Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813-June 25, 1896) was a United States Senator from Illinois during the American Civil War. Trumbull was born in Colchester, Connecticut. He attended Bacon Academy and was a school teacher from 1829 to 1833. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar and practiced in Greenville, Georgia until moving to Belleville, Illinois in 1837.
By 1840, he was serving in the Illinois State House and was Secretary of State from 1841 to 1843. From 1848 to 1853, he was a justice on the state Supreme Court. Although elected to the House of Representatives in 1854, he was elected to serve in the U.S. Senate before he could take his seat. He served from 1855 through 1873, during which time he claimed party affiliations with the Democrats, the Republicans, the Liberal Republicans, and finally the Democrats again. During this time, he authored the Thirteenth Amedment, which prohibited all kinds of slavery in the U.S.
In 1873, he set up a law practice in Chicago and remained in private practice except for a brief period when he ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1880.
Preceded by: James Shields U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Illinois 1855 - 1873 Served alongside: Stephen A. Douglas, Orville H. Browning, William Alexander Richardson, Richard Yates, John A. Logan Succeeded by: Richard J. Oglesby
