USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > Revolutionary characters of New Haven : the subject of addresses and papers delivered before the General David Humphreys branch, no. 1, Connecticut society, Sons of the American revolution > Part 4
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David Wooster
or no opposition, had reached Danbury and destroyed the stores before the arrival of Wooster, and had started on his return. Wooster, at the head of some 200 men, immediately pursued him, and coming upon him near Ridgefield made a vigorous attack, which was successful. Still following up the enemy, he made another attack, and his men giving way, in the act of turning to urge them on, he was struck in the small of the back by a bullet and his backbone broken, April 27th, 1777. He was removed to Danbury, where he died on the 2d of May, 1777, in the 67th year of his age. It was the inten- tion to bury him at New Haven, but owing to the condi- tion of his body, mortification having set in before his death, he was buried at Ridgefield. When the surgeon, Dr. Turner, after examining General Wooster, informed him that his wound was mortal, he received the news with the calmness of a Christian and a soldier. He desired that Mrs. Wooster be sent for. After being delirious for three days and suffering great agony, he passed peace- fully away, momentarily recognizing Mrs. Wooster. Congress resolved the next month that a monument costing $500 be erected to his memory "as an acknowl- edgment of his merit and services." This money was never expended, but in 1854, a monument was erected in Ridgefield to his memory, by contributions from the state, the masons and the citizens of Danbury. The cost of the monument was over $3,000. The General Assem- bly appropriated $1,500, the Masonic Lodge $1,000 and the citizens of Danbury the remainder. It was unveiled on the 27th of April, 1854, with military, masonic and civic ceremonies. The military was represented by the New Haven Blues, the Hartford Light Guard, the Bridge- port Washington Guard, the Bridgeport Montgomery Guard, the Bridgeport Governor Rifle Co., and the Stam- ford Light Guard. The Freemasons were represented by Chancellor Walworth, the Grand master of the Grand Lodge of New York. There were also representatives
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David Wooster
from the Grand Lodges of Rhode Island, Connecticut, Georgia and South Carolina. The orator of the day was Hon. H. C. Deming of Hartford, who wore upon his per- son Wooster's sash, which he had on at the time he was shot.
On the monument is this inscription :
"David Wooster,
First Maj. Gen. of the Conn. Troops, in the Army of the Revolution; Brig. Gen. of the United Colonies; born at Stratford, March 2, 1710-II. Wounded at Ridgefield, April 27,1777, while defending the liberties of America, and nobly died at Danbury, May 2d, 1777. Of his country, Wooster said: 'My life has ever been devoted to her service, from my youth up, though never before in a cause like this: a cause for which I would most cheerfully risk-nay, lay down my life.' "
On the other side, the Masonic inscription is as follows:
"Brother David Wooster,
impressed while a stranger in a foreign land, with the necessity of some tie that should unite all mankind in a UNIVERSAL BROTHER- HOOD, he returned to his native country, and procured from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Massachusetts a Charter, and first intro- duced into Connecticut that light which has warmed the widow's heart, and illumined the orphan's pathway. Under the Charter of 1750, Hiram Lodge No. I, of New Haven, was organized, of which he was first Worshipful Master. Grateful for his services as the Master Builder of the oldest Temple, for his fidelity as a Brother, and his renown as a patriot and a soldier, the Free and Accepted Masons have united with his native State and the citizens of Danbury, in rearing and consecrating this Monument to his memory. Erected at Danbury, A. L. 5854, A. D. 1854. DAVID CLARK, Grand Master."
Wooster not only devoted his life and services to the cause of the American Revolution, but expended also all his private means, so that his widow was left penniless at the time of his death. In stature, he was tall and slim, courteous and dignified in manner, a man with a high sense of public duty, a consistent Christian and a devoted husband and father. The first President Dwight of Yale said of General Wooster:
"General Wooster was a brave, generous-minded man, respectable for his understanding and for his conduct both in public and private life, ardent in his friendships and his patriotism, diffusive in his char- ities and steadfast in his principles; he was long a professor of religion and adorned the profession by an irreproachable and exemplary life."
