In the household of Col. John Trumbull’s brother, there was a servant woman named Temperance Ray. While sending love letters to Harriet Wadsworth who he hoped to marry, Trumbull was intimate with his brother’s servant. In 1792, Trumbull had fathered an illegitimate son with the woman. Miss Ray took Trumbull to court to prove paternity and won, legally listing Trumbull as the father. This was an impressive feat for the time. Paternity suits were not unheard of in Early America, but they were difficult to prove. Trumbull let his feelings be known in this fiasco, reportedly often saying that there were any number of men that could have fathered this child, but that he was the best able to provide for the child, so he was the one chosen. Confessing later privately to a friend about this incident in a letter, he lamented, “an accident befel [sic] me, to which young Men are often exposed- I was a little too intimate with a girl who lived at my brother’s, and who at the same time had some other particular friends;- the natural consequence followed, and in due course a fine boy was born;- the number of fellow laborers rendered it a little difficult to ascertain precisely who was the father.”
ANDREW ROBERTSON, LIEUTENANT JOHN TRUMBULL RAY, 1814, ENGLAND.
With no other recourse, Trumbull did what was expected of him but no more for the child while he was small. Later, through his wife, Sarah, Trumbull made more of an effort to establish a lasting relationship, but it was always strained. It was Sarah’s insistence that Trumbull make things right with his son that made the difference. This was likely due to the uncertain circumstances that she herself grew up in. Inquiring about the child soon after his marriage, Trumbull wrote to a personal acquaintance by the name of James Wadsworth to locate his son and report back on his condition. In the letter, Trumbull wrote, “What is past is folly, but to neglect the poor little wretch (who at all events is not here by any fault of his own) would deserve a much severer name.” The child had been placed in Haddam, CT by the town’s elders on a farm owned by a family named Smith. He had been named John Ray after his parents, Temperance Ray and John Trumbull, but had been treated poorly. His clothes were dirty and ragged. His hair was unclean and unkept, going in all directions. Wadsworth reported that the boy was handsome, with hazel eyes and ruby cheeks.
Seeing that the child was uneducated and in pitiful shape, Wadsworth offered to take the child to a family that he personally knew nearby that would take better care of him. The Smith family balked and demanded fifty dollars for the money that they had spent maintaining the child. Wadsworth commented sourly that they could not have spent more than sixpence on the clothes that the boy was wearing and offered talk about it with a third-party arbitrator. At this, the Smith family agreed to let the child go for free. Wadsworth went on to comment that he believed the child was Trumbull’s without question saying, “I have no doubt, but he is your son- his forehead in particular and the upper part of his face resembles yours.” This was the beginning of a difficult relationship with his son, whom he always referred to as his nephew. Although not ideal, it was Sarah’s insistence that made the difference in the child’s life and without her who knows how it might have been for Trumbull’s son.
In 1804, when the Trumbull family traveled to New York for the fateful trip where Sarah had been so offended by Trumbull’s niece, they received a letter from John Ray, Trumbull’s son. The boy was now a teenager and doing well. His letter reported on his studies. He was learning geometry and taking dancing lessons. Trumbull and Sarah must have sent him an expensive military style coat that John Ray reported fitted him well. He referred to the coat as a gift from his “Uncle and Aunt” so even John Ray knew the importance that his father felt regarding the deception of where his paternity lay. Trumbull later wrote, “I was best able to pay the bill, the mother using her legal right, judiciously chose me.” He always suspected that he had been tricked into fatherhood. John Ray and Trumbull’s relationship was never easy. Trumbull could not get past the idea that his son was the physical embodiment of his lack in good moral judgment.
Brookhiser, Richard. Glorious Lessons: John Trumbull, Painter of the American Revolution. Yale University Press, 2024.
Sizer, Theodore. “The Autobiography of Colonel John Trumbull, Patriot-Artist,” 1756–1843, ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.
