Faith Trumbull Huntington

Faith Trumbull Huntington completed this piece in 1754, at age 11.

The Connecticut Historical Society

Quick Facts

Significance:

Witness to the Battle of Bunker Hill, artist.

Place of Birth:

Lebanon, CT

Date of Birth:

January 25, 1742/43

Place of Death:

Dedham, MA

Date of Death:

November 24, 1775

Place of Burial:

Dedham, MA

Cemetery Name:

Old Village Cemetary

In June of 1775, Faith Trumbull Huntington witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill from across the city in Roxbury. What she saw greatly effected her, and she fell into a severe depression, which led to her eventual suicide. Faith Trumbull Huntington's experience reminds us of the cost of war, even among civilians.

Born in 1743, Faith Trumbull grew up in a family of wealth and privilege in Lebanon, Connecticut. Since her parents valued education, Faith and her siblings attended private school.¹ At age 10, Faith came to Boston to attend finishing school, where she trained in needlepoint.²

At a young age, Faith also developed her skills as a painter. Faith's younger brother, Revolutionary era artist John Trumbull, credited her work as his inspiration:  

[Faith] had acquired some knowledge of drawing, and had even painted in oil, two heads and a landscape. These wonders were hung in my mother’s parlor, and were among the first objects that caught my infant eye. I endeavored to imitate them.³ 

After her schooling, Faith Trumbull returned home to Connecticut. In 1766, she married Jedidiah "Jed" Huntington and the two moved to Norwich, Connecticut. One year later Faith and Jed* welcomed a son, Jabez, who in the early 1770s went to live with his grandparents. 

Faith, like her family and husband, held patriot views as tensions between the colonies and Great Britain continued to grow. Her husband served as a colonel in the Connecticut militia. In April 1775, when he heard about the clash at Lexington and Concord, Jed led his men north to support the Siege of Boston. In the early months of the Siege, Jed made trips to Connecticut for supplies and recruits. At that time, Faith supported and accepted her husband’s involvement in the war.⁴  

For even the most ardent patriot though, having family go to war could be unsettling. Faith's sister-in-law Hannah Huntington, for instance, found her husband’s departure to Cambridge particularly distressing. To support Hannah, the Huntington and Trumbull siblings planned a trip to Dedham to reunite her with her husband, Joshua.⁵  

An ill-fated trip, the group arrived in Roxbury camp, about two miles south-west of Boston, on June 17, 1775. Meanwhile on this same day, colonial militia and British Marines clashed at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Charlestown, across the river from Boston. Though the group stayed about four miles away, they bore witnesses to the battle, likely hearing cannon fire and seeing the smoke from the guns. 

We do not have Faith's reflections of the battle but witnessing it from afar clearly left a lasting impression on her. Her brother John later reflected that, on that day, Faith: 

Found herself surrounded, not by ‘the pomp and circumstances of glorious war,’ but in the midst of all its horrible realities. She saw too clearly the life of danger and hardship upon which her husband and her favorite brother had entered, and it overcame her strong, but too sensitive mind.⁶ 

The family returned to Connecticut after their unfortunate trip to Boston. By July, Jed received his commission as a colonel in the Continental army and returned to Roxbury. This left Faith alone once again. For a few weeks, she resumed the role of supportive military wife. Soon though, Jed's departure began to greatly affect Faith. In one letter she reflected on "the thoughts of Parting with [her] Dearest Friend in Life—Perhaps to Meet no more here below." ⁷

Despite months passing, witnessing the Battle of Bunker Hill had taken a toll on Faith's mental health. By late summer 1775, she had fallen into a deep depression. She felt the weight of the coming war. The absence of her husband and the knowledge of what he faced led her to write to him that she "[hoped] the Unhappy Dispute may be Put to an happy Isue [sic] truly before Winter or I know not how I Shall Live through So Long an Absence from my Companion."⁸

By October, her family recognized the seriousness of Faith's depression. They attempted to support her by bringing her, once again, to Dedham. There, Jed could visit her more often. She also received the care of Dr. John Sprague, who worked to treat her depression. 

Despite the best efforts of her friends and family, Faith committed suicide on the morning of November 24, 1775.  

The author of Faith's obituary blamed her depression and ultimate death on the British, writing that "[the] authors of American oppression, and the public calamity, are accountable for her death, and that of thousands more."⁹

Faith Trumbull Huntington's struggle and untimely death serves as a powerful reminder of the cost of war, even among civilians.  

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*Since this biographical portrait of Faith Trumbull Huntington references different members of the Trumbull or Huntington families, we decided to primarily use first names throughout instead of identifying individuals by full name or solely last name. This choice is meant for easier reading.

Footnotes

1. In 1743, the Trumbull family, along with a few other wealthy Lebanon families, started a private school to educate their children. The school employed Nathan Tisdale, a Harvard graduate. Isaac William Stuart, Life of Jonathan Trumbull, sen., Governor of Connecticut, (Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1859), https://archive.org/details/lifejonathantru03stuagoog, 59.
2. Faith Trumbull studied under Elizabeth Murray, a powerful businesswoman in Revolutionary Boston. For a deeper exploration into her time in Boston, see Maggie Meahl, “Faith Trumbull Huntington: An Eighteenth-Century Woman Encounters War,” Connecticut History Review, Volume 58, (Spring 2019): 3-34, https://doi.org/10.5406/connhistrevi.58.1.0003, 7-10.
3. John Trumbull, Autobiography, Reminiscences and Letters of John Trumbull, from 1756 to 1841, (New Haven: Printed by B. L. Hamlen, 1841), https://archive.org/details/autobiographyre00trumgoog, 5.
4. Ann Brandwein, “An Eighteenth-Century Depression: The Sad Conclusion of Faith Trumbull Huntington,” Connecticut History Review Volume 26, (November 1985): 19-32, https://doi.org/10.2307/44369247, 24; Meahl, “Faith Trumbull Huntington," 16-17.
5. For an extensive look at Faith Trumbull Huntington’s life and death, see Brandwein, “An Eighteenth-Century Depression;” Meahl, “Faith Trumbull Huntington.”
6. Trumbull, Autobiography, Reminiscences…, 23.
7. Faith Trumbull Huntington, quoted in Brandwein, “An Eighteenth-Century Depression,” 23.
8. Ibid., 24
9. “In the morning of the 24^th November last…”, The Connecticut Gazette; and the Universal Intelligencer, December 8, 1775, https://www.genealogybank.com/nbshare/AC01180210204959293351676300753, 3.