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David Wooster
Truly it can be said of Wooster that he lived and died "For God, for country and for Yale." For God, by his conspicuous piety and religious principles, and his en- deavors and death in the cause of the rights of humanity. For country,
"To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late, And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers And the temples of his gods?"
For Yale, to illustrate by his life and death, as so many of Yale's sons have done, that an education does not unfit men, as claimed by the cheap demagogues, for business, for patriotism, or for duty in any walk of life, but rather, as a divine fire, urges them on to win dis- tinction in business, finance, statesmanship and martial achievements.
Traduced and maligned by his enemies, he proved by his life and death their utter falsity. The life of Wooster and those who fought to establish our national indepen- dence and to make possible all that this country has accomplished for the world and humanity, should ever be to us, their sons, and to all, of whatever race or con- dition, who enjoy the fruits of their hardships and sacri- fices, an inspiration to keep the fires of liberty and patri- otism burning. Yea, more than an inspiration - a duty to keep the fires of liberty ever bright and to see that our patriotism is pure and without alloy, so that when this life is ended and our little day is done, we can meet them face to face in God's great to-morrow, with the satisfac- tion of having done our duty in whatever sphere we are called to labor.
AUTHORITIES.
Sanford's History of Connecticut; Hollister's History of Connecticut; Atwater's History of the City of New Haven; Yale Biographies and Annals, Dexter; Connecticut Colonial Records; Dwight's Travels in New England and New York; Proceedings at the Completion of the Wooster Monument, with Oration by H. C. Deming, and New Haven Palladium; Barber's Connecticut Historical Collections.
COLONEL JOHN TRUMBULL.
COL. JOHN TRUMBULL-THE PATRIOT AND ARTIST
BY SEYMOUR C. LOOMIS.
An address delivered on the annual decoration day of the Gen. David Humphreys Branch, S. A. R., June 27th, 1909, in the Yale Art School, where the Trumbull Gallery is now located and Col. Trumbull and his wife are buried. On this occasion also, a Revolutionary Soldier's Marker, located on the outside of the building over the grave, was unveiled.
There are few persons connected with the American Revolution, who have left a greater impress upon suc- ceeding generations than Col. John Trumbull, of Con- necticut. He was a graduate of Harvard, a patron and benefactor of Yale, an aide of General Washington, an exile from his country, confined in a British prison, an artist devoted to recording in immortal colors the stir- ring and commanding scenes which surrounded the natal days of our government, and a man whose courtly ways and noble instincts place him in the foreground among those other men of the colonies who threw off the yoke of allegiance to Great Britain in 1776.
John Trumbull, born June 6, 1756, was the son of Jonathan Trumbull, of Lebanon, Connecticut, the only colonial governor at the outbreak of the war, who re- tained his office during the years that followed. Gov- ernor Trumbull was the confidential friend and adviser of General Washington, by whom he was called "Brother Jonathan," an appellation now commonly used to mean the American People. The Trumbulls of New England were well known for their integrity, breadth of view, sound sense and mental capacity. These were the char- acteristics inherited from a line extending back to Scot- land. To these natural traits were added the education and training gained in the schools of theory and of ex- perience in active public life. Governor Trumbull and
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Col. John Trumbull-The Patriot and Artist
his three sons Joseph, Jonathan, Jr., and John were all prominent revolutionists from the beginning and took a leading part in the prosecution of the war. A fourth son, David, also served his country at the time but in a less prominent way. John, the youngest of the three, graduated at the age of seventeen from Harvard in 1773, as his father had previously done in 1727. He enlisted immediately after the Lexington alarm and in April, 1775, marched with others from his native town, to the defense of Boston. General Washington upon assuming command was attracted to Trumbull by a plan of Boston and the surrounding country, which Trumbull had made at considerable peril to himself. Shortly after this incident he was appointed second aide-de-camp upon the general's staff, the first being Thomas Mifflin, of Philadelphia, afterwards President of Congress in 1783, at the time Washington resigned his commission.
