Lebanon - Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Dr. William Beaumont Homestead (1750)

Dr. William Beaumont (1785-1853) was a U.S. Army surgeon who became famous as the “Father of Gastric Physiology.” His pioneering investigations of human digestion were published in his 1838 work, Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion. Dr. Beaumont was born in a small c. 1750 farm house, built by his father, Samuel Beaumont, in the Village Hill section of Lebanon. In 1973, the house was acquired by the Beaumont Homestead Preservation Trust and moved to a new site on Lebanon Green, behind the Gov. Jonathan Trumbull House. The house is now a museum, owned and maintained by the Lebanon Historical Society.

Also today, check out the latest entries at Historic Buildings of Massachusetts, the Nims House and Wilson Printing Office in Deerfield.

Wadsworth Stable (1820)

George Washington slept many places, but where did George Washington’s horse sleep? In the Wadsworth Stable in Hartford, which was on the estate of Jeremiah Wadsworth, in whose house Washington, Rochambeau and Governor Trumbull had their first meeting in 1780. The original stable, built in 1730, later burned down. It was rebuilt around 1820 in the Palladian style, unusual for an outbuilding, to suit the pretensions of the Federal era. The stable was probably designed by Daniel Wadsworth, Jeremiah Wadsworth’s son. In 1842, the Wadsworth House was moved to a new location (it was torn down in 1887) when the Wadsworth Atheneum was constructed. The stable, which was owned for a time by the Hartford Public Library, remained on its original site, adjacent to the Atheneum, until 1954, when it was saved from demolition and moved to Lebanon. Its original location is now the Travelers Tower plaza. The new home of the Wadsworth Stable was provided by the Connecticut DAR and is adjacent to the Governor Jonathan Trumbull House. A plaque on the stable recognizes the generosity of Katharine Seymour Day, who also established what is now the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, for the restoration of the building.

Redwood (1778)

David Trumbull, a brother of Jonathan Trumbull, Jr and the artist John Trumbull, hired the builder Isaac Fitch to construct his house in Lebanon. Known as “Redwood,” the David Trumbull House was built in 1778-1779. He also had Fitch make reproductions of expensive English furniture for the house. Serving as commissary of the Colony of Connecticut during the Revolutionary War, David Trumbull provided supplies for General Rochambeau‘s army at Newport, Rhode Island in 1780 and supplied food and housing for the Duke de Lauzun‘s cavalry legion during their 1780-81 encampment in Lebanon. Redwood became Lazun’s headquarters during this period. David Trumbull’s son, Joseph Trumbull, was born in the house in 1782. He would later become the governor of Connecticut from 1849-1850. The building is now home to Lebanon Green Vineyards.

Revolutionary War Office (1727)

The building known as the Revolutionary War Office, in Lebanon, was originally built around 1727 for Joseph Trumbull, and has been moved several times over the years to different sites on the town green. At the start of the Revolutionary War, it was located closer to Jonathan Trumbull’s house and was serving as a store and office for his merchant business. Trumbull was Governor of Connecticut during the war and he used the office to plan the state’s defense with the Council of Safety from 1775-1784. Notable figures who conferred with Trumbull in the office include George Washington, Henry Knox and Israel Putnam, as well as Rochambeau and Lafayette. In 1891, the building was acquired by the Connecticut Sons of the American Revolution and restored. A bronze tablet was placed in 1896. Today it is open to the public as a museum.

Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. House (1769)

Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. was the son of Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., Connecticut’s governor during the Revolutionary War. He was the brother of the artist John Trumbull, who painted notable scenes from the Revolution. Jonathan Jr. served during the war himself as Military Sectary to George Washington, replacing Alexander Hamilton in that position in 1781 and holding it throughout the Yorktown Campaign. After the war, Trumbull served as Governor of Connecticut (1797-1809). Trumbull’s house, on the Green in Lebanon, was originally built around 1769 by his father and was remodeled during the war in the fashionable Georgian style by the master builder Isaac Fitch. George Washington spent the night of March 4, 1781 in the home, which is now owned and operated as a house museum by the Town of Lebanon.

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William Williams House (1748)

The William Williams House, at the intersection of CT routes 207 and 87 in Lebanon, was built sometime before 1748, when it was purchased by the Revered Solomon Williams. In 1755, Rev. Williams gave the home to his son, William Williams, who would be a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Governor Jonathan Trumbull House (1735)

Jonathan Trumbull, Connecticut’s last colonial governor and first state governor (1769-1784), was born in Lebanon in 1710. Educated at Harvard, Trumbull began working with his father, Joseph Trumbull, as a merchant in 1731. He became a delegate to Connecticut’s General Assembly in the 1730s and his later support of the Patriot cause led to his election as deputy governor in 1766, with the support of the Sons of Liberty. He became governor in 1769, after the death of governor William Pitkin. Trumbull was the only colonial governor to support the American Revolution, organizing Connecticut’s resources to serve the war effort and earning the praise of George Washington. Among the children of Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., who died in 1785, were Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (a later governor of Connecticut) and the artist, John Trumbull.

The Governor Jonathan Trumbull House was built by his father, Joseph, between 1735 and 1740, and was inherited by Jonathan Trumbull in 1755, who enlarged and remodeled it in the fashionable Georgian style. The building is architecturally notable as the state’s only central chimney house with a center hall. It was also moved slightly north of its first location in 1824. The house has been owned and operated as a house museum since 1935 by the Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution.