Walter Trumbull came to Voluntown, Conn., probably with his parents in the late 1720’s. He was admitted as an inhabitant of the town in 1736–37 and bought land from the committee that had divided up the common land. He married about the same time. Fraser writes:
Walter Trumbull was among that group of citizens of Voluntown who left the church there in 1745–46 to set up a private worship. He signed a petition to that effect in 1744. “After a few troubled years” the new separate church united with the congregation at Plainfield, Conn. “This accounts for so many breaks in the records that cannot be explained in any other way.”D
Walter Trumbull died intestate. A letter of administration granted to his wife was dated 8 February 1748/49, Plainfield (Windham), Conn.D Fraser writes:
Walter Trumbal was admitted inhabitant of Voluntown in 1736/7. On 28 July 1736 Walter Trumbell of Voluntown was sold 150 acres of the common land at the south end of Volun­town by Charles Campbell (perhaps his brother-in-law or father-in-law) and Ebenezer Dow for the sum of 93 pounds (2/129). Robert Dixson of Vol­untown sold 100 acres near Fishes Brook to Walter Trumbel “of West Greenwich in ye county of Providence in ye Colony of Rhoade Island” on 25 Feb 1742/3 for 75 pounds 15 shillings. Robert Dixson appeared at “Provedance” before Randall Rice, Justice of the Peace (Voluntown 2/129).
Town records of West Greenwich, which begin with 1741, have only one Trum­bull record, a land transaction for Walter Trumbal dated 16 Jan 1743. The name is spelled Trumble several times in the body of the deed, but Trumbal next to their seals. In this deed, signed before a Justice of the Peace in Stonington, New London county, Walter Trumble and Jean Trumbal sell to Robert Wilson a parcel in West Greenwich to which they have “proper right as a good perfect and absolute estate of inheritance in fee simple” (Deed Book 1,2). The land is described as “beginning at the old heep of stones formerly deemed to be Warwick southwest corner northerly on warwick line.”
In the records at the Town House of East Greenwich (from which West Green­wich was formed in 1741), we find that Charles Campbell “of Vollentown” had pur­chased 140 acres of land with this same description in East Greenwich on 6 Jan 1732/3 (4/540).
On 3 Jan 1738/9 Charles Campbell of Voluntown “for the natural effections and good will that I bare unto my dutifull son and daughter Walter Trumbell and Jean Trumbell boath of sd town of Voluntown aforesaid . . . do freely give . . . a certain parcel of land in the town of East Greenwich county of Providence Colony of Rhoad Island . . . being part of the 48 farm in the third division in the great pur­chase” (5/427). Charles Campbell signed this deed in Voluntown before Ebenezer Dow “Justis of Peace.”
Walter was one of the petitioners for a new ecclesiastical society in Voluntown in 1744. A division of land in Voluntown ordered in 1740 but delayed until 1747, was handled by a committee selling land to Walter Trumbell and others.
Since Walter and Jean were of Voluntown in 1738/9 when they were deeded land in East Greenwich, of West Greenwich in 1742 when they bought land in Volun­town, and of Volun­town again in 1744, we may guess that they lived in East/West Green­wich five years or less. They probably did not move within Rhode Island; the name of the town simply changed.
On 31 March 1748 Walter Trumbell of Voluntown sold land for ten pounds to Joseph Rannall of Westerly, Kings county, R.I. (3/147). That same year, on 12 Sept 1748, Walter Trumbell of Voluntown for 1100 pounds “old tener bills” received of William York of Ston­ington in county of New London, sold a 75 acre parcel with a dwelling house, bounded on one side by Capt. Nathan Cheesebrough’s house (2/357).
On 6 Dec 1748 Walter Trumbell of Voluntown received of Moses Kinne of Vol­untown 1000 pounds money “in bills of publick credit of ye old tener” for two adjoining parcels of land near Fishes Brook, except for eight acres already sold to Daniel Fish (3/203).
