Connecticut’s Hidden Gems Part 1
A Closer Look at Lebanon, Connecticut
Though many may often associate Connecticut with its urban landscapes, sprawling farmlands, and close proximity to the larger East Coast hubs of New York City and Boston, there exist a handful of hidden gems, historical towns with deep-seated history and ties to some famous figures of our nation’s past. Often, these towns are overlooked, brushed to the side in favor of densely populated areas and Connecticut’s upscale provinces. One such town, nestled well within the rural landscapes and quiet bustle of Eastern Connecticut, is the town called Lebanon.
The town, founded in 1700, boasts over 55 square miles of farmland, rural neighborhoods, a small public school system, and a population of about 7,000 people. Perhaps most notable in those 55 some-odd square miles, however, is the Lebanon Town Green, which is one of the last remaining working town greens in the country, meaning that a large portion of that vast town landmark is used for agriculture. The houses surrounding the Green, too, bear great historical significance, particularly in terms of the Revolutionary War.
For example, the Jonathan Trumbull Homestead and the attached Wadsworth Stable (which was originally located in Hartford) were home to Governor Jonathan Trumbull. Likewise, the Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. House, with its bright yellow exterior and well-kept gardens, is the former home of famous Revolutionary War politician, Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., who, like his father, went on to serve as Connecticut’s governor as well as the second speaker of the House of Representatives in the latter years of the eighteenth century. Also associated with the Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. House is Jonathan Trumbull Jr. ‘s younger brother, John Trumbull. Often confused with his older brother, John Trumbull was not in fact a politician, but rather a famous Revolutionary War era painter, whose oil on canvas renditions of George Washington and the signing of the Declaration of Independence earned him nation-wide renown and acclaim.
Another building bordering the Lebanon Town Green, an estate by the name of Redwood, was constructed around the same time as the Johnathan Trumbull, Jr. House by the third of the Trumbull brothers, a commissary to the Colony of Connecticut and supplier to General Rochambeau’s army, a man by the name of David. The building stands today in immaculate condition, a testament to the lingering historical ties between modern day Lebanon and the late eighteenth century.
Finally, the Beaumont House, childhood homestead of famous physician Dr. William Beaumont, stands today as a monument to Beaumont’s work and influence on eighteenth century medical practices. As the story goes, Beaumont, after leaving his childhood home and moving to New York, worked with a man by the name of Alexis St. Martin, who had suffered a nonfatal gunshot wound, a wound that refused to heal. Interested in the science of digestion and gastric physiology, Beaumont experimented on St. Martin by tying pieces of food to a string before inserting it directly into St. Martin’s stomach through the wound in an effort to study and observe how the human body digests and processes food. Beaumont’s work soon earned him the title “The Father of Gastric Physiology” and solidified his name as one of the great doctors of his time.
Information and images relating to many of these historic landmarks can be found within the CTDA repository. In fact, simply searching up the town of Lebanon within the repository produces 377,544 results, ranging from texts on the town’s history to photographic evidence of the town’s historic infrastructure. Many of these buildings have since been converted into museums and visitor centers, all managed by Lebanon’s Historical Society, in an effort to preserve their eighteenth century origins and legacies for generations to come. The CTDA houses multiple views of the aforementioned estates and homesteads, including a pencil drawing of Redwood inscribed with the name of its founder, a similar drawing of the Lebanon Town Green featuring depictions of the Town Hall, the church, and a schoolhouse, one of John Trumbull’s paintings titled A Portrait of a Young Man, and, finally, a black and white photo of the town’s War Office.
In short, Lebanon and many other small Connecticut towns are often overlooked in favor of their larger, more populated counterparts. However, that does not make them any less important to the overarching narrative of Connecticut’s past and its ties to some of the greatest moments in American history. It is imperative that we seek out these hidden narratives when considering Connecticut’s contributions to the trajectory of our nation’s history, and even more imperative that we seek to conserve such incredible landmarks, both in the physical world and through the use of digital resources and repositories.
After all, every town, no matter how small, has a story to be told.
For more information on historic Lebanon, visit the following links:
https://www.lebanonctlibrary.org/
https://www.lebanonct.gov/community-recreation/pages/lebanon-green
https://www.lebanonct.gov/jonathan-trumbull-jr-house
https://www.lebanonct.gov/jonathan-trumbull-jr-house/pages/jonathan-trumbull-jr-biography
https://www.lebanonct.gov/community-recreation/pages/gov-jonathan-trumbull-house-wadsworth-stable
https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1936.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Trumbull-American-painter
http://historicbuildingsct.com/redwood-1778/
http://historicbuildingsct.com/the-dr-william-beaumont-homestead-1750/
Connecticut Digital Archive Connect is the publication of the Connecticut Digital Archive, a program of the UConn Library. Visit https://ctdigitalarchive.org to learn more.
