J. Hammond (James Hammond) Trumbull

Born in Stonington, Connecticut, in 1821, James Hammond Trumbull studied at Yale but left before graduating because of poor health. He went on to build a remarkable career as a historian, philologist, bibliographer, and public servant, serving as Connecticut's first state librarian and later as secretary of state.

Trumbull is especially remembered for his deep research into the early history of Connecticut and for his scholarship on Indigenous languages of New England. He was also active in historical and learned societies, and his reputation rested on patient, exacting work with original documents rather than showy writing.

He died in Hartford in 1897. For readers today, his books still offer the pleasures of close historical detective work: careful notes, serious curiosity, and a lasting commitment to preserving the record of early American life.