Lebanon

LEBANON Poquechaneeg, the Indian name for the Lebanon area, was ceded to Englishmen in six tracts; the first was to Major John Mason in 1665. Settlement was begun in 1695 with fifty-one proprietors who apportioned among themselves home lots around the common. The town was formally organized in 1700 by gathering of a church and calling Pastor Joseph Parsons. By 1756, the population was 3,274, sixth in size in Connecticut. Jonathan Trumbull was Governor of Connecticut 1769-1784. In May, 1775 the General Assembly established a Council of Safety to plan the defense of the colony during the Revolutionary War. On the cross roads of routes from Norwich to Hartford and Boston to New York, Lebanon was the logical place to meet. Trumbull's store became the War Office, where met nearly 1200 sessions of the Council of Safety. (Continued on other side) LEBANON (Continued from other side) Here conferred Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and William Williams, a native son and signer of the Declaration of Independence, with the French officers Count de Rochambeau, Duke de Lauzun, and General Lafayette, who commanded French troops that had been quartered in Lebanon during the winter of 1780-1781. The Trumbull family guided Lebanon folk in gathering supplies for the Continental Army, making Connecticut the "Provision State". Lebanon is the birthplace of William Beaumont, pioneer researcher in gastric digestion, and of these Governors of Connecticut: Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. 1797-1809 Clark Bissell 1847-1849 Joseph Trumbull 1849-1850 William A. Buckingham 1858-1866