Meet Emily, one of the most genuine people you will ever meet. She is getting ready to enter the History Master’s program at Liberty University, where she will specialize in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.
Though you may not know John Trumbull himself, you may recognize his paintings. Trumbull found fame through his sweeping Revolutionary War scenes, portraits of some of America’s founding-era heroes, and a series of murals in the US Capitol Building’s rotunda. He was a celebrated who enjoyed international renown. However, he got his start in a tiny New England farming town once described in colorful terms by a French commander visiting during the Revolutionary War; The duc de Lauzun, remarked, “Siberia alone can furnish any idea of Lebanon, which consists of a few huts scattered among vast forests.”[1]
Lebanon, Connecticut, my hometown, boasts a wealth of history, particularly throughout the Revolutionary War period. Jonathan Trumbull, John’s father, served as Connecticut’s governor from 1769-1784, during which he not only “redefined the role of governor from mostly a powerless figurehead to a mastermind in the logistics of running the state,” but proved instrumental in gathering much-needed provisions for the Continental Army during the war.[2] Governor Trumbull’s efforts lend themselves to Connecticut’s wartime nickname “the Provisions State,” and General George Washington affectionately referred to the governor as “Brother Jonathan.”[3]
John Trumbull was born on June 6, 1756, the youngest of six children, in his father’s home, which is still open to visitors on the Lebanon Green, a mile-long parcel of land in the center of town that remains significant in community life. Though plagued by a series of health scares early in his life, including an accident that left him blind in one eye, John was a remarkably bright child—he reflected in his autobiography that he could read Greek by age six—and attended Harvard as a young man.[4] However, his true passion lay in art. Following service with the Connecticut First Regiment—during which he briefly served as Washington’s aide-de-camp— Trumbull studied in London under the English painter Benjamin West, whom he had met through Dr. Benjamin Franklin.[5] Not long after meeting his young pupil, West remarked, “Mr. Trumbull, I have now no hesitation to say that nature intended you for a painter. You possess the essential qualities; nothing more is necessary, but careful and assiduous cultivation.”[6]
Throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Trumbull and, later, his wife, Sarah Hope Harvey, moved between America and England. Trumbull continued to create works of art and meet some of America’s most famous individuals of the Founding Era, including John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Aaron Burr. He also left his mark on his hometown by designing a new Congregational meetinghouse, today the First Congregational Church at the tip of the town green. Much of the church was destroyed in the devastating Hurricane of 1938 but was rebuilt to Trumbull’s specifications. I remember school field trips in elementary and middle school, during which we visited the church and sat in the box-like pews, gaping at the towering windows and high, blue ceiling. In this way, Trumbull’s work remains not only visible, but central to the town of Lebanon.
Following the War of 1812, Trumbull and his wife returned once again to America and settled in New York, where he had lived periodically throughout the height of his career. He was elected president of the American Academy of Fine Art in 1824, signifying the height of his influence in the art community.
A 1790 subscription proposal raising support for the reproduction of two of Trumbull’s earlier works outlines his overarching goals. A portion of the proposal reads,
“No period of history of man […] is more interesting than that in which we have lived. The memory of scenes in which were laid the foundations of that free government, which secures our national and individual happiness, must remain ever dear to us and to our posterity […] To assist in preserving the memory of the illustrious events which have marked this period of our country’s glory, as well as of the men who have been the most important actors in them, is the object of this undertaking.”[7]
Lebanon, with its rolling farmland, rambling stonewalls, and colonial architecture, remains a charming New England town filled with fascinating history. I am so blessed to have had many wonderful memories within this community. I spent roughly twelve years of my life in Lebanon before relocating to a new state with my family in 2014. Last summer, I made it back for the first time since our move. I drove along the town green—remembering antique shows and ice skating when I was a kid—past the Jonathan Trumbull Library—where I volunteered in middle school and found a lifelong love of reading—and past the First Congregational Church, where my sisters and I served spaghetti dinners and strawberry shortcake to other members of the community. I thought about the Lebanon natives throughout history who went out to make their marks around the world. Similarly, the fact that a man whose artistic talent continues to deeply inform Americans’ perception of the Revolutionary War got his start in my hometown is incredibly exciting! John Trumbull’s work remains recognizable, even if his name has been forgotten. In Lebanon, Connecticut—both his hometown and mine—his legacy remains preserved.
The Lebanon Green with a view of the First Congregational Church to the right
[1] “Local History,” Lebanon Historical Society Museum & Visitors Center, accessed on June 18, 2019, https://historyoflebanon.org/local-history/.
[2] “The Jonathan Trumbull Family,” Trumbull Historical Society, accessed on June 17, 2019, http://www.trumbullhistory.org/the-jonathan-trumbull-family.html.
[3] Ibid.
[4] John Trumbull, Autobiography, Reminiscences and Letters of John Trumbull, from 1756 to 1841 (New Haven, CT: B.L. Hamlen, 1841), 5-6.
[5] Ibid., 66.
[6] Ibid., 67.
[7] Ibid., 339-340.
Check out this great article highlighting the history of Lebanon:
Learn more about the work of the Lebanon Historical Society:
historyoflebanon.org
For information and resources about John Trumbull and his work:
connecticuthistory.org/people/john-trumbull/
The National Gallery of Art provides a thorough overview of Trumbull’s life and famous works:
Small World, Big Stories 