James Hammond Trumbull papers

The papers of James Hammond Trumbull consist of correspondence, writings, notes, and other papers dealing with New England history and American indians. The bulk of the correspondence, which is arranged chronologically, from the 1840s on is that of James Hammond Trumbull, and is made up of letters exchanged with scholars and other individuals concerned with the history of New England, especially Connecticut, and the history and languages of American Indians, especially Indian placenames. Other letters deal with Trumbull's association with Yale College, as alumnus and lecturer, and with his activities as a member of the American Philological Society and other learned societies. Also included are several letters of Trumbull's father, Gurdon Trumbull, concerned with New England history. A letterbook for the years 1847-1855 with an index contains further incoming letters. Correspondents include Spencer F. Baird, Simeon E. Baldwin, Elihu Burritt, Samuel Church, Franklin B. Dexter, Theodore Dwight, Timothy Dwight, Daniel Cady Eaton, Charles W. Eliot, Asa Gray, Albert S. Gatschet, James Hadley, Edward E. Hale, Edward Claudius Herrick, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, James H. Linsley, Thomas R. Lounsbury, Noah Porter, Archibald H. Sayce, Benjamin Silliman, and William Dwight Whitney, among others.

Also filed in the correspondence are a number of early letters and other papers (several are copies, others originals) of the 1640s through the 1820s, relating to the early history of Connecticut and New England, which appear to have been collected by Trumbull. A sample of these items includes letters of the Newbery and Clarke families of Windsor from the 1640s and 1650s; a copy of a letter from Roger Wolcott to President Clap containing an outline history of New England, 1759; a copy of a 1707 letter of John Winston announcing the election of Governor Gurdon Saltonstall, with a list of lots in New London on the verso; a letter of 1766 from Joseph Fish to Nathaniel Whitaker about Indian schools, and another from 1779 about the burning of Fairfield, Connecticut; and a letter of 1803 from Leonard Chester to Elisha Babcock concerning Connecticut laws against immoral books.

The remaining papers in this collection include several manuscripts, notebooks and notecards by Trumbull on Indian languages and place names, along with other topics; two memoranda of receipts belonging to John Trumbull; and newspaper clippings and other printed matter concerning the Puritan-Quaker controversy and other elements of New England history.

These papers were the gift to Yale University of Anne E. Trumbull in 1943. Several items have been added since by later donors.