Trumbull remained as aide for a short time only, and then was chosen major of a brigade at Roxbury, where the excellence of his service was noticed by Adjutant-General Gates, by whom on the 28th of June, 1776, he was appointed deputy adjutant-general with the rank of colonel. He accepted this position and entered heartily into the campaign. There was, how- ever, an unwarranted delay on the part of Congress in for- warding to Trumbull his commission. After long waiting it was finally received, but to his great surprise and dis- appointment, it was found to have been dated in Sep- tember, when the appointment was made in June. This discrepancy in the dates permitted several other men, whose terms of service had been shorter, to outrank Trumbull in military standing. Then followed a series of letters by Trumbull and his friends to the Conti- nental Congress. The treatment accorded to him is illustrated in a remark by Hancock when Col. Trumbull was under consideration, the substance of which was, that "the Trumbull family has already been well pro-
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Col. John Trumbull-The Patriot and Artist
vided for," alluding to the high positions held by his father and two brothers. John answered this remark laconically, "We are sure of four halters if we do not succeed." He tried to have the commission corrected but was met by language too sharp and bitter for his high sense of honor to countenance, whereupon he resigned and thus ended his official military career. This was on February 22, 1777, about two years after his enlistment in April, 1775.
Having been refused his commission on account of jealousy, which, alas, is still present too often in official life, he returned to his native town of Lebanon to resume the art with which by nature he was so richly endowed. Later he resolved to go to Europe and study under Ben- jamin West, the distinguished American artist. Before leaving, however, he could not resist the call to assist General Sullivan and the French fleet under D'Estaing in recovering possession of Rhode Island. He embarked for Europe in May, 1780, where he arrived after a favor- able voyage of about five weeks. In Paris he visited Dr. Franklin, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and also Mr. Strange, the eminent engraver. Then he set out for London, where he took up his permanent resi- dence upon the understanding with the British govern- ment that he should not be molested for his previous acts of revolution in New England provided he avoided in England all political intervention. He kept his part of the contract, but the retaliatory spirit of the men then in power in the British government could not withstand the temptation of persecuting Trumbull after the fate of Major André had come to their knowledge in the fall of 1780. Trumbull was seized for treason, thrown into prison, and was closely confined for seven months.
His time, however, was not lost, for he was allowed to work with his pencil and brush, and among other results was a copy of a "Correggio," which now hangs in the Trumbull gallery in New Haven. During his in-
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Col. John Trumbull-The Patriot and Artist
carceration he also became well acquainted with many of the leaders of the liberal party, particularly with Fox and Burke. Even at this distant day we can see this fine specimen of American youth, of broad mental and physical calibre, confined in a London jail, visited by those men of the mother country who saw in the American colonies the beginnings of a great nation, whose customs and heritages were, as were their own, Anglo-Saxon, whose speech was the same and whose cause was, in their opinion, just. These men saved Trumbull and, eventually, their influence in England prevented further warfare after the surrender of Corn- wallis, and led to the final evacuation of New York.
Under the terms of his release from prison Trumbull was obliged to leave England within thirty days. He did so at once and went to the continent. Under direc- tions from his father, the governor, he tried to negotiate in Holland a loan for Connecticut, but was unable to accomplish it. John Adams also failed at the same time to effect one for the nation. Trumbull then sailed for America, where he arrived in January, 1782, after a most perilous voyage, the details of which are strikingly set forth in his "Reminiscences." Upon reaching Lebanon he was taken seriously ill, and his life was endangered. It was autumn before he recovered. He then went to the army to superintend the faithful execution of the supply contract, and was thus engaged when the pre- liminary articles of peace were signed.
After the war was over he was ready for a permanent occupation. His friends made business offers, which would doubtless have proved of great pecuniary profit to him, but he felt obliged to decline them, although he was entirely without financial resources. He was irre- sistibly led to his art. His father rather objected, and seeing that commercial life was not agreeable, tried to persuade him to enter the profession of the law, but Trumbull remained steadfast, and in December, 1783,
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DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE JULY 4TH, 1776. TRUMBULL'S MASTERPIECE.
From the original painting in the Trumbull Gallery, Yale School of Fine Arts.
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Col. John Trumbull-The Patriot and Artist
sailed again for London. Upon arrival there he went at once to his old patron and teacher, West, at whose house he applied himself by day, and at the academy, at night.
