John Trumbull was born in 1750 in Watertown, Connecticut. He was a poet and lawyer. He learned classical languages at an early age and qualified for entrance to Yale at an age when children today are still in early elementary school.
While waiting to enter Yale he wrote poetry and studied the classics, entering Yale at age thirteen. After graduation in 1767, he remained as a fellow and tutor, continuing his writing. His first major literary work was a satirical poem, The Progress of Dullness..
As though there were a tie And obligation to posterity. We get them, bear them, breed, and nurse: What has posterity done for us. That we, lest they their rights should lose, Should trust our necks to gripe of noose?
