Background
Trumbull was born on October 12, 1710 in Lebanon, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Trumble (1678–1755) and his wife, Hannah Trumble (née Higley).
Trumbull was born on October 12, 1710 in Lebanon, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Trumble (1678–1755) and his wife, Hannah Trumble (née Higley).
He graduated at Harvard in 1727, and began the study of theology, but in 1731 engaged in business with his father.
He received an honorary LL. D. from Yale University in 1775 and from the University of Edinburgh in 1787.
He next studied law, was elected to the Assembly in 1773, and held public office almost continuously afterward. He served for seven years in the Assembly, being Speaker for three years, for seventeen years as county judge of Windham county, for twenty-two years (after 1740) as governor's assistant, for two years as deputy-governor (1767 - 1769), and for three years (1766 - 1769) as chief justice of the colony. In 1769 he was elected governor and continued in office until his voluntary retirement in 1784. During the War of Independence he was a valued counsellor of Washington. The story that the term "Brother Jonathan, " a sobriquet for the United States, originated in Washington's familiar form of addressing him seems to be without any foundation. After the war Trumbull was a strong Federalist. He died in Lebanon on the 17th of August 1785.
Governor Trumbull was elected as an honorary member of the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati in 1784. In 1782, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
On December 9, 1735, he married Faith Robinson (1718–1780), daughter of Rev. John Robinson. They were the parents of six children.