Walter’s death 28 Dec 1748, age 37, was without a will. Records of the Probate Court in Plainfield on 8 Feb 1748/9 show that an inventory was ordered with account of administra­tion to be completed before the second Tuesday of January 1748/9. On the 12th of January, John Crery, Judge, appointed “Lieut. Charles Camp­bal of Voling­town” guardian for Walter and William Trumbell, minor sons to Walter deceased. At that time Walter was a minor “about two years of age.” Also on that date Jane Trum­bell of Voluntown was appointed guardian for Elce, Sarah and Jean Trumbell, minor daughters of Walter deceased.
William Trumble, only living brother of Walter, had already relocated to Bethle­hem, Conn. The Charles Campbell who was appointed guardian could be either Jane Trumble’s father or brother. Her father died about 1770. Her brother Charles was eight years younger than Jane. When her brother Charles wrote his will on 26 Feb 1776 he was age 49 and “sick of body,” the father of eleven children, the youngest of whom was one year nine months old.
The sale of Walter Trumble’s Voluntown property in March, September and December of 1748 may suggest that he and his family were about to move from Vol­untown at the time of his unexpected death at age 37. Since James Trumble had already moved to Bethlehem, Conn., where William Trumble had relocated, Walter may have planned to do likewise. In 1748 a group of Presbyterians left the Volun­town Church to form a “Separate” Church. Robert Campbell was among those involved and his son Robert was married to Mary Trumble. A Robert Campbell was among the first families in 1745 to “depart from Communion and set up private worship on the Sabbath” despite the warnings of pastor and elders. A Robert Campbell had wit­nessed William Trumble’s 19 June 1746 land transaction in Wood­bury, Conn. This Sepa­ratist Movement was resistance to the establishment of ecclesias­tical power in the civil government of the colony of Connecticut.
We note here that nine of the Campbell families subsequently formed the “Campbell Settle­ment” in Herkimer county, N.Y. This was one of the earliest and largest settlements made by a family group at that time and placed them in proxim­ity of several Trumble families who migrated to central, N.Y.
In 1762 Ebenezer Carey was appointed guardian for William Trumbal, minor, at which time Charles Campbell was to account for the inheritance said William received from his father’s estate. At Probate Court at Canterbury, District of Plainfield, Charles Campbell accounted for a “reasonable allowance for his taking care of said minor” and turned 26 pounds of the 279 pound inheritance over to Ebenezer Carey. This Ebenezer is probably the husband of William’s older sister Sarah.
Probate record 2124 of Plainfield Probate District includes an inventory filed 8 Feb 1748/9 for Walter Trumbal. It refers to Jane Trumbell, widow, and Lieut. Charles Campbell of Voluntown as surety. Jane Trumbal made her mark for signa­ture. Distri­bution was recorded to widow, eldest son Walter, eldest daughter Elce, second daughter Sarah, “Jane ye 3rd daughter,” and William “ye 2nd son.”
A Jane Trumble married Joel Starkweather on 9 Aug 1750 at Preston, Conn., both being of Preston (Preston VR). Mary Starkweather, dau. of Joel, was born 29 July 1751 (Preston VR). Charles, born 10 April 1759 (Mansfield VR) and Anna, born 19 Oct 1761, (Mansfield VR) are both reported as born to “Joel and Jane Starkweather.”
A Starkweather genealogy reports that Joel, son of John and Mary Starkweather, was born at Stonington, Conn., 20 June 1724, baptized at Preston, Conn., on 19 July 1724 and died 14 April 1797.43 According to this author, Robert Starkweather, Joel’s wife was Jane (Campbell) Trumbull, widow of William Trumbull, whose son William by her first marriage died in 1795 in Mansfield at age 47. Further, Starkweather claims that Jane Campbell “came from Dublin, Ire­land.” He states that Jane and Joel settled in Mansfield, Conn., in that part of town now called Chaplin, where Joel Starkweather owned a farm. He gives Jane’s death as 17 Nov 1803, a date as yet unverified. This source lists the Starkweather children as Mary born 1751, Charles born 1759, Ann Nancy born 1762, Richard born 1766, and Elizabeth died unmarried 1842.