointed by the crown. In Connecticut it was different. In Connecticut alone, of all the thir- teen colonies, the governor was the freely elected representative of the people.
Governor Fitch requested the Council to administer the oath to him. There was a long and heated argument in which, un-
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doubtedly, Trumbull participated. The majority of the Council refused to have anything to do with administering the oath. Four, however, were willing to go along with Governor Fitch's request and only three were needed to make the oath valid. Governor Fitch argued that the fine of one thousand pounds which would be im- posed upon any governor refusing to take the oath would apply to any member of the Council who refused to administer it. That made no difference. When the oath was about to be administered seven members of the Council, headed by Trumbull, marched out of the chamber. It was the end of Governor Fitch's career. He ran for office on subsequent elections but was defeated every time. The four members who administered the oath were also retired to pri- vate life. The Stamp Act was subsequently repealed but with a rider that left a dark cloud on the horizon.
In 1768 Jonathan Trumbull became governor of the Colony of Connecticut by appointment of the General Assembly to succeed Governor Pitkin, whose Deputy he had been, to be elected again by the General Assembly in 1770, as he had failed to secure a major- ity of the votes of the people. Thereafter he was virtually unani- mously elected until near the close of his career when he advocated a closer federation of the colonies. His personal fortunes were at their lowest, his popular esteem at the highest, though there were those who would have made political issues out of his business failures, which were due, more to the incessant wars, than to any personal factors.
Conditions under the loyalist governors in the other colonies were getting steadily worse. Massachusetts, under Thomas Hutchin- son, was sweating under the Writs of Assistance, the right of the officers of the crown to search and seizure without warrants, and to call upon any citizen to assist in carrying through the act. Trum- bull denied this right. It is to his credit that in Connecticut no such writs were ever issued. He wrote at this time some terse words:
"Notwithstanding the ill-judged burthens heaped upon us by a weak and wicked Administration, we still retain a degree of re- gard, and even fondness for Great Britain, and a firm attachment to his Majesty's person, family, and government, and on just and equal terms, as children, not as slaves, should rejoice to remain united with them to the latest time. But to think of being slaves - we who so well know the bitterness of it by the instances so con-
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tinually before our eyes, cannot bear the shocking thought - Nature starts back at the idea!" Strong words for a time of stress!
Trumbull, by these words, cast down a gauntlet to those like Fitch who formed a loyalist party opposed to a firm stand. It was on this platform that Trumbull took his stand in the first election when the two parties were about evenly divided. On that stand he gained increasing popularity as the years went by. Five years be- fore the first shot for independence was to be fired at Lexington, Trumbull wrote, "It is hard to break connections with the Mother Country; but when she tries to enslave us, and turn all our labors barely to her own emolument, without considering us her sons and free-born fellow subjects, the stricktest union must be dissolved. This is our consolation, the All-wise Director of all events will bring to pass his own designs and works, - to whom we may look for direction in this, our critical situation."
The war clouds were gathering fast in great thunderheads. England seemed obsessed to stir up trouble. A British revenue schooner cruised off the Connecticut coast taking what she wanted. She was roundly called a "pirate". Strangely her name was LIB- ERTY. The Boston Tea Party had taken place. Feelings ran high. In the other colonies the people were at strife, not only with the actions of England, but with the governors of the colonies. In Con- necticut the people were strongly united behind their governor and his principles of American liberty. Tories were given short notice that they were not wanted. In 1774 the General Assembly served notice to all concerned that "The only lawful representatives of the freemen of this colony are the persons they elect to serve as members of the General Assembly thereof."
Governor Trumbull was sixty-five years of age in 1775. In- stead of slowing down, he increased his pace as the clouds got darker. He took a firm and unequivocal stand for the Continental Congress against the Tories in some parts of the colony who were against it. Again and again he claimed for the colonists the rights of free Eng- lishmen. Then came the "shot heard round the world" at Lexing- ton. The news of the attack spread rapidly throughout the colony. At once Connecticut men marched off to Boston, there to take part in the battle of Bunker Hill. Governor Trumbull sent a strong letter of protest to Governor Gage demanding an explanation of this unwarranted attack. Massachusetts appealed to Connecticut
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to hasten preparations for war, preparations which the foresighted- ness of Trumbull had already started.
A special "Council For Safety" was organized to assist the gover- nor in the multitudinous duties now devolving upon him. Because three of the members appointed by the General Assembly lived in Lebanon and the others close by in Windham and in Norwich, it was planned to hold the meetings in Lebanon. The governor's little store was converted into a war office. The men appointed for the Council of Safety were Matthew Griswold, Eliphet Dyer, Jabez Huntington, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Nath- aniel Wales, Jr., Jedediah Elderkin, Joshua West, and Benjamin Huntington. This committee was charged "to assist the Governor when the Assembly is not sitting, to order and direct the marches and stations of the inhabitants inlisted and assembled for the special defense of the Colony, or any part or parts of them, as they shall judge necessary, and to give order from time to time for furnishing and supplying said inhabitants with every manner and thing that may be needful to render the defence of the Colony effectual."
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