The following are items culled from websites sent me by Stella ( STARBABE1936@webtv.net). They do not tell whether Jonathan Trumbull was a royal governor, but they do tell that he was not elected. While the office of governor was an elected office in Colonial Connecticut, Jonathan Trumbull was Deputy Governor (presumably akin to modern-day Lieutenant Governor) when the then-governor William Pitkin (not Fitch, as I stated) died in office, on October 1, 1769. Trumbull then became governor. Incidentally, terms like "Brother Jonathan" were used by the British occupying Boston for New Englanders they viewed as puritanically pious. How the name came to be applied by Washington to his friend Trumbull we can only guess. My guess is it was his way of making fun of the British for their way of making fun of Americans. Stella tells me there is more interesting information about J Trumbull in the material she sent to me, but I have yet to find it. When and if I do I'll pass it on to those who still want to see it. Anne The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/trumbull.html Colonial Governors of CT William Pitkin, Gov 1766-69 died in office, Oct 1, 1769, Jonathan Trumbull Colonial Governor of Connecticut, 1769-1776 Governor of Connecticut, 1776-1784 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- http://ad.doubleclick.net/758124/cool5.html Trumbull, Jonathan, 171085, colonial governor of Connecticut, b. Lebanon, Conn. He was prominent in the colony after 1733, serving in the assembly, of which he became speaker, and in other offices. He was chief justice of the superior court and deputy governor before becoming governor in 1769. He served until 1784 and rendered great services to George Washington in the American Revolution. There is a tradition that the name Brother Jonathan, for an American, arose from a remark of Washington about Trumbull. See biographies by J. Trumbull (1919), a descendant, and G. Weaver (1956). [I'll add this: Trumbull was a storekeeper in Lebanon, CT, and had helped supply the military during the French & Indian War. This gave him the experienece and know-how for supplying the Continental Army later on. During the Revolutionary War, Trumbull and the council of war held meetings, many of them at least, at the store in Lebanon. Anne]