Lebanon, Connecticut

Lebanon is a town in New London County, Connecticut. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 7,142 at the 2020 census. The town lies just to the northwest of Norwich, directly south of Willimantic, 20 miles north of New London, and 20 miles east of Hartford. It is best known for its role in the American Revolution when it was a major base of American operations, and for its historic town green, which is one of the largest in the nation and the only one still used partially for agriculture.

Map showing the location of this town within New London County, Connecticut. Data source: 2010 U.S. census

Principal communities

Exeter
Goshen Hill
Lebanon Center
Leonard Bridge
Liberty Hill

Other minor named locations in the town are Babcock Hill, Bush Hill, Chestnut Hill, Cook Hill, Coreyville, Kick Hill, Mason Hill, Scott Hill, Standish Hill, and Village Hill.

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Connecticut

History

From Poquechaneed to Lebanon

Lebanon was originally inhabited by the Mohegan people, an Algonquian-speaking tribe in the upper Thames River Valley in eastern Connecticut. The area was known as Poquechaneed and was used primarily for hunting.

Lebanon was settled by colonists from Norwich who wanted to expand beyond the nine square miles that they had bought from Mohegan sachem Uncas. In 1663, the first grant in the area was given to Major John Mason, deputy governor of the Connecticut Colony; the next year, Mason accepted 500 acres (2.0 km2) northwest of Norwich. This area was known as "Pomakuck" or "Pomocook" by the Mohegans and is now the Goshen Hill area of Lebanon.

In 1666, Connecticut granted an additional 120 acres to the Rev. James Fitch, minister of Norwich, adjacent to Maj. Mason's land which was now known as Cedar Swamp. The Mohegans conferred their blessing on the grants by giving an additional 7-mile strip to Maj. Mason's son in 1675, who split the land with the Rev. Fitch, his father-in-law. This area is now known as "Fitch and Mason's Mile", or just "The Mile".

In 1692, Uncas' son Owaneco sold 25 square miles (65 km2) to four men from Norwich and Stonington known as the "Five Mile Purchase" or "Five Mile Square", being 5 miles on each side. With the Purchase, most of the town of Lebanon was established.

The town of Lebanon was incorporated by the General Assembly of the Connecticut Colony on October 10, 1700. The town's name was the idea of one of Rev. Fitch's sons, because of "the height of the land, and a large cedar forest." Lebanon was the first town in the Connecticut Colony to be given a Biblical name.

Into the 19th and 20th Centuries

Joseph Trumbull, father of Jonathan Trumbull Sr., brought livestock farming to the town in 1704, and Lebanon had the largest meat packing industry in Connecticut by 1730. Agriculture has since been the primary focus of the town. The Trumbull family left Lebanon after the death of Jonathan Trumbull Jr. in 1809, and the town's political significance fell.

Lebanon maintained its focus on agriculture and remained a dedicated farming town, as the towns around it became more commercialized. It was this characteristic that brought a major wave of immigration in the early 20th century. Political troubles in Russia and the onset of the First World War encouraged many to flee to America. The village of Karlswalde near Ostrog saw its entire population leave. Philip Krause settled in the Village Hill area of Lebanon. The town offered similar terrain and fertile farming ground, and 12 families of Karlswalde had moved to the Lebanon neighborhood by 1928. Many of these families are still present and active in Lebanon today and have been a major influence on the town's culture.

The Liberty Hill neighborhood was the commercial center of town for most of the 19th century and into the 20th, holding the town's post office and two general stores. It was Lebanon's primary link to the larger Connecticut and New England communities. The area maintained its importance into the 1940s.
Lebanon saw more than ten percent of its residents leave to fight in the Second World War. The Memorial Day parade is still one of the town's largest annual celebrations.

Notable people

• William Beaumont (1785–1853), "Father of Gastric Physiology" whose book describing digestion, published in 1833, became a classical medical study still used today
• Martha Wadsworth Brewster (1710 – c. 1757), poet and writer, one of the earliest American female literary figures
• William Alfred Buckingham (1804–1875), businessman, elected four-term mayor of Norwich, later elected seven-term governor of Connecticut. Served during the Civil War. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1868 and died in office.
• Nelson Dewey (1813–1889), first governor of Wisconsin (1848–1852) at the age of 35
• Ralph Gurley (1797–1872), clergyman, chaplain of the US House of Representatives, and an influential figure in the American Colonization Society, which offered passage to their colony in west Africa (now Liberia) to free black Americans
• Prince Saunders (1775–1839), attorney general of the Republic of Haiti
• William Strong (Vermont politician) (1763–1840), US congressman and judge
• Jonathan Trumbull Sr. (1710–1785), governor of Connecticut, father of Jonathan Trumbull Jr., and a strong supporter of Washington during the American Revolutionary War, studied theology in Lebanon and later died in the town, where he is buried (portrait at right)
• Joseph Trumbull (1737–1778), a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774 (did not attend sessions), and colonel in the Continental Army. He served as one of the Commissary Generals. Son of Jonathan Trumbull Sr.
• Jonathan Trumbull Jr. (1740–1809), General George Washington's secretary during the American Revolution, later eight-term governor of the state. Son of Jonathan Trumbull Sr.
• John Trumbull (1756–1843), American neoclassical painter, famous for artwork in the US Capitol, and the artwork on the back of the two-dollar bill. Son of Jonathan Trumbull Sr.
• Joseph Trumbull (1782–1861), state governor, later Connecticut representative to the US Congress. Grandson of Jonathan Trumbull Sr.
• Pelatiah Webster (1726–1795), Colonial merchant and author of short essays concerning the finances and government of the fledging United States
• William Williams (1731–1811), merchant and delegate for Connecticut to the Second Continental Congress in 1776, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. Son-in-law of Jonathan Trumbull Sr.
• Eleazar Wheelock (1711–1779), Congregational minister, orator, educator, and founder of Dartmouth College