It was then that he formed a fixed purpose that his art should be of some benefit to his country, and to em- ploy in her behalf the talent which he possessed. He became firm in his determination to record on canvas in a way which should thrill the hearts of men, and yet be faithful to the matters and facts involved, the history of the events which he had known, and some of which his own eyes had witnessed. First, we have the "Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill,"* and of "General Montgomery at the Attack on Quebec." Then followed the "Declaration of Independence," which was done at enormous expense of time, because of Trumbull's requirement of himself that each figure in his historical paintings should be a true likeness of the person represented. It was no easy task to arrange the composition, but to obtain individual sittings from the forty-eight different men, who had signed that immortal document, and who had then become scattered over this country and Europe, was at that time a large undertaking. Some had died. Theirs were omitted be- cause Trumbull required a correct portrait. Jefferson's was done in Paris, Adams' in London, that of Rutledge in Charleston, and so on. The groupings, the color, the perspective and the spirit in each face, prove that the artist's work was commensurate with the importance of the subject. It is called Trumbull's masterpiece, and with the "Battle of Bunker Hill," and "Death of Mont- gomery" hangs with most of his other best works in the Trumbull gallery in the Yale School of the Fine Arts, in accordance with the terms of a contract made by Trumbull with Yale College in 1831, under which he was to turn over to the college his paintings, in consideration
* A reproduction of this picture appears facing page 91 of this volume.
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Col. John Trumbull-The Patriot and Artist
of an annuity of one thousand dollars a year. This he drew for twelve years until his death in 1843. The con- sideration was not the equivalent in value of the paint- ings, and Trumbull intended it to be, as it in fact was, a gift to Yale, taking to himself the small annuity only because it was needed for his own subsistence.
Among his other paintings are the "Sortie from Gib- raltar," representing the gallant conduct and death of the Spanish commander in 1781, the "Surrender of Corn- wallis" at Yorktown, "The Surrender of Burgoyne" at Saratoga, "Washington Resigning His Commission" at Annapolis, "The Battle of Princeton," and the "Cap- ture of the Hessians" at Trenton. The portraits of Gen- eral Washington and of Alexander Hamilton in the Yale gallery are remarkable; especially the one of Hamilton which, it is said, reflects the spirit of that statesman better than any other in existence. We may also men- tion the portraits of his father, Governor Jonathan Trumbull, Captain Thomas Seymour, President Dwight the elder, and Oliver Ellsworth, which are at New Haven; also the portraits of Washington, Chief Justice Jay, Governor Clinton and General Hamilton now in the common council room at the City Hall in New York City. Engravings of his "Declaration" and others of his earlier paintings were made by Müller of Stuttgart and were subscribed for by the leading men of this country and of Europe.
Trumbull's choicest works were done prior to 1796, that is, before the forty-first year of his age. At that time he became a member of the commission appointed for the execution of the seventh article of the treaty negotiated by Mr. Jay between England and the United States. That article related to claims for damage done to American commerce because of illegal captures by British cruisers. Trumbull's residence and growing influ- ence abroad made him peculiarly qualified for that office,
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Col. John Trumbull-The Patriot and Artist
and he felt he must accept it. The work of the commis- sion was not finished until 1804.
In 1800 he married, and the portrait of his wife is now in the New Haven gallery. After her death in 1824, he said of her, "she was the perfect personification of truth and sincerity, wise to counsel, kind to console- by far the most important and better moral half of me, and withal beautiful beyond the usual beauty of women."
In 1816 he was requested by Congress and by Presi- dent Madison, who made the choice of subjects, to paint for the National Capitol the "Declaration of Independence," the "Surrender of Burgoyne," the "Surrender of Corn- wallis" and "Washington Resigning His Commission." They are copies from the ones now in the New Haven gallery but of much larger size. The originals are about twenty inches by thirty inches and the copies twelve feet by eighteen feet, and the figures life size. He was eight years in painting them and received thirty-two thousand dollars from the government, and finally hung them by his own hand in the rotunda of the National Capitol, where they still remain. Replicas subsequently painted by him may also be found in the Wadsworth Athenæum at Hartford and in the State House at Annap- olis and elsewhere. While the copies and replicas are interesting from an historical standpoint, they lack the highly artistic qualities possessed by the originals.
Trumbull was instrumental in founding the Academy of Fine Arts in New York and was its president from 1816 to 1825. He spent his last years in New Haven with the elder Prof. Silliman, who lived at the northwest corner of Hillhouse Avenue and what was then called New Street, now Trumbull Street, named in his honor. The house has since been moved to the rear part of Prof. Silliman's lot, and faces Trumbull Street. Trum- bull died on November 10th, 1843, in New York City, where he was on a visit. His body was brought to New Haven and buried beside his wife under the old Trum-
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Col. John Trumbull-The Patriot and Artist
bull gallery, which then stood in the middle of the pres- ent university campus, and was afterwards used for the president's and treasurer's office. In 1864, the art school building was erected and the remains of Trumbull and his wife were interred under that structure. A suitable tablet in the basement and an inscription on the outer wall mark his grave, whereon it is truly stated that he was a Patriot and Artist. He gave his best life work to the college and through it to the country at large.
THE NOAH WEBSTER HOUSE. On the Southwest Corner of Temple and Grove Streets, now Standing.
NOAH WEBSTER
BY GEORGE HARE FORD.
Address delivered at the grave of Noah Webster in the Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven, June fifteenth, 1902.
All nations have their honored rolls of soldiers and patriots whose fame they perpetuate by monuments and by recounting their achievements. In France, homage is regu- larly paid to the piety and heroism of the Maid of Orleans. England bids her sculptors carve for Westminster Abbey the images of her great men. On the heathered hills of Scot- land, the sword of Wallace is yet a bright tradition. On the soft blue waters of the Lake of Lucerne stands the chapel of William Tell, and in each July on the anniversary of his revolt, boat loads of representatives of the Allied Cantons, with the banner of the republic hanging from the bow, visit the sacred spot and chant their National Hymns. America decorates the graves of those who established its government and of those likewise who maintained its honor and integrity, and by whispers from the past, the nation tells how precious are the memories of her founders and defenders.
The General David Humphreys Branch, Sons of the American Revolution, are conspicuously honored in having on their roster the names of so many eminent men of both local fame and national renown, conspicuous not only for their revolutionary service, but known to the world at large for their learning and ability. In the Grove Street Ceme- tery the bronze emblem of this society has been placed upon the graves of 125 soldiers and patriots of our war for independence who served their country then, and whom we honor now each year by assembling on the Sunday preced- ing Bunker Hill Day, recalling at the grave of some dis- tinguished patriot, his services and placing our wreath with ceremony on his grave; and detailing members of the so-
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Noah Webster
ciety to perform the latter service upon the graves of all our honored dead.
Noah Webster was a descendant of John Webster, of Warwickshire, England, who came to this country in 1635 and was one of the original settlers of Connecticut at Hart- ford. He took part in the Pequot war, was a member of the Colonial Council and the fourth Governor of the State of Connecticut. On his mother's side Noah Webster descended from William Bradford, one of the founders and the second Governor of the Plymouth colony. One year previous to the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, he came to New Haven and entered Yale College. On the following April, almost before the echoing notes of Paul Revere's alarm had faded away and the Second Company Governor's Foot Guard had marched to Lexington, "there was speedily or- ganized in New Haven," as Blake tells us, "two companies of house-holders, one company of artillery, and one com- pany of Yale students," in which enterprise Noah Webster took a most active part. The first duty of the battalion, it is proudly recorded, was that of acting as escort to General Washington, when he was on his way in July, 1775, to take command of the Continental Army. Reviewing these youthful soldiers on the New Haven Green with his staff officer, General Washington made a brief address and com- plimented them upon their efficiency and patriotism, and was then escorted by them to the limit of the city with Noah Webster at the head of the column.
When the western part of Connecticut was thrown into confusion by Burgoyne's expedition, Webster left his col- lege course and entered the Continental Army in the detach- ment under the command of his father, Capt. Webster. In this campaign all the male members of this family, four in number, were in the army. Notwithstanding this interrup- tion, he completed his studies and graduated in 1778, with others of Revolutionary and public fame, such as Joel Bar- low, Minister to the Court of France, Oliver Wolcott, Secre- tary of the Treasury under Washington, and afterwards
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Noah Webster
Governor of the State of Connecticut, and others who in later years served their country with great distinction and honor.
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