Born: October 12, 1710, Lebanon, Connecticut
College: Harvard, 1727 and M.A., 1730
Political Party: None
Offices: Connecticut General Assembly, various terms 1733-1754
Lieutenant of Troop of Horse, 1735
Lieutenant Colonel 12th Regiment, 1739
Clerk, House of Representatives, 1738
Speaker, House of Representatives, 1739, 1752, 1754
Justice of the Peace, Windham County, 1738-1739, 1744, 1751-1753
Council of Assistants, 1740-1751, 1754, 1756, 1762-1764
Judge of the Quorum, 1744, 1745
Judge, Windham County County Court, 1746-1753, 1757-1765
Judge, Windham County Superior Court, 1754, 1755
Judge, Windham Probate Court, 1747-1751, 1755-1767
Deputy Governor, Colony of Connecticut, 1766-1769
Chief Justice, Connecticut Superior Court, 1766-1769
Governor, Colony of Connecticut, October 1769-October 10, 1776
Governor, State of Connecticut, October 10, 1776-May 1784
Died: August 17, 1785, Lebanon, Connecticut
Source:
Jonathan Trumbull (1710-1785) was governor of Connecticut before, during, and after the Revolutionary War; he was one of only two men to be both royal governors under King George III and state governors after independence was declared. His 14 years as governor from 1769 to 1784 were of immense importance to both Connecticut and the fledgling United States. As leader of "The Provisions State" Trumbull ensured that the Continental Army had the supplies it needed to keep fighting, for which his friend George Washington once called him "the first of the patriots."
Trumbull's official papers and letters, which also included significant documents pertaining to Connecticut's claims on the Susquehanna and Narragansett countries, were donated by his son David Trumbull to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1795. This organization preserved all but volume 19, which was unfortunately lost in a fire in 1825, and donated them to the state of Connecticut in 1921. They have been preserved at the Connecticut State Library since. In 2024-5, this invaluable resource for researching the Revolutionary War period was digitized and made available online for the first time through the Connecticut Digital Archive.
A slip index to the Trumbull Papers exists in the Archives Reading Area in the History & Genealogy unit of the State Library. It has not yet been digitized or transcribed, but researchers are more than welcome to come to the library to make use of it.
These are only some examples.