John Trumbull

Just like with my sixth great grandfather, Caleb Jones (who I posted about yesterday), I also see lots of researchers making the same mistake of attributing an incorrect father to my fourth great grandmother, Susanna Trumbull (born 26 Jul 1783), who married John Seaver. Her father was John Trumbull, who married Abigail Upham. Many people have attributed him as being the famous painter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Trumbull), noted for his historical paintings during the Revolutionary War period. This is not correct on account of a couple of things:

1) The painter John Trumbull’s only wife was Sarah Hope Harvey. They married in 1800 and did not have any children together.

2) John Trumbull had one illegitimate child, a son named John Trumbull Ray, who he fathered from an affair with a woman named Temperance Ray.

Sources:

http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=6050

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsmss/umich-wcl-M-270tru?view=text

http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=68303&back=

As with my post yesterday, my hope is that other researchers may come across this post, read through the source information presented, and not continue to make the same mistakes many others have made of attributing the father of my sixth great grandmother, Susanna Trumbull, as being John Trumbull the painter. If any contradictory evidence is discovered, I would be very appreciative of being made aware of it.