Lyman Trumbull

Jenna Bishop
Carbondale Community High School, Carbondale

Throughout the course of Illinois history there have been many great men and women who have influenced the development of the state. Of these significant historical figures, Senator Lyman Trumbull stands out as a true advocate of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As one of the few people of his time who fought for the rights of African Americans in Illinois, Lyman Trumbull performed great services for his state and his country.

Lyman Trumbull was born on October 12, 1813, in Colchester, Connecticut, the seventh child of Benjamin Trumbull and Elizabeth Mather. He was the seventh generation of Trumbulls in America. Lyman grew up in Connecticut, and after studying and becoming a member of the bar, he settled in southern Illinois. In 1840 Trumbull's political career and public life began when he was elected to the state legislature as a Democrat. Trumbull served as a judge of the supreme court for the southern district of Illinois in 1848. He was reelected in 1852, but resigned because the salary was insufficient. In 1854 Trumbull ran as a Democrat for a seat in the House of Representatives. Although he was elected, he never served because in 1855 the state legislature made him a U.S. senator. Trumbull took his seat in the Senate at the first session of the Thirty-forth Congress on December 3, 1855. Trumbull's ideas opposing slavery made it impossible for him to remain a Democrat, and in 1855 he switched his alliance to the Republican Party. With the Civil War approaching, Trumbull supported Abraham Lincoln's efforts to suppress rebellion. Trumbull played a large role in the Civil War and Reconstruction legislation. He wrote and introduced the Freedman's Bureau, the First and Second Confiscation Acts, and the Civil Rights Act. Trumbull supported Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, even though he recognized that it freed no slaves. This led him to write and propose the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery. Trumbull broke with the Republican Party after he refused to vote for the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. In 1872 he was the Liberal Republicans' presidential candidate but lost. In 1896 he returned to the Democratic Party.

Lyman Trumbull fought long and hard for equal rights, often defending slaves in court for no remuneration.

Lyman Trumbull played a major role in the abolition of slavery. He even switched parties several times to uphold his cause. As a young lawyer in Illinois Trumbull frequently took the cases of African Americans who filed lawsuits claiming that they were unfairly enslaved. In 1842 Trumbull along with Gustave Koerner defended an African American woman named Sarah Borders who was held as an indentured servant. She and her children had escaped and fled to Peoria County where they were arrested and brought before a justice of the peace. They were found to be illegally detained and entitled to their freedom. The case was appealed and taken to the Supreme Court. There Trumbull and Koerner appeared for the woman and argued that slavery was unlawful in Illinois and had been ever since the enactment of the Ordinance of 1787. But the court decided against them. Trumbull was not discouraged by this; three years later he appeared in the case of Jarrot v. Jarrot, a case that decided the slavery issue in Illinois altogether. Joseph Jarrot filed suit against his mistress Julia Jarrot for wages, claiming he had been held in servitude contrary to law. The case originated in 1843 in St. Clair County, where the jury found for Julia Jarrot. Trumbull took the case to the state supreme court without pay. In 1845 the court ruled four to three in favor of Trumbull and established the legal precedent on slavery in Illinois. Any slave who had been brought into the state since the Ordinance of 1787 at once became free and could sue to recover wages for labor performed under compulsion. This was the first important victory in Trumbull's career.

Trumbull often fought slaves' cases in lower courts time and again without fees or remuneration. He was a man who honestly wished to see justice done for blacks. He was the author of the

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Thirteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act, both of which provided African Americans with freedom and opportunity. To fight for African Americans in those days of strong opposition was a thankless task and was often accompanied by great personal risk to oneself, as well as one's reputation and business.

By the time Lyman Trumbull died on June 25, 1896, he had performed many great services for African Americans. Although fighting for African Americans was discouraging and humbling, Trumbull persevered and succeeded for their justice.—[From Horace White, The Life of Lyman Trumbull; Belleville News Democrat, Feb. 6, 1983; Hans L. Trefousse book review, The Life and Times of Lyman Trumbull by Ralph J. Raske, Journal of Southern History 47 (1981); Champaign Urbana News-Gazette, Oct. 31, 1982